Crumbl’s chocolately confection crushes Cedar Valley cookie competitors

October is a month of many treats, from the pumpkin-spiced to the buckets filled with trick or trick collections, but cookies are always in season, and the Cedar Valley has a wide variety of options. In a showdown of cookie specialty bakeries, we focused on Bambino’s Bakery, Crumbl Cookies and Insomnia Cookies.

Bambino’s Bakery:

Bambinos is a quaint Iowan bakery complete with pastries and cookies, as well as their signature “Bambino Cookie,” presented as a two-tier stacked cookie with a swirl of frosting on the top. Bambinos also offers seasonal treats like pumpkin bars, scotcheroos and cinnamon rolls. One location of the Babinos Bakery is 2110 Kimball Avenue in Waterloo.

What We Know 

• A Bambino’s Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookie costs $3 apiece. Each cookie is a good size.
• The cookie is dusted lightly with sugar.
• The cookie is well-shaped and rounded.
• The cookie has a fair distribution of chocolate chips inside.
• The cookie has a baked golden brown color along the edges with a doughy center.

Ratings

Madrigal: 2.4/5 stars ★★1/2

Miller: 3/5 stars ★★★

Madrigal’s Review:

At first glance I could see that the Bambinos Chocolate Chip Cookie was golden brown around the edges, but toward the middle it looked more soggy and lighter in color. The cookie is crunchy on the outer edges—but don’t be fooled because as you get closer to the middle it gets a bit doughy. The cookie is not pre-heated, and it just waits on the glass-display till someone picks it up. I’m sure that if you were to come right at opening time—9 a.m.— that the cookies would be freshly baked. I will say that the aftertaste of the cookie leaves a buttery-taste in your mouth. The chocolate chunks within the cookie are distributed fairly well. In the cookie there were too many chocolate chunks and too much butter taste throughout the cookie. One thing that I did love about the cookie was that it wasn’t dense and wasn’t filling. This allows for the opportunity  to pair this cookie with a side dish—vanilla bean ice cream. 

Miller’s Review:

I actually think the cookie is a solid contender in our rating system. It held its own—by its golden brown edges and sugar-dusted crunch. I, however, have to say that as a chocolate lover, especially, there was not enough chocolate. The cookie had a buttery tasting dough, and when there are bites without chocolate, you really taste the lack and specifically the overload of butter. I personally dislike that oily, greasy-tasting batter. The cookie was not very heavy or dense, nor was it packed tightly. In addition, it was also rather thin and delicate. Keep in mind the cookie does not come prewarmed, so that definitely shaved a few stars off of my own rating. On the other hand, the cookie has a decent taste overall, and a light and chocolatey aftertaste almost convinced me to go four stars. To pair with an additional sweet treat, I would recommend a vanilla or chocolate ice cream to complement its light and crunchy texture.

Crumbl Cookies:

The Crumbl Cookies Bakery is a rapidly growing franchise around the United States, specifically due to its rise in popularity and advertising on social media platforms like TikTok. Here in Iowa, one location of Crumbl Cookies is 421 Viking Plaza Drive in Cedar Falls. Crumbl’s signature piece is their classic Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk Cookie. Each week, Crumbl changes its lineup of cookies available for purchase, and they keep one of two classic chocolate chip cookies: their Semi-Sweet (mentioned above), as well as their Milk Chocolate Chip Cookie.

What We Know

• The Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk cookie costs $4.80 per cookie. It is big.
• The cookie is well-shaped and dense.
• The cookie has an even distribution of chocolate chunks on the inside and on the top.
• The cookie is dusted on the top with light salt flakes.

Ratings

Madrigal: 5/5 stars ★★★★★

Miller: 4.7/5 stars ★★★★1/2

Madrigal’s Review:

The immediate thing that drew my attention when I bought a cookie was the smell that hits you as you walk out of the shop. The cookie was so warm and so welcoming. On the edge, it’s a light golden brown, and that color stays present throughout the whole cookie. On top it had salt and chocolate chunks, which gave the cookie a salty-chocolatey and warm aftertaste. The cookie quite literally melted in your mouth.  There was a lot of butter, so if you are not a big fan, I do not recommend it, but if you are a chocolate lover, the chocolate chunks are gooey and warm. I will say that on top the cookie did look greasy, and it is very high in calories with 680 calories per cookie, but that is probably because it is so densely packed and heavy. Overall, the cookie was good, and I highly recommend you try it because it was my personal favorite out of all the ones we tried.

Miller’s Review:

The Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk Crumbl Cookie is my favorite of our roster today. Out of three locations, this one stole my heart (and my stomach). The cookie came in a box of four (per their weekly lineup), and the first thing I noticed was how warm the box was. Cookie points were added for prewarmed cookies. Then, when I opened the lid, I noticed its classic presentation. Melty chocolate chunks placed on top in addition to the chocolate inside made me convinced this was going to be a high-quality one. The first bite of the cookie had a satisfying crunch, all the while being soft and delicate. The chocolate chunks were practically liquified, and the chocolate was extremely high-quality tasting. It was a perfect balance of cookie and chocolate. Once more, there was a heavy butter taste, but the batter was mostly overpowered by the chocolate add-ons. The cookie was heavy and definitely dense, with a medium height and a well-shaped circle.

Insomnia Cookies:

Insomnia Cookies is a cookie company and bakery with stores all across the United States. The company’s most popular flavor is Chocolate Chunk Cookie, available in a vegan chocolate chip option as well. Insomnia Cookies’ closest location in Cedar Falls is on 2202 College Street. 

What We Know

• The chocolate chip cookie costs $2.14 and is relatively small.
• The cookie has a good golden brown coloring.
• The cookie is presented warm.

Ratings

Madrigal: 2.6/5 stars ★★1/2

Miller: 2.3/5 stars ★★1/2

Madrigal’s Review: 

When presented with the cookie, I could feel the warmth through my hands, and though it didn’t last very long, the cookie tasted store bought. It tasted like I went to the store, bought some batter and then baked them in the oven. Don’t get me wrong, that’s OK, but the cookie didn’t have a wow factor to it. When I took my first bite I got a lot of chocolate chips, and in some other places, there were none. I will say that Insomnia has tons of options for your cookie. You can pair it with an ice cream scoop on top, or you can make an ice cream sandwich. They even have vegan options. I would personally not go back for the chocolate chip cookie specifically, but I would be down to try a different one with ice cream.

Miller’s Review:

Fresh out of the oven, this cookie was not terribly impressive. It was small, had a medium thickness and was lightweight. The first bite was not surprising either. It had a good base and well-tasting batter, but not nearly enough chocolate chips. When left on a surface, the cookie left behind an oily film, possibly due to the amount of butter used in the baking process. The cookie did have a nice coloring—golden brown edges to a pale ombre in the center. All in all, this cookie was my least favorite of the list, but that is not to say Insomnia doesn’t have other options or that it wasn’t a good cookie. In fact, there were several drinks you could order, as well as a vegan option of the classic chocolate chip cookie.

Overall we both think that Cumbl Cookies’ Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk Cookie outperformed Insomnia’s Chocolate Chunk and Bambinos’ Jumbo Chocolate Chip by a rating of 4.7 and 5 stars. This is due to Crumbls’ high quality baking and chocolate chips, price and size.