that's the way the cookie crumbles

that's the way the cookie crumbles

There is nothing we can do about the way things have unfolded, especially bad ones, so there is no reason to be upset about it. I'm pretty gutted about not getting into the grad school program I wanted, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles.
See also: cookie, crumble, way
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

that's the way the cookie crumbles

or

that's how the cookie crumbles

If you say that's the way the cookie crumbles or that's how the cookie crumbles you mean that you have to accept the way things happen or develop, even if it is not what you wanted. You're not always on peak performance, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles. I had some bad luck with injuries — that's how the cookie crumbles.
See also: cookie, crumble, way
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

the way (or how) the cookie crumbles

how things turn out (often used of an undesirable but unalterable situation). informal, chiefly North American
See also: cookie, crumble, way
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

that’s the way the cookie ˈcrumbles

(also that’s the way it ˈgoes) (informal) that is the situation and we cannot change it, so we must accept it: She met somebody else and left me. That’s the way the cookie crumbles, I suppose.
See also: cookie, crumble, way
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

That’s the way the cookie crumbles

sent. That is life.; That is typical of the unequal share of things you are likely to get in life. I lost my job. Oh, well. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
See also: cookie, crumble, way
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • That’s the way the cookie crumbles
  • That’s the way the mop flops
  • that's how the cookie crumbles
  • that's how the mop flops
  • that's the way the mop flops
  • the way the cookie crumbles
  • that's the way the ball bounces
  • that's how the ball bounces
  • That’s the way the ball bounces
  • DAT
References in periodicals archive
"When it came to the important time I ended up messing up, but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
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The Rocket said: "He probably thought he had chances to win but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
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He lay down and burped a giant burp, while Catalina happily met her family with hugs and a fresh batch of her favorite cookies, saying "That's the way the cookie crumbles!" Delicious, edible looking illustrations with sly images of little Russian nesting dolls decorate the pages of this modern fable of "Catalina and the King's Wall," a homily warning against greed and separatism that speaks to today's children and adults as well.
Catalina and the King's Wall
"But that's the way the cookie crumbles. We are fourth so we can't grumble.
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Over the next few weeks workshops entitled Pukka Picnics, That's The Way The Cookie Crumbles, and Pizza & Pasta, will help children boost their culinary know-how.
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That's the way the cookie crumbles for a country on the rise.
Mirror Comment: A fair slice of the Euro pie
"In this business, that's the way the cookie crumbles."
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