CHICAGO — Crumbl has begun selling cookies that are, in every way that matters, just Little Debbie snacks, but bigger, and in a box, and for a price that would make the original Little Debbie, who is, as far as we can tell, a real person, sit up and say, “that’s my thing, but, okay.”

The collaboration, available nationwide through September 12, brings together six desserts inspired by the snack brand’s most recognizable treats, including a zebra-cake cookie with a striped chocolate drizzle, and an oatmeal creme pie cookie that is, per the company, “our version” of the oatmeal creme pie, which is the food world’s way of saying “we took the thing, we made it a cookie, and we are very proud.”

"I've had the oatmeal one, and I've had the real one, and they're basically the same, except one is a cookie and one is, like, a little box you found at the gas station, and I'm not mad."

The line opened on Saturday and, by the accounts of the people who were there, moved with the speed of a thing that is both familiar and new, which is, in the cookie world, the recipe for a very good afternoon. A patron who asked not to be named, on the grounds that “I just ate two and I’d rather not be found out,” said the experience was “like a memory, but you’re paying for it,” which is, as far as we can tell, the entire business model.

THE COLLAB, AT A GLANCE

  • The zebra: A cookie with a striped drizzle. It looks like the cake. It is, now, the cake.
  • The oatmeal: Two cookies, one filling. It is an oatmeal creme pie, but it is, technically, a cookie.
  • The box: The thing that makes it a collaboration instead of just, like, a snack.
  • The deadline: September 12, which is the food world's way of saying "hurry, it's a thing."

A high-school senior, who was with a friend and who was, by all accounts, “in the middle of a lot of things,” said the collab was “a whole moment,” which is the phrase teenagers use when they mean “I took a picture of it and I’m going to post it,” and a city official, who was in the area for “reasons,” said the chain was “a great addition to the neighborhood,” which is the phrase used by officials who are, for the record, also just happy about a cookie.

At press time, Crumbl confirmed that the line was “still going strong,” which is the company’s way of saying “people are still standing in it, and the frosting is, as of right now, still on the cookies,” and that the collaboration would “end on schedule,” which is the only deadline in the food world that is, by all accounts, actually enforced.