Crumbl Vs Last Crumb: Who Makes Better Cookies?

As a kid, one of my favorite days of the entire year was cookie day. Each year, on a weekend in December, my family and I would assemble a list of favorite Christmas cookie recipes and get to work. Over the course of the day, we'd pump out several dozen cookies, utterly covering the entire kitchen with our prized creations. Between the Trans-Siberian Orchestra music, glow of the Christmas tree, and the sugary scents, it was one of the most perfect days. I think it's days like these that fostered my deep love of cookies. While I'm obsessed with Christmas cookie day — a tradition we continue today — I find it hard to drum up time to regularly bake cookies. Thankfully, bakeries like Last Crumb and Crumbl are there to help fill the void.

While Last Crumb and Crumbl both create and sell unique cookies to their loyal customers, and both are an absolute smash on social media, you might wonder which one actually makes a better cookie. I tried both bakeries and reviewed their cookies based on factors like price, texture, and flavor. You may be surprised by which cookie came out on top. 

All prices are as of the date of publication and may vary based on region. 

Most cookie bakers would tell you that it is an absolute dream to create the ideal chocolate chip cookie. That's exactly the challenge that Crumbl co-founders Jason McGowan and Sawyer Hemsley set for themselves in 2017. That goal bloomed into the business that Crumbl is today: a franchise of cookie bakeries with over 1,000 locations across the country. The white and pink decor inside of each one exudes cutesy sweetness.

Crumbl changes its cookie flavors on a weekly basis, so unless you visit multiple times a week, there's always something new to order and put in its social media-worthy pink boxes. These cookies are quite large, so you can have leftovers for the entire week. Or, you can purchase mini cookies. The mini cookies come in three-packs, six-packs, and by the dozen, while the standard-size cookies come in packs of one, four, six, and a dozen. The brand also sells a handy cookie cutter to encourage sharing and sampling among your friends and family.

When you walk into a Crumbl, you'll notice the kitchen is mostly open so you can see you where the bakers are preparing, serving, and mixing the ingredients. It smells exactly like you would want the sweetest of bakeries to smell. Even though Crumbl is a large franchise, it feels like a hometown bakery.

Last Crumb is a bakery based out of Hollywood that prides itself on making its cookies by hand — which ultimately amounts to cookies that the brand claims are worthy of the star-studded city. You'll purchase Last Crumb cookies through the brand's website, and they'll ship right to your door. While Last Crumb isn't a bakery you can necessarily visit, the website gives all the vibes you need. Its angsty, brooding, and displays all of the unique flavors Last Crumb brings to the table — like when the Last Crumb teamed up with Fly by Jing to make a chili crisp cookie.

Its cookies come in a few different collections instead of being sold solo. There were several collections available when I ordered, including Halloween Remix, Ooh, Baby (Ube), The Core Collection, and Death by Chocolate. A couple of the collections came with an option to order six cookies, but for the most part, you have to order them by the dozen. 

The Last Crumb cookies aren't cheap. The Core Collection, for example, rings in at $140 for a pack of 12. The real calling card of Last Crumb, though, is just how luxurious the cookies are. They are meant to be expensive and next-level.

My town acquired its first Crumbl Cookies location less than a few months ago (hopefully other cookie chains will follow). My first time venturing into the bakery was in preparation for this article. The operation was pretty small, and from the outside, didn't really look like much. But when I opened the door, I was immediately met with a waft of sweetness. The cookies were displayed prominently on the front counter, and just beyond that, I got a view of the large mixing machines hard at work. The week I visited, Crumbl was selling milk chocolate chip, banana upside-down cake, pink velvet cake, confetti milkshake, Kentucky butter cake, and sticky bun full-sized cookies. I purchased one of each and the cutter, and my total was $29.47.

I dug in as soon as I got home, beginning with the milk chocolate chip. I was enamored by the fact that the cookie was still warm by the time I cut it. I noticed that all the other cookies were still warm and soft and tasted like they had been baked that morning. These treats had a very homemade quality to them, and I enjoyed the touch of having a branded cookie cutter, too. Pink is my favorite color, so having it be such a prominent feature of the box is something I enjoyed as I sampled the cookies over the next couple of days. The cookies were all sweet, soft, and enjoyable — and the frosting really popped off. It tasted almost like cake frosting.

The box of cookies I sampled from Last Crumb included both familiar and unique flavors. The collection included a dozen cookie flavors: chocolate chip, birthday cake, peanut butter, lemon bar, chocolate lava, salted caramel macadamia, Oreo milkshake, red velvet, blueberry muffin, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, s'mores, and banana cream pie.

The cookies arrived at my door in a hefty box. Each cookie had its own interesting (and often funny or suggestive) name. The box also came with a book that included information about the different cookies. When I opened up each cookie, the first thing I noticed was how pre-made they felt. Even though the brand focused on doing everything from scratch, a whole lot of that was lost in translation due to the shipping process. It felt more like I bought cookies off a grocery store shelf than ordered them fresh from a bakery. Since they were a few days old by the time they arrived at my home, they also didn't taste super fresh. They were not old by any means, but they didn't have that fresh food quality. 

The lack of homemade-ness impacted both the flavor and the texture of the flavors. When I sampled Last Crumbs' cookie offerings, I was impressed, but not completely sold. All the flavors of the cookie were good, and the offerings were deeply unique, but the price was what really bothered me. I understand the desire to make something that is exceptional, and the price tag that comes with it. But, I just don't think these viral cookies are worth it.

The single biggest difference between Last Crumb and Crumbl is the price of the cookies. Taking a moment to do the math; at $140 for 12 cookies, Last Crumb's cookies come out to be just about $12 each. Crumbl offers a little discount on its pack sizes (so the more you buy, the more you save). At $23.49 for a six-pack, these cookies are just shy of $4 each. If you wanted to purchase a single cookie, you could do so for $4.49. For the sake of price comparison, a chocolate chip cookie from Starbucks is $3.45. While I understand that Last Crumb's big draw is that cookies are exclusive, and therefore expensive, $140 for a dozen feels out of hand. Crumbl cookies are much more reasonably priced. 

In terms of texture, it's really hard to get past the whole pre-made feel of Last Crumb's offerings. Crumbl's cookies, despite coming from a franchise, feel homemade — which give the brand a win in the texture category. Flavor is a little more complicated. I tend to be pretty simple when it comes to my flavor preferences, and a great chocolate chip cookie can easily win me over. Since I got to sample both bakeries' chocolate chip cookies, it felt reasonable use them as the basis for comparison. I liked the different types of chips that Last Crumb has in its cookie, but Crumbl's basic milk chocolate chip cookie hit all the marks for me. Plus, the fact that it was warm on arrival really pushed it over the top.

It might be a little outlandish to say, but I think Crumbl makes a better overall cookie. It definitely presents a better experience, considering you don't need to have a ridiculous cookie budget to enjoy some tasty offerings. Even with all the luxury Last Crumb brings, it's hard to compete with simple, homemade-like goodness.

To compare Last Crumb's and Crumbl's cookies, I took into account several factors, including price, texture, and flavor. I preferred the brand that was more reasonably priced over the one that was outrageously expensive. I tasted each cookie offering and looked for a soft mouthfeel without a pre-made quality. Although the flavor options vary between different between, I looked for the brand that offered more enjoyable and easy-to-eat treats that really hit my definition of a "perfectly made cookie."

Since both Crumbl and Last Crumb offered chocolate chip cookies, I used this flavor as a point of comparison. I looked for a cookie that has a nice mix of chocolatey goodness, sweetness, and a homemade feel. The chocolate shouldn't be overly bitter or overly sweet, either.