With the holidays approaching, you’re bound to receive an invitation to a cookie party. But what exactly is a cookie party? According to Martha Stewart, a home and hospitality guru who’s famous for her baking and home design media, a cookie party is a holiday event where friends and family come together to share and swap cookies.

When arriving at this hypothetical cookie party, you may encounter two popular cookie brands: Insomnia Cookies and Crumbl Cookies. Your first instinct may be to reach for the pink box holding the social-media sensation, Crumbl, which has gained fame through weekly TikTok cookie reviews. But before you dive in, I recommend skipping Crumbl and opting for Insomnia instead.

When judging two cookie brands, I like to keep it simple and evaluate a timeless classic that everyone can agree on: the chocolate chip cookie.

Sweetness levels

Crumbl’s chocolate chip cookie has a hefty diameter of about 5 inches. Even as a cookie fanatic, I struggle to finish one in a single sitting — not because I lack the appetite but because it’s overwhelmingly sweet. 

If Crumbl dialed down on the sugar, it could be tolerable, but the fact of the matter is that they don’t hold back. According to Crumbl’s website, a single one of their chocolate chip cookies contains a whopping total of 94 grams of sugar. Given that you’re at a cookie party where you’re sampling several treats, you’ll want to satisfy your sweet tooth with more than just one.

Some might assume the high sugar content in a Crumbl cookie is due to its larger size (bigger cookie = more sugar) but when you compare the two brands’ sugar per gram ratio, Crumbl’s cookies actually contain nearly twice the amount of sugar as Insomnia’s cookies.

According to Insomnia Cookies’ nutritional website, one chocolate chunk cookie contains 20 grams of sugar and is 2 ½ inches in diameter. Insomnia Cookies offer a delightful experience with the perfect balance of salty and sweet — a blend that almost tricks me that I’m not consuming a ton of sugar and leaves me wanting more. 

I find it similar to the phenomenon that many people share on social media: the gross feeling they get when their eggs start to taste too eggy or their chicken starts to taste too much like chicken. Even though we know what we are eating, it tastes better when the ingredients are masked to prevent any one ingredient from becoming overwhelming.

Dietary restriction alternatives

People who follow a gluten-free or vegan diet are out of luck at Crumbl. Their classic milk chocolate chip cookie contains milk, eggs, wheat and soy, with no other alternative options available.

In contrast, Insomnia Cookies offers both a vegan chocolate chunk cookie and a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie, allowing certain customers to indulge without compromise.

The bake

I’m not sure if the name “Crumbl” really fits the cookies’ texture. When I think of a crumbly cookie, I imagine something dry and crisp. As a former Crumbl employee who placed their chocolate chip cookies in the oven and set a timer for 16 minutes to bake, I was always amazed that they still came out raw in the middle despite following simple instructions. 

Customers often returned after receiving their order, claimed their cookie was raw and demanded a new one. I would swap it out but I knew they would still end up biting into a doughy center no matter which one they were served.

If I had to pick one word to describe Crumbl cookies, it would be wet. Sometimes, I would pick up a cookie and it would split in half because it was so soft (or raw) in the center.

Insomnia reminds me of the type of cookies a grandma, who has years of baking experience, makes on a cold winter day. The cookie has a perfectly crisp edge, the chocolate chunks — not chips — are scattered sporadically throughout, the jagged peaks of the cookie are shaded a golden brown and the inside holds a warm, chewy center.

As you step into your upcoming cookie party or are deciding what to bring, do yourself and others a favor and choose the Insomnia Cookie. Choose the one that’s reliably delicious — no sugar coating necessary.