If it seems Crumbl is everywhere these days—in your TikTok feed, as a cereal on Amazon, even following Olivia Rodrigo on tour with a limited edition cookie—you’re right. With 1,000+ locations nationwide, the cookie company is everywhere these days. It’s officially a billion-dollar brand. But softball-sized cookies are nothing new. Lines have been wrapping around the block at NYC’s Levain bakery for years, and Mrs. Fields, Great American Cookie and the like have been mall rat mainstays for decades. So it’s only normal to wonder…

What’s So Special About Crumbl Cookies?!

I wondered the same thing. Honestly, Crumbl excels at building suspense, especially on social media, and at leveraging a sense of urgency and scarcity to drive demand Pair that with gigantic, chewy cookies in all kinds of flavors, and you have a recipe for success.

For the uninitiated, Crumbl Cookies features six types of cookies a week, with its menu changing every Sunday to add in new flavors. Each one comes with a designation of whether it’s served warm or chilled, and the combinations range from classic milk chocolate chip (served warm, to evoke the fresh-out-of-the-oven feel) to banana cream pie (a buttery pie crust cookie topped with banana pudding and a wafer).

If you’re anything like me, you probably (a) started planning a visit as soon as you read about the variety of flavors and (b) have a ton of questions about the treats and the buzz surrounding them. Here are some fast answers, as well as my totally honest, nobody’s-paying-us-to-write-this Crumbl cookies review.

What Do Crumbl Cookies Taste Like?

Crumbl Cookies will remind you of childhood. They’re much sweeter than other gourmet brands, with a sugary sweetness as opposed to a decadent dark chocolate. (Think more milk chocolate, buttercream frosting and sugar cookie flavors.) They’re chewy on the inside with slightly crisp edges, giving them a good snap when you bite into them. Better than grocery-store bought; but not as high-end tasting as, say, Funny Face Bakery or Gideon’s Bakehouse, IMO.

Their sweets are more akin to Cheryl’s Cookies (particularly the buttercream-frosted varieties), only much larger.

What Are the Best Crumbl Cookie Flavors?

The best Crumbl cookie, out of the dozen different ones I’ve tried, is the semisweet chocolate chunk, hands down. It sounds average and unassuming; it’s anything but. It had the best balance of dark chocolate chunks with a gooey-yet-chewy cookie base, and the whole thing’s topped with flaky sea salt, rounding out the flavor. It is the one flavor I would go out of my way to seek out and order when it returns to the menu.

Mom’s Recipe is the best cookie I’ve tried. It’s an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie topped with sea salt, and it has a great balance of chewy texture, rich cocoa flavor and a little saltiness. By the numbers, Chocolate Crumb Cake featuring Oreo is its bestseller, according to Delish, followed by Cookies & Cream.

Banana Cream Pie, Churro and the classic Pink Frosted sugar cookie tend to get the most comments from others though. (I’m just a chocoholic.)

How Big Are Crumbl Cookies?

Crumbl Cookies are almost as big as a CD, or roughly 4.5 inches in diameter. While some cookies—like Levain and Gideon’s Bakehouse—tend to be massive mounds, these cookies are thinner and more spread out, like an oversized version of a traditional cookie you’d make at home. They’re bigger than the palm of your hand and each one is easily shareable.

How Much Do Crumbl Cookies Cost?

Prices vary by location, though each cookie costs around $4—in some areas I’ve seen $4.25 to $4.48. It’s pricey, but in line with others on the market (and cheaper than some, who charge up to $13!). Plus, you can easily split one with a friend.

Crumbl Vs. Levain: Which Is Better? And How Do They Compare to Other Cookie Shops?

If you’re looking for a massive cookie that’s more like a ball of cookie dough with lightly cooked edges, stick to Duchess Cookies, Gideon’s Bakehouse or Levain Bakery. These are much more like giant versions of traditional cookies, in terms of texture, though the flavors (170+ in all) can veer far from anything you’d typically make at home. We’re talking things like Key Lime Pie, Gingerbread Cake, Ruby Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake and a frosting-and-sprinkle-covered riff on circus animal crackers.

But Still…Why Do People Like Crumbl Cookies So Much?

Crumbl stands out for its variety and the way its cookies are served: hot and cold, based on which way they’d taste the best. Each week’s menu changes so dramatically that a visit to the store is a surprise-and-delight moment.

Are Crumbl Cookies Made Fresh Daily?

Yes, according to the brand, they’re baked in-house every day.

Can You Get *Any* Cookie Flavor at Crumbl?

Crumbl has 250+ cookie flavors, but you can’t try them all at once. As mentioned above, the brand only drops six flavors a week, so you have to keep coming back to sample them all. (And so they can keep up with demand without having to house ingredients for all of those varieties at once.)

Where Can I Get Crumbl Cookies?

As of September 2024, there are more than 1,000 Crumbl stores (spanning all 50 states and Puerto Rico!), with more on the way, thanks to franchising opps. You can order them online and have them shipped and delivered, if you can’t make it to the store yourself.

If they’re not in your area, they probably will be soon—when I first wrote this post, back in early 2023, the brand had roughly 300 stores across 42 states. They’ve been franchising and expanding at warp speed.

How Can You Get Crumbl Cookies for Free?

Sign up for the brand’s loyalty program in their app and you can score a free cookie on your birthday each year, as well as earn other rewards.

Is Crumbl a Cool Place to Hang Out?

The stores are very clean and modern, with touchpads for easy ordering (if you want to bypass that whole human interaction thing). But the shop I visited was more of a grab-and-go spot; there weren’t seats or tables for lingering, like you would at a Starbucks. (This seems to be the case with most cookie shops though.)

What Day Does Crumbl Change Their Cookie Menu?

The weekly cookie menu is updated every Sunday evening for the following week. For sugar fiends, it gives you something to look forward to on Monday (particularly if you’re still trying to break free of the daily grind).

The Verdict: Are Crumbl Cookies Worth It?

If you prefer your coffee on the heavy creamer side, your cake-to-frosting ratio heavier on the frosting side and milk chocolate to dark chocolate, you’ll probably love Crumbl. The cookies were a bit too sweet and chewy for my tastes (I’m Team Barely Baked Dough Ball), but my daughter loved them.

Psst: On that note, if you aren’t into purely saccharine treats, try the Mom’s Recipe cookie—it’s like a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie with flaky sea salt, which has a great balance of flavors and textures.