The Unexpectedly Futuristic Way To Get Warm Cookies

No matter the time of year, people will be busy baking and decorating cookies to serve for dessert at dinner parties and family gatherings. Nothing quite beats the warm, gooey, melt-in-your-mouth perfection of cookies eaten fresh just out of the oven. Sure, you might have to perform a little hot potato maneuver and delicately transfer them between your hands to avoid scalding, but any temporary pain you may experience is rewarded handsomely with each delectable molten bite.

There is only one chance to enjoy a cookie at this peak level of freshness and deliciousness. You can try to simulate it by briefly reheating the cookie in the microwave or a toaster oven and, although tasty, it is never exactly the same. But what if you could replicate that warm cookie every time? An entrepreneur out of St. Louis named Mike Evans has introduced his community to an unexpectedly futuristic way to get warm cookies, per Riverfront Times.

In 2020 during the height of the pandemic, Evans, who owns Alibi Cookies in St. Louis, launched the concept of a "CookieBot," a robotic vending machine that dispenses warm cookies. Its cookies are prepared fresh every morning and the CookieBot maintains them at a constant temperature of 100 to 110 degrees. The machine generally offers a selection of around a dozen or so cookie varieties that come out wrapped and hot (via Sauce Magazine). It accepts any kind of payment including cash, card, or wireless.

Evans drew his inspiration for the CookieBot from Japan, which provides vending machines for nearly every item imaginable. But one thing he couldn't find anyone doing was a vending machine that distributed warm cookies, so he decided he would fill that niche. After some tinkering and back-and-forth exchanges with designers in Japan, he developed a prototype and CookieBot was born (per Riverfront Times).

Initially founded in a church kitchen, Alibi Cookies has since expanded to include three CookieBots and three brick-and-mortar store locations in St. Louis. If you don't live near St. Louis and want to sample some Alibi Cookies for yourself, the bakery does offer nationwide shipping. Unfortunately, they won't be delivered to you warm by CookieBot.