Crumbl Cookies

I spent many years not really being into cookies, mostly considering them a snack, and not worthy of a full fledged dessert slot.  Sure, a cookie could be an element of a dessert, but you'd never find me eating just a cookie and calling that dessert.

Sometime during the covid lockdown, I got a bit more, let's say, adaptable, and settled on eating cookies more.  Yes, I did still normally warm them up and serve them with ice cream sandwiched in-between, or I'd dunk into whipped cream and sprinkles, but, I finally started eating more cookies, and even, gasp, craving them from time to time.

This past summer, when I was in New York for my birthday, I of course did my annual birthday freebie crawl, and was delighted to have so many more venues to hit up.  One of those was Crumbl, a fairly popular nationwide cookie chain, that somehow doesn't have a location in SF.

Crumbl is a relatively new chain, started only in 2017.  They have more than 800 stores in the US now, and some internationally.  Rapid expansion, for sure.

They started out with serving literally just chocolate chip cookies, but quickly expanded the menu too.  The concept now is actually fairly unique, with 6 cookies offered every week, the same 6 at every Crumbl location, and they change weekly on Mondays.  Seasonal offerings abound.  This gives a consistent experience across locations, but, a constant sense of missing out and thus needing to visit, stat.   They have a decent loyalty program, and, yes, a free cookie on your birthday.  I'll gladly return, and wish they'd open in SF.

Daily Offerings.

Every week features a new rotation of 5 cookies (I think chocolate chip is always offered), which run Mon-Sat (they are closed on Sun, nationwide), and every store can do a "mystery cookie" of their choice, which changes throughout the week.  The lineup includes a mix of both warm and chilled cookies.  They are all quite large, bigger than average cookies (I later looked it up, and saw the serving size is 1/4 of a cookie ... doh).  They do also make some mini (e.g. normal size) cookies.

The week I visited, the lineup was: semi-sweet chocolate chunk (warm), caramel pumpkin cake (warm), chocolate peanut butter ft. Oreo (warm), key lime pie (chilled), chocolate toffee cake (warm), and the mystery flavor was another chocolate one (also warm).

Box.

Cookies are prepared to order, so, warm ones are warmed up, and *then* toppings are applied as needed (which makes sense, as the toppings would melt as the cookies are warmed, and most have some kind of frosting/whipped cream/etc on top).

Since mine was a chilled cookie, I didn't realize it too would be prepared to order, but it was filled and topped to order, and then put in a box, perfectly sized to fit the (very large) cookie.  Again, these are not normal size cookies.

Key Lime Pie.

"Our refreshing classic key lime pie rendition includes a chilled buttered graham crust, zesty lime filling, whipped cream, graham cracker crumbs, and a fresh lime wedge to squeeze on top."

If you read my blog much, you'll realize what an odd order this is for me.  I don't tend to like citrus based desserts.  But ...  I didn't want something with chocolate (as it was evening and I avoid caffeine), so, that left with me with the choice of the pumpkin cake one, or this.  As it was just barely the start of September, and 95* out (!!!), I certainly was not ready to delve into pumpkin spice themes, I was in full on summer mode still.  Thus, key lime pie it was.

I was very pleased with this "cookie".  Calling it a cookie is a bit odd, but, I guess, at the heart, the base *is* a cookie.  It was a fascinating graham cookie, not anything like a graham cracker, more, well, like a sweet sugar cookie, perfectly soft and sweet, but ... it tasted exactly like graham cracker.  Also not like a graham crust you'd find in a normal key lime pie either, it was not crumbly and dusty like that.  Really unique and interesting.  Far better than any graham cracker I've ever had, or any graham cracker crust, which I generally really do not care for.  Very thick, yet so soft.  **** cookie base.

And then, the key lime filling.  This was a little bit more runny than what you'd find in a well set key lime pie, but, it was smooth, creamy, tangy, lightly sweet.  Not a curd, which I appreciated, as I don't tend to like citrus curds.  Nice lime flavor.  Also quite good.  ****.

The little dot of whipped cream, the sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs, and the half a thin slice of lime really elevated the presentation dramatically, even if they were fairly easily lost in the end creation.

Overall, soft, sweet, tangy, unique, and definitely one of the most interesting cookies I've had in a long time.  I'd get it again, but now really want to try more of their offerings!  **** overall.

I was a bit thrown off by the fact that the sign said "180 calories" for the cookie ... that just didn't make sense, given the size, and decadent taste and fillings.  When I looked in more detail on the website, I found the reason why: the serving size is 1/4 of a cookie.  Aha.  If I was to eat the whole cookie, it clocks in at 720 calories!  Which definitely makes more sense, but also is far more than I expected.