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I tried 12 flavors of Crumbl cookies and ranked them from worst to best

I tried 12 different flavors of Crumbl cookies.
  • I tried 12 different flavors of Crumbl cookies and ranked them from worst to best.
  • I didn't love the wedding-cake cookie, and found it to be too sweet.
  • My favorite cookies were the peanut butter cookies and cream and the pink velvet.

It seems as though every few years, Americans embrace a new dessert trend. Like the frozen yogurt craze of the 2010s, cookie chains have been taking the US by storm in recent years.

However, one chain stands out as the country's fastest-growing cookie company: Crumbl.

Since its first location opened in Utah in 2017, the dessert chain has expanded to over 1,000 locations in all 50 US states, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

Though the first store only sold milk-chocolate-chip cookies, Crumbl now offers a rotating weekly selection of six desserts at a time and has featured over 200 varieties on its menus.

Trying to pick which weekly option to choose can feel like a lot of pressure. To help sort out which types of Crumbl cookies are the best, I sampled 12 desserts over two visits and ranked them from worst to best.

Here's what I thought of the flavors I tried.

Crumbl's wedding-cake cookie was even too sweet for my 3-year-old.
The white-chocolate sprinkles made for crunchy explosions of texture and flavor.

It wasn't easy to choose a last-place cookie — they're all cookies, after all. However, the wedding-cake flavor was my least favorite. I loved the little white-chocolate baubles that decorated the cookie, which made for crunchy little explosions of texture and flavor.

But the raspberry flavor in the frosting was so assertive that even my 3-year-old — who loves almost all sweet, sparkly, pink, frosted things — took half a bite and turned the cookie away.

My 6-year-old, however, had no such issues, declaring, "Nothing's too sweet for me."

The frosting on the pistachio-gelato cookie had a pudding-like texture.
I thought the cookie underneath the pistachio frosting tasted bland.

The pistachio-gelato cookie looked adorable in the store display, decorated with a miniature cone made out of a Muddy Bites snack.

The gelato-inspired frosting had a pudding-like texture and was extremely sweet with a strong pistachio flavor. In my opinion, it tasted like a concentrated form of pistachio ice cream. I also found the underlying cookie to be dense and bland.

The lemon-poppy cookie was divisive in my household.
My wife ranked the lemon-poppy cookie among her favorites.

The lemon-poppy flavor proved divisive in my household. My wife, who loves lemony desserts, ranked this cookie among her favorites.

For me, however, the glaze made it a touch too sweet, and the lemon flavor, while strong, wasn't quite as tart or as bright as I would've liked.

I did appreciate the noticeable poppy flavor, as poppy seeds usually seem like an afterthought in many muffins.

The semi-sweet-chocolate-chunk cookie is a chocolate lover's dream.
This cookie met my expectations without exceeding them.

Unsurprisingly, chocolate-chip cookies are one of Crumbl's calling cards, and the menu alternates weekly between the milk-chocolate-chip version and the semi-sweet chocolate chunk.

The semi-sweet variety uses lots of bulky chocolate chunks, making it a chocolate lover's dream. I found it met my expectations for a chocolate-chip cookie without exceeding them.

A few bites of the crunchier outer portion of the cookie had a little chalkiness to the texture, but not nearly enough to make it unpleasant.

I was surprised to find a dessert that wasn't a cookie.
Crumbl's raspberry cheesecake was just OK.

During one of the two weeks I went to Crumbl, the company debuted its first cheesecake. It feels a little strange to rank it among cookies, as it was decidedly a cheesecake with a graham-cracker crust, raspberry spread, and whipped cream.

As far as cheesecakes go, it was good but unspectacular. The custard portion had a nice, smooth texture, and the raspberry topping was more tangy than sweet.

However, the graham-cracker crust didn't hold together at all and was fundamentally less portable than a cookie. However, it's a good option for when you need a break from eating too many cookies — which was applicable in my case.

Crumbl's sea-salt toffee was one of the plainest cookies I tried.
Crumbl's sea-salt toffee is made with milk-chocolate chips.

Crumbl's sea-salt toffee is a variant of a chocolate-chip cookie with toffee and milk-chocolate chips. I enjoyed it, but it was one of the plainest cookies I tried.

I found the toffee flavor presented itself more as a warm, caramel-y aftertaste than a strong, sticky Heath Bar. The milk-chocolate chips were also sparse.

This cookie wasn't particularly memorable, but I'd still choose it over the overly sweet flavors.

The milk-chocolate-chip cookie had a nice touch of salt.
Crumbl's first cookie was the milk-chocolate chip.

When having a chocolate-chip cookie, I usually prefer semi-sweet-chocolate chips over milk-chocolate chips.

However, since the milk-chocolate chip was Crumbl's first cookie, I knew I had to try it. It was a touch salty, with a soft, comforting texture. The cookie was so thick it was basically a blondie.

In my book, it beat out its semi-sweet chocolate chunk alternative, which I wouldn't have expected.

The chocolate-cake cookie tasted exactly like a slice of cake.
The chocolate-cake cookie was extremely rich.

It's not just a clever name — this cookie tasted just like a slice of chocolate cake. In fact, I might have tried it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top if it weren't for the frosting.

The chocolate-cake cookie was extremely rich, with a strong cocoa flavor to both the cookie and the frosting. It's definitely best for people who can't get enough chocolate — like my 6-year-old, who gave this one two enthusiastic thumbs up.

The frosting was a bit softer and thinner than I expected, but the chocolate swirls added nice little bites of texture.

Crumbl's French-toast cookie grew on me.
The cake part of the French-toast cookie was excellent.

Crumbl's French-toast cookie grew on me. At first, I found it frustrating that the frosting was concentrated in the cookie's center, presumably making it look like French toast with a big dollop of butter.

However, I realized it was the frosting that was throwing me off. I found it to be a little dry and super sweet with a maple flavor. In fact, it gave the cloying effect of maple candy.

The cake part of the cookie, meanwhile, was excellent. It had a spongy, doughnut-like consistency and a lighter maple flavor.

Mom's recipe combines the flavors of oatmeal, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and toffee.
Mom's recipe is another variation of a chocolate-chip cookie.

Another variation on the traditional chocolate chip cookie, Mom's recipe is an oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookie with peanut-butter and toffee chips.

It sounds like it might have too much going on, but there weren't too many of any one chip. It combined a variety of sweet, salty, and comforting flavors without any one flavor overwhelming the others.

The nutty oatmeal texture, appropriately enough, made it feel like something I'd be very excited to buy at an elementary-school bake sale.

The peanut-butter-cookies-and-cream flavor was a family favorite.
The peanut-butter chips added a nice balance to the chocolate.

It's rare that all four members of my family agree on a food, but the peanut-butter-cookies-and-cream flavor was an all-around favorite in my household.

It wasn't as eye-catching as many of the other options, especially since the bits of chocolate-sandwich cookies got camouflaged against the chocolate base.

However, they were unmistakable once I bit into it, punctuating the soft texture of Crumbl's chocolate cookie with the crumbly, crunchy texture of an Oreo. The peanut-butter chips were mostly in the background, but they added a nice balance to the chocolate.

I always love a good cookie-flavored cookie.

Crumbl's pink-velvet cookie was my favorite.
The pink-velvet cookie was incredibly sweet.

Crumbl's pink-velvet cookie earned my top spot with a caveat: I never ate more than a small portion in one sitting. I suspect that eating as much as half of this cookie at once might leave me less enthusiastic about it.

However, I happen to love cream-cheese frosting, and this one has a nice, mild tartness to it that complements the sweet, soft cookie.

I tasted it before reading the flavor description, and the power of suggestion left me thinking it had a strawberry taste.

But eating more of the cookie revealed that the crunchy, sugary crumbles on top were extremely reminiscent of the outer coating of a classic strawberry-shortcake-ice-cream bar. I happen to love those, so this had a nostalgic appeal.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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