I Tried Crumbl Cookies for the First Time & There's Only One I'd Order Again

Perhaps you've seen the light pink boxes pop up on your social media feed. Maybe you've watched TikTokers review the oversized cookies in various flavors adorned with all sorts of frostings and toppings. No matter how you've encountered Crumbl Cookies, there's no denying the bakery chain's increasing presence across the internet—and the country.

Founded in 2017, Crumbl has transformed into one of the fastest-growing dessert companies in the United States. Since opening its first store in Logan, Utah, the cookie chain has expanded to more than 1,000 bakeries across the U.S. and Canada.

Today, Crumbl keeps customers in constant anticipation of its weekly rotating national menu of desserts, which primarily includes cookies, but also features other confections like miniature cakes and pies. Recently, the chain decided to grow its dessert choices by offering eight (instead of the previous six) menu items each week. Crumbl announces its new flavors for the week every Sunday and then releases them on Monday.

Because I have a major sweet tooth, my social media algorithm has led me to this brand numerous times. I've seen mixed commentary about the desserts, with some customers sharing rave reviews and others finding them underwhelming. One Washington Post critique called the cookies "overhyped and underbaked." While everyone's taste preferences vary, I was curious to see if I thought these cookies lived up to their fanfare.

So, I set out to try the national flavors for the week of Nov. 11 through Nov. 16. I visited a New Jersey Crumbl location and secured my boxes of cookies. Unfortunately, the Cherry Cheesecake (this week's non-cookie dessert) was sold out at my location, so I got an extra cookie as a replacement. All eight cookies cost me $36.46, which is around $4.56 per cookie.

Here's how the different options ranked in descending order, starting with my least favorite and ending with the best cookie in the box.

Maple Glaze

While maple desserts have heightened appeal in the fall, Crumbl actually introduced this cookie in July 2022. The bakery chain has offered other maple cookie options, as well, including last month's Maple Cream Sandwiches. This week's offering consists of a brown sugar cookie drizzled with a maple glaze.

The look: The cookie was various shades of brown with a faint shimmer covering the surface, thanks to the addition of tiny sugar crystals. The dark tan maple glaze was dribbled across the cookie, with certain parts of the dessert featuring thicker pools of this fall-friendly icing.

The taste: One word: sweet. Matching the strong maple aroma that diffused out of the box, the flavor was cloying and concentrated. Full disclosure: I'm not a big maple-flavored dessert fan, so I didn't have high hopes to start. The cookie was sweet enough on its own, but the maple glaze took it to the next level. While I wasn't sold on the flavor, I did appreciate the cookie's crispy edges, since I am partial toward a crunchy cookie. All in all, though, I'll stick to just enjoying maple syrup with my pancakes and waffles going forward.

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Pink Doughnut

Homer Simpson called. He wants his doughnut, er, cookie back. Crumbl's Pink Doughnut Cookie has returned to the chain's menu multiple times and is a soft vanilla cookie with a doughnut hole cutout, pink glaze, and rainbow sprinkles.

The look: Playful and fun. The vanilla cookie had some indentations throughout, while the light pink icing covered most of the surface area. Red, orange, yellow, green, pink, and white sprinkles were scattered throughout.

The taste: The vanilla cookie tasted like your run-of-the mill sugar cookie: soft, sweet, and slightly buttery. Then, there was the glaze, which was thin and quickly melted in my mouth. However, the icing was a bit of a detracting quality for me. Because I found the cookie sweet enough on its own, painting it with an additional sugary layer was a bit overpowering. However, I could see this being an appealing option for those who enjoy the popular Lofthouse frosted sugar cookies sold at grocery stores.

Chocolate Cupcake

Drawing inspiration from the classic dessert, Crumbl launched its Chocolate Cupcake Cookie back in August of 2020. This flavor is a vanilla sugar cookie with a "luscious bloom" of fudge frosting and chocolate sprinkles. Some other cupcake-themed flavors Crumbl has offered in the past include Strawberry Cupcake, Lemon Cupcake, Snickerdoodle Cupcake, and Red Velvet Cupcake.

The look: Just like any other sugar cookie, this one had cracks and crinkles embedded throughout the dough. The frosting portion was generous, forming a thick and rich-looking chocolaty rose. Meanwhile, the sprinkles added some textural interest to contrast the smooth frosting.

The taste: Staying true to its name, this cookie smelled just like a chocolate frosted cupcake. The cookie was sweet and chewy on its own, while the chocolate frosting was indeed fudgy. That being said, the two elements paired together created such a rich dessert experience, one that was just a bit too heavy for me, hindering me from taking more than a few bites.

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Lemon Crinkle

Crumbl has offered multiple lemon-flavored cookies on its menu, including Lemon Glaze, Lemon Cupcake, Lemon Cheesecake, and this week's Lemon Crinkle. According to the product description, this is a "cake-y lemon cookie" that's rolled in sugar crystals and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

The look: Staying true to its name, this cookie was, in fact, crinkled, displaying cracks of various depths across the top of the dessert. Powdered sugar generously blanketed the confection like the winter's first snowfall, while the inside was a yellowish sand color.

The taste: Matching its citrusy aroma, this cookie had a prominent lemon flavor that was well-balanced, showcasing notes of both sweet and slightly tart. Despite the powdered sugar topping being plentiful in quantity, the sweetness wasn't overpowering. Meanwhile, the slightly crispy edge offered a pleasant textural contrast to the soft, chewy center of the cookie.

Pumpkin Roll

Crumbl's Pumpkin Roll has returned to the chain multiple times and last appeared on the national menu during the fall of 2023. This variety is a pumpkin flavored-cookie with autumn spices. It's then finished off with vanilla-flavored cream cheese frosting.

The look: This one was softer and more cake-like in texture than the others. In fact, when I sliced a small piece of the crumbly orangish brown confection, the inside looked exactly like a pumpkin loaf rather than a cookie. Cookie crumbles covered the top of the cookie, which was swirled with an opaque white icing that appeared to have hardened.

The taste: This cookie embodied fall. The pumpkin flavor was pronounced, as were the spice notes, particularly the cinnamon and ginger. The cream cheese icing added a pop of sweetness (and an overly strong one, at that), though I would happily eat this cookie without it given how much I enjoyed the pumpkin spice flavor.

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Snickerdoodle

Snickerdoodles are a classic, so it's no surprise that Crumbl has offered this type of cookie in multiple varieties, including Snickerdoodle Cupcake and Snickerdoodle Sandwich. This week, however, the cookie chain stuck with simplicity. The chain's standard Snickerdoodle is a vanilla sugar cookie with a cinnamon sugar coating.

The look: This looked like your typical snickerdoodle. The texture was slightly crinkled, though the cracks weren't as prominent as some of the other sugar cookie-based options like the Lemon Crinkle and Pink Doughnut. The cookie shimmered from the sugar crystals, while the dark cinnamon speckles gave the dessert a darker hue. When I broke off a piece, the interior was slightly doughy.

The taste: I was pleasantly surprised by this one, mostly because I assumed the sugar flavor would be overpowering like some of the other cookies I tried. Though I did wish the cinnamon flavor was slightly stronger, the beloved fall spice still made its presence known. Plus, the cookie's edge had a delightful crunch to it. While I found this to be an overall balanced cookie, there was still one more I'd chose over this one.

Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk

Each week, Crumbl alternates between its Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk Cookie and its Milk Chocolate Chip Cookie. This week, Crumbl served the former, which contains semi-sweet chocolate chunks and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.

The look: This cookie had a chunky texture, featuring cracks and craters throughout. Rectangular prisms of chocolate were dispersed across the top, while the chunks were also folded into the cookie dough.

The taste: Sometimes, it's best to just stick with the classics. Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite kind of cookies, so I was unsurprised that this one took the top spot. The cookie was bursting with semi-sweet chocolate flavor, while I could also taste some butteriness. The sea salt flakes were a welcome addition, too, as they helped balance out some of the sweetness. Like most of the other cookies, this option had a crispy edge, which gave it some bonus points.

Generally, I found many of the cookies at Crumbl to be overly sweet, packing anywhere from 40 to 60 grams of sugar in each massive round—well above the recommended daily intake. Granted, nobody goes to a cookie shop to eat healthy. Even so, the extreme sweetness seemed excessive.

Yet, of all the Crumbl cookies I tried, the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk stood out as the most well-balanced. As such, it's the only one I'd order again.

Does it beat the chocolate chip cookie options from my other favorite cookie spots (aka Levain Bakery and Chip City)? No, I'd still reach for those cookies first. However, Crumbl's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk Cookie was sweet, simple, and comforting—three qualities that were more than enough to satisfy my chocolate chip cookie fix this week.