Dirty Dough built its brand on stuffed, gooey treats with a sweet logo to match, its name in frosting-like script framed by a cookie missing that anticipated first bite.
Now, that trademark and others might be auctioned off — to pay a $1.5 million dough debt, racked up after the company emerged from the renowned #UtahCookieWars with a buzzy higher profile.
Dirty Dough was acquired last year by Craveworthy, a restaurant holding company, and now creditors claim it has stopped making payments on various agreements. In 10 lawsuits filed in Utah since January, they allege debts totaling at least $2.1 million, with the cookie dough tab the largest claim.
Craveworthy founder Gregg Majewski, widely known as the former CEO of Jimmy John’s, and Bennett Maxwell, the Utahn who drove Dirty Dough’s franchising success, have not filed responses in many of the suits. Majewski did not respond to The Salt Lake Tribune’s request for an interview. After the publication of this story, Maxwell told The Tribune he left the company this spring.
The Utah lawsuits — and recent breach-of-contract allegations brought by an Illinois developer who planned to franchise Dirty Dough in three states — are the latest twist for the cookie company whose boxes remind customers, “Life gets messy and that’s okay.”
The gooey, multilayered cookies were first crafted and sold by an Arizona State University student in 2018. Maxwell joined as an investor and later bought and expanded the business, connecting the cookies’ fillings and mix-ins to a message about mental health: “It’s what’s on the inside that counts.”
When competitor Crumbl later accused Dirty Dough of trademark infringement, Maxwell used humor to leverage the publicity — including billboards with messages like, “Cookies so good, we’re being sued!”
(August Rudisell | The Lawrence Times) Cookies on display in Dirty Dough location in Lawrence, Kansas, in 2023.
The dough debt
The potential auction of Dirty Dough’s trademarks traces back to the company’s deal with C&J Specialties, Inc., a “homegrown” snack maker in the small Utah town of Ephraim.
Maxwell had arranged for C&J to supply cookie dough, according to Salt Lake City attorney Spencer Young, who represents the manufacturer.
That deal wrapped up in the fall of 2024, Young said. That’s also when Craveworthy announced it was acquiring Dirty Dough. Maxwell became director of franchise sales for Craveworthy in October that year, according to LinkedIn.
The company continued to use dough from C&J but it wasn’t paying invoices, according to court documents. Majewski discussed the debt with C&J and its lawyers, Young said, and an agreement filed in court shows Dirty Dough Enterprises committed in March to paying $1.54 million, including interest fees and attorney costs.
But Dirty Dough immediately began missing the first of 104 planned weekly installments of $14,807, according to Young and court filings. In late April, C&J filed the repayment agreement in 6th District Court and obtained a judgment.
But while trying to collect on the debt, Young said, C&J and its lawyers discovered Dirty Dough Enterprises doesn’t have any tangible assets and isn’t actively operating the cookie business.
“It is a holding company for some equity in Craveworthy,” Young said. “That’s what they claim.”
Instead, Young said, Dirty Dough’s operations are run through two Delaware subsidiaries under Craveworthy’s umbrella.
An unusual solution
(Dean Da Valle) Dirty Dough’s menu showcasing the brand's logo and signature stuffed cookies at the South Barrington, Ill., location on Sept. 5, 2025.
However, several trademarks are still registered to Dirty Dough Enterprises, Young said, according to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records.
That makes them some of the only assets C&J believes the company actually owns — and what they now are hoping to sell.
On Aug. 22, a judge approved a writ of execution that directs the Utah County sheriff or a constable to seize and sell eight Dirty Dough trademarks.
The list includes the trademark for Deeper Than Dough — a podcast by Maxwell focused on “the intersection of mental health, entrepreneurship and personal growth,” according to his website.
Dirty Dough Enterprises had until Friday to oppose the writ, Young said, and no filings from the company appear in the court record.
The estimated value of the trademarks is listed as unknown. The Utah County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately provide information last week about its next steps.
New legal woes for Dirty Dough
Dirty Dough is also facing at least nine other suits from companies that say they haven’t been paid for leases, equipment and other expenses. The suits name Maxwell, Craveworthy and various legal incarnations of Dirty Dough in different combinations.
In May, a California-based company sued Dirty Dough and Maxwell, claiming they owed more than $98,000 on an equipment financing deal. A judge later ordered them to pay more than $110,000, including interest and legal fees. Court records currently show no payments have been made.
In a separate case, a Colorado court ordered Dirty Dough, Bennett Maxwell and Iliana Maxwell to pay nearly $197,000 in March in connection with a Greenwood Village location.
And in Utah, a landlord is suing Dirty Dough, saying the company broke its lease in Vineyard and still owes more than $42,000 plus interest. In a separate case, another company is trying to reclaim equipment it sold to Dirty Dough, claiming the cookie company never finished paying for it.
Majewski gave a statement to QSR Magazine about the Dirty Dough claims from the Illinois franchise developer, saying Craveworthy typically doesn’t comment on pending litigation but takes its contractual obligations seriously.
“When we welcome an emerging brand into our portfolio, it is often with the understanding that there are, both opportunities to build on and challenges to address, some of which may predate our involvement,” Majewski said the statement.
“We remain committed to navigating those matters purposefully and staying focused on what matters most: championing the people behind our brands and those who are on this journey with us,” he added.
Building the brand
(Amanda Goddard | Herald Journal) A Dirty Dough location in Logan in April, which has since closed.
A year after Maxwell bought out Dirty Dough, its first franchise opened in Vineyard in June 2022.
“The idea was I’m going to make this stupid simple to allow more people to franchise,” Maxwell said on an episode of the Silicon Slopes Show in 2023. The show features conversations with Utah entrepreneurs, leaders and executives.
Maxwell said he was inspired by Logan-based Crumbl’s franchise model and its popular rotating weekly flavors, but also was influenced by long-standing brands like Mrs. Fields and Insomnia Cookies.
He credited Dirty Dough’s rapid national growth in part to Crumbl’s high-profile allegations of trademark and trade dress infringement — dubbed the “Utah Cookie Wars” on social media — which he said helped boost the brand’s visibility.
“It’s definitely not in my personality to be like, ‘Oh, I’m going to hide and hope it’s going to go away.’ It’s not going away,” he said on the Silicon Slopes Show.
He credited the legal battle with helping Dirty Dough open 28 stores in 12 months, sell over 360 franchise deals and launch between one and three new locations each week. There were at least 15 locations in Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune previously reported.
Crumbl and the two cookie companies it accused, Dirty Dough and Crave, eventually settled out of court.
Dirty Dough now lists a lower number of 65 stores on its website — which no longer shows any open locations in Utah. Its production facility in Lindon is closed, according to Google.
And the trademarks Maxwell used to build the brand are now on the table for an interested buyer. Young said a notice of sale will be posted and the trademarks will be auctioned off to the highest bidders.
Correction • 6 p.m., Sept. 11, 2025: This story has been updated to reflect that Bennett Maxwell said he has left his position at Craveworthy.