The Failed Cookies That Didn't Make It On Crumbl Cookies Menu - Exclusive

Crumbl Cookies is known for doing things differently. The quickly growing dessert chain is recognized for its big, shareable cookies, its high-tech bakery concept, and above all, its rotating menu that keeps customers constantly checking social media and coming back to try the next new flavor (via Crumbl Cookies). And there's a lot of flavors. Over the last four years, Crumbl has featured nearly 200 different types of cookies on its menu.

Coming up with and actually creating that many delicious flavors cannot be an easy task. And according to Crumbl's founders, Jason McGowan and Sawyer Hemsley, it doesn't come without a whole lot of failed cookie mishaps along the way. So when we got the chance to chat with the cousins and business partners, we had to ask for some of the not-so-yummy details. In an exclusive interview with Mashed, the founders dished on some of the weirdest, worst cookie flavors they've whipped up, plus the one failed cookie they aren't ready to give up on yet.

Imagine the most unlikely cookie flavor you can think of ... and there's a chance the Crumbl Cookies founders have tried it out. McGowan and Hemsley told Mashed they've been known to experiment with ingredients that should probably never make it into a cookie. "We had lavender," McGowan said, adding that while he was a fan, he might have been the only one. "I feel like it was still good but it didn't sell that well."

Crumbl's founders have even tried to make savory cookies a feature of their menu, with some scary-sounding results. "We tried a Hot Cheeto lime cookie once ... we wanted to push our buttons here," Hemsley recalled. How did that turn out? About like you'd expect. "It never made it to the menu though ... thank goodness," Hemsley added. However, like the lavender cookie, McGowan kind of tried to defend the idea, speculating that a Hot Cheeto lime cookie would "probably [be] super popular though when we go to other countries and stuff like that, I imagined that."

While a maple bacon cookie doesn't sound like the worst idea in the world, it's a flavor that Crumbl's founders have yet to perfect. Though that's not for lack of trying. Hemsley put it this way: "You can either do a really good job with anything bacon, or you can do a really bad job. And we feel like we did maybe a bad/mediocre job." But he and McGowan say they aren't ready to give up on the idea of a maple bacon cookie just yet. "We can still do a good job. I think we should try to bring it out one day," McGowan insisted. And to be fair, as Hemsley pointed out, the first time they tried this out "was earlier on." In the last four years, the chain has expanded to hundreds of locations, rounding up millions of fans, and developed scores of new cookie flavors. "I think our processes and our team has developed over time," Hemsley said. "So we definitely want to try it again."

How will you know if the maple bacon cookie ever becomes a reality? You can find your nearest location on the Crumbl website, and keep up with the cookie company by following them on TikTok.