Crumbl cookies are dessert for the social media era
Dessert fads come and go. Jell-O was all the rage in the 1960s; fondue in the 1970s. Then came the low-fat trend, and the 1990s were about frozen yogurt. Fancy cupcakes dominated the 2000s, thanks to Magnolia Bakery and its many appearances in the TV show, Sex and the City. Gourmet donuts had a moment in the 2010s.
But now, we are living in the age of the gourmet cookie. And no brand represents that more than Crumbl.
Crumbl Cookies is spelled c-r-u-m-b-l. They make oversized, gourmet cookies. Each one is about eleven centimeters in diameter; they’re thick and shareable. Many come with elaborate frosting and toppings. The outside is crusty, but the center is soft and chewy.
Crumbl’s menu features imaginative flavors that change weekly. On any given day, only six flavors of cookies are available—and it’s the same six in every store. There’s usually one chocolate chip cookie, and five specialty flavors. Every Monday, the company announces the flavor lineup for the coming week.
Some flavors are frequently available. JR’s favorite is the pink sugar cookie. It’s a plain white cookie, with rich pink frosting spread on top. This one frequently makes it into the rotation. Other common flavors are red velvet cupcake, birthday cake, and s’mores. Some flavors are seasonal. In the fall, you might find a pumpkin cookie; in the winter, gingerbread; in the summer, lemon blueberry.
Other flavors are more experimental, like New York cheesecake, pineapple, maple bacon, and cornbread. Part of the fun of going to Crumbl is that you don’t know what flavors are going to be there—unless you follow them on social media. One day, you might find two or three of your favorites; another day, there might be flavors you’ve never tried before.
But be careful, because a visit to Crumbl comes at a cost—and I’m not just talking about the five-dollar price tag. The signature full size chocolate chip cookie has 730 calories—and that one doesn’t even have elaborate toppings or rich fillings.
Crumbl says that a typical serving should be 30 grams, or 140 calories. But take it from me: it’s very hard to eat one-fifth of a Crumbl cookie. Crumbl does offer miniature versions of its cookies. The smaller ones come in at about 200 calories each and are six centimeters across. It’s popular to get those in packs of three or six.
If you’re on TikTok or Instagram, you may have seen Crumbl cookies—and that’s no accident.
In 2017, two cousins teamed up to start Crumbl. Neither had a background in baking; one was a university student and the other worked in technology. That may have helped them think dispassionately about their creation: they weren’t attached to their first culinary vision. They tried version after version of their chocolate chip cookie, tweaking the recipe in response to consumer feedback, just like an A/B test in digital marketing.
The cousins also leveraged recent trends in virality. From the start, they wanted a product that would look good on social media. Crumbl cookies aren’t just decadent; they aren’t just delicious; they don’t just have interesting flavors. They also look really good. The frosting is colorful. There are interesting toppings. There are layers and there is texture.
The packaging helps, too. Crumbl doesn’t put your cookie in a sleeve, and they never stack cookies one on top of the other. Instead, the cookies come flat in a bright pink box. The stores don’t have any seating, so you always take them to go. And when you walk home, everyone can immediately see you’re carrying one of Crumbl’s distinctive pink boxes.
And when you get home, it’s like an unboxing. A lot of people film themselves opening the box and then eating their Crumbl cookies. And of course, they share those clips on Instagram or TikTok. Some people can’t even wait until they get home; they film themselves eating the cookies in their cars. All this drives further interest on social media.
The rotating menu also borrows from the world of virality. Crumbl makes an event out of the menu announcement. They say “new flavors drop every Monday,” just like a new season of your favorite show “drops” on a streaming platform.
Crumbl was founded in 2017, but it exploded in popularity in 2022 and 2023. Today, there are 1,000 Crumbl stores. You can find them in all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and several provinces in Canada. They sell one million cookies a day.
If there’s no Crumbl in your country, you may still be able to enjoy the decadent cookies—if you’re willing to open your wallet.
In Mexico City, where I live, you can order Crumbl cookies online for about ten U.S. dollars each. There’s free shipping—get this—there’s free shipping for orders over sixty dollars. Yes, of cookies. There are also resellers. South Texas locations are overwhelmed by people buying Crumbl cookies to re-sell in Mexico.
In October last year, a few American superfans flew boxes of Crumbl cookies from Hawaii to Sydney’s Bondi Beach, and sold them for about twelve U.S. dollars each, triple the usual price. Fans lined up to buy them.
Crumbl wasn’t involved in that pop-up sale, and the superfans probably violated various laws by re-selling the cookies there. But they may have done a service to Crumbl and all cookie fans Down Under. The company was so impressed with the success of the pop-up sale that it said it will open a store in Australia.
Jeff’s take
All right, so JR and I did a taste test in preparation for this episode. I had never had Crumbl cookies, but JR had been telling me about them for a long time. I was in Chicago for a few months recently, so I decided, I had to try them. The first time I went to the store, I made a rookie mistake. A rookie mistake is like a mistake you make when you don’t know what you’re doing.
I got one full-sized cookie for myself—chocolate chip—and one full sized cookie for JR, red velvet. What I didn’t realize is that these really are meant to be shared. They’re huge, so one person-one cookie just doesn’t work. They’re also 700 calories, and we had them after dinner, and that was just too much.
The next time, JR set me straight. We got packs of three minis. JR cut them in pieces and we had like a little taste test of the three flavors. And this is how most people enjoy them. You try a variety of fun flavors, cut them up, share them, and compare your thoughts. It’s a whole experience.
I was in Chicago for a few months, so we had a chance to do a couple of these. The flavors I liked the best were chocolate chip—I just like a classic chocolate chip cookie; can’t help it. I also liked the St. Patrick’s Day green one. JR liked the New York cheesecake flavor. And we both liked the pink sugar cookie.
The one thing we did not do: we did not record or stream ourselves opening the box and eating them. There are some parts of the Crumbl experience that I’m just not willing to take part in!
Anyway, if you have a chance to try Crumbl, don’t make my mistake. Don’t get a big one just for yourself. Get a variety pack and share them with other people.
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