![Diners enjoy brunch outside Hatched in Town & Country Village on Saturday morning. The restaurant, which opened in January, is Palo Alto’s second Hatched location and focuses on egg-centric breakfast and lunch options in an area that previously lacked breakfast spots. Manager Craighton Poon said the restaurant has been well-received by the community. “People are receiving us [Hatched] really, really good and it’s pretty busy every day,” Poon said.](https://chompmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_1052-1200x800.jpg)
“Have you tried the Dubai Chocolate Crumbl cookie — a creamy pistachio-kataifi-filled brownie dessert covered in a milk chocolate shell and drizzled in pistachio topping? Have you at least had the Moonbeam Icecream cookie — a chilled chocolate cookie with multi-colored marshmallow frosting topped with cookie crumbles, lemon and berry bits and an icing drizzle? This week is your last chance to try the Oreo Mallow Sandwich Cookie or the Pink Velvet Cake Cookie. Don’t walk — run to Crumbl to try the newest flavor!”
This is how Crumbl Cookie, famous for thousand-calorie cookies and decadent flavors, has taken over the Internet as a TikTok sensation, catering to a Gen-Z fanbase. With over a thousand locations across the country, the cookie store has dessert lovers everywhere addicted. How did an experiment to create the perfect chocolate chip cookie turn into a $2 billion franchise?
Jason McGowan and Sawyer Hemsley, two Utah-raised cousins, started Crumbl Cookie in 2017 to perfect chocolate chip cookies that their website calls the “perfect combo of butter, sugar and flour.” The cousins began to treat their cookie business like the ever-evolving fashion industry by constantly promoting new designs and flavors. Crumbl uses social media to promote its business, releasing four new cookie flavors every week while keeping six “staple” cookies and often partnering with brands like Oreo and Poptart.
Stefania Bilyeu, Crumbl’s lead chef in Mountain View, says that brand deals, especially with celebrities, attract more customers.
“Kardashian Week was really busy for us,” Bilyeu said. “Benson Boone, Olivia Rodrigo, all those weeks were pretty busy.”
Cookies based on TikTok trends like pistachio-filled Dubai chocolate have also been extremely popular according to Bilyeu. Social media influencers also play into the addictive treat by posting viral Crumbl reviews online, encouraging their usually teenage fanbases to indulge in the sweets as well. Some accounts were even created for this content, like TikTok creator @Crazy4crumbl.
According to ExportUSA, an investment consulting company, Crumbl creates an addictive effect by selling flavors like limited-time events. It builds a habit. Customers’ social media feeds are flooded with addictive cookies, making them not want to miss out on the newest flavor — especially not when it features their favorite artist, celebrity or snack brand. The Crumbl flavor cycle repeats every week and eventually becomes routine.
Nineteen-year-old Zaveyon Ross, a former Palo Alto High School student, enjoys Crumbl for the trendiness as well as the quality of the cookies.
“I get Crumbl two times every two weeks, just when going out with my friends,” Ross said. “I think it’s popular because it’s a trend and people tend to follow a lot of trends to fit in with others. Another reason is because of the sugar and soft texture it has compared to other types of cookies.”
Despite Crumbl’s continuous cycle of novel cookies, customers often wish their favorite flavors would stick around longer.
“My favorite cookie would be the snickerdoodle or the Twix cookie, but my overall favorite is most definitely the churro cake,” Ross said. “Every week, Crumbl releases a new set of cookies. Depending on what those are, I [sometimes] make an exception and go back [for more] even after having it last week two times.”
Although Crumbl advertises its cookies as an occasional treat only to be enjoyed once-in-a-while, its marketing leads to overconsumption of the decadent sweets. Each Crumbl cookie has typically between 600 and 1,100 calories according to its website, so trying all four new flavors each week racks up nearly 4,000 calories, discounting the six constant flavors.
Aside from the overwhelming calorie levels, each cookie also contains between 40 and 80 grams of sugar, and up to 40 grams of saturated fat per cookie. They could have serious health effects if eaten regularly, according to Harvard-trained nutritional psychiatrist Georgia Ede.
“These [cookies] are not nourishing whole foods,” Ede said. “They are made from ultra-processed ingredients such as bleached flour, sugar, soy lecithin, and artificial flavors.”
Crumbl’s classic milk chocolate chip cookie contains over 700 calories, which is 40 percent of the recommended daily fat intake, and more than one-third of the recommended daily carbohydrate intake by the FDA.
Paly junior Zoe Quintana stopped getting Crumbl for these health disadvantages last year.
“I used to get Crumbl with my lacrosse teammates every once in a while, but the ingredients are so unhealthy, so I started by giving it up for Lent,” Quintana said. “I’ve been trying to eat better for my health, as well as my skin.”
However, many Crumbl lovers like Ross aren’t dissuaded by the nutritional hit.
“With my history and metabolism, I don’t mind the calories at all,” Ross said. “I most definitely prefer the large ones, especially when I’m really hungry.”
“Since opening its doors, Crumbl has expanded to over 1000+ bakeries, making it the fastest-growing cookie company in the U.S,” Crumbl says. “Not only are we proud to impact the lives of our customers, but we are passionate about supporting our local franchise partners, managers, and bakers. Today, Crumbl is a booming franchise with a global footprint. The mission, however, hasn’t changed. Crumbl is still on a mission to bring friends and family together over a box of the best cookies in the world.”
