Crumbl Cookies' Founders Reveal How They Create All Their Cookie Flavors - Exclusive
Every trip to Crumbl Cookies promises indulgence and nostalgia, all wrapped up in a pretty pink box. But at the same time, every trip to Crumbl Cookies is likely to be a brand new experience. And that's exactly how the company's founders want it to be.
"We have four rotating flavors every week but then we have two classics, our chocolate chip and our classic sugar cookie, in case people may not like those four specialty flavors that week," Sawyer Hemsley said. He and co-founder Jason McGowan, together with their team, have come up with nearly 200 different types of cookies over the last four years, all of which are "high-end" and "gourmet," made with "the highest quality ingredients out there." That's no easy task, but as it turns out, it sure is a fun one.
In an exclusive interview with Mashed, Crumbl's founders revealed how they've come up with all their cookie flavors, where they draw inspiration from, and what it takes to get a recipe from the drawing board to the oven.
The fun of creating new cookie flavors
If you think that coming up with scrumptious cookie flavors is as fun a job as it sounds, well, you'd be right. According to Crumbl Cookies' founders, the creative process starts out with a group of very lucky people sitting around, eating sweet treats, and brainstorming crave-inducing ideas. McGowan told Mashed, "They do such a good job, the R&D team and everyone, just to really come up with these unique flavor profiles that are just great." And inspiration can come from anywhere. "Cupcakes, cakes, hard candies, candy bars, you name it, we're going to try to make it into a cookie," Hemsley said, adding, "We sometimes bring in ice cream ... Christmas treats, muffins, breads. And then we use those and try to mimic the exact profile in a cookie form. And so it's just a blast."
After coming up with new cookie flavors to try, it's time for the best part — tastings. McGowan told Mashed the, "R&D team that goes and prepares and brings up cookies and brings them to Sawyer [Hemsley]" who helps decide which recipes are worth moving forward with. McGowan said they are always "thinking about those things like nostalgia" and "how you feel when you eat those cookies." Hemsley echoed that, saying: "We really try to find those flavors or those profiles that are nostalgic to people that they once grew up on."
They get help from the public
Crumbl's mission is "to bring friends and families together over the best box of cookies," according to the founders, who said they are constantly looking for ways to engage their cookie-loving community. And it's not just through their massive presence on social media platforms like TikTok. That involvement starts before a cookie ever even goes in the oven. Hemsley told Mashed that Crumbl gets "millions of requests or recommendations or suggestions" from fans on social media. And McGowan confirmed that those recipe recs make it onto the menu "all the time."
The public also plays a direct role in determining which cookie creations make it from the tasting table to the store shelf. Hemsley noted that Crumbl has "20 plus testing sites across the nation" where real, regular cookie lovers are brought in to try out new flavors and give their input. Hemsley explained: "Once we approve a cookie ... we send that recipe out to these testing sites and then we actually get real-time customer feedback through a survey and they tell us if they like the cookie, if they would refer it to a friend, if they think it should be on the menu." So you can be sure that every cookie Crumbl offers has been tried, tested, and proven to be delicious.
You can find your nearest location on the Crumbl website, and keep up with the viral cookie company by following them on TikTok.