The Discontinued Cocktail-Themed Crumbl Cookie That Doesn't Deserve A Comeback

We love a coconut cookie moment — for instance, we adore coconut macaroons, which are a popular Passover dessert — but we were left wanting when Crumbl released its Piña Colada cookie in 2021. On paper, the cookie should have been a sugary slam-dunk: a pineapple-coconut cookie slathered with a thick layer of piña colada frosting, graced with a pinch of shredded coconut, and topped by a gleaming red maraschino cherry. But, unlike the boozy beach drink that inspired it, we didn't exactly want one of these cookies for each hand.

The sad reality is that the Crumbl Piña Colada cookie overwhelmingly tasted like fake coconut essence, to the point that internet reviewers compared it to the odor of sunscreen. While we may love the way that SPF products allow us to soak up the sun without turning into lobsters, we don't want to taste them on our cookies ... blech. Despite a popular misconception, you currently can't buy Crumbl cookies at the grocery store, but we wouldn't eat the Piña Colada cookie even if it were delivered to us. The controversial sweet resides in the Crumbl cookie graveyard, where the brand consigns its unpopular or otherwise retired flavors, so there's little chance of it spoiling our excitement over the weekly flavor roundup. With Crumbl having rolled out over 200 varieties of cookies as of this writing, there are bound to be some misses among all the hit flavors, but the Piña Colada cookie was a real dud.

Commenters on a few Reddit threads dedicated to the Piña Colada Crumbl cookie did not mince words when it came to their reviews. "The cookie for me, personally, was TOO coconut-y. There is no pineapple flavor at all in the ones I got. The flavoring they use for coconut is unbearably strong and artificial tasting," one Redditor groused. "I didn't like it — it tasted like sunscreen lol. I [normally] love coconut and pineapple things but this was super artificial flavor and didn't taste right to me unfortunately," another commented. Other common criticisms centered on the cookie being unbearably sweet, especially the frosting.

Perhaps it's not beyond redemption. When Foodie rounded up our list of Crumbl cookies that need a comeback, our reviewer felt that a few tweaks could vastly improve the Piña Colada cookie and make it enjoyable. These include swapping out the loathsome artificial coconut extract with a natural source of coconut flavor, like coconut cream, or even amping up the pineapple component to better complement the strong coconut punch. We've seen copycat recipes online that mix sweetened coconut into the cookie itself, as well as reserving some for topping, for example. Piña Colada should, in theory, be an enjoyable dessert inspiration that screams summer and celebrates the flavors of the tropics. Unfortunately, as it was served, this Crumbl cookie was a one-bite wonder that didn't make us want to go back for a second taste.