Hot Cookie
Bringing Biscuits to Your Door

Few things in life are as delightful as freshly baked cookies. Thirty-one-year-old Christina Gumpert knows this to be true, and the avid baker's fledgling cookie delivery business, Hot Cookie, is her way of spreading the joy.

Gumpert moved to Santa Barbara from Los Angeles in 2001 to attend UCSB, but soon found herself wondering what she was doing there, and pondering what to do with the rest of her life. "I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I like to do and what I know I can do a lot of - and it's baking. From the time I was a little girl, my mom would cook dinner, but I'd always make dessert," she recalls.

Following her instincts, she decided to leave school last spring to focus on developing her business, which was launched in September. But she had more than just a bakery in mind: "I wanted to provide an alternative to sending flowers - something delicious and fresh that people could give as a gift for any occasion. Also, I wanted to make sure they looked special and pretty," she explains.

And they do. A coworker of mine recently received a Hot Cookie delivery and I was lucky enough to be summoned to her office to share in the goodies. The adorable box, hand-delivered by Gumpert, was wrapped in pink and brown ribbon and bore a handwritten gift card. The real treats, of course, lay inside: nestled in tissue paper that matched the ribbon were a dozen individually wrapped, warm, homemade cookies.

I chose a butter cookie first, which was absolute perfection. The icing on top provided just a hint of sweetness, complementing the buttery richness of the cookie flawlessly. Bliss. I took a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie for later - about five minutes later - which was delectable and decadent, made with chunky peanut butter and a generous smattering of chocolate chips.

The beauty of the business is in the freshness - after all, who wants a stale cookie? Gumpert goes to great lengths to ensure little time passes between cookie baking and cookie eating; she makes fresh dough for each cookie variety at least every other day, bakes them to order, and individually wraps each cookie for delivery. "I like people to get them when they're still warm - I really want them to be just like homemade," she says.

The Hot Cookie lineup includes six different selections: butter, peanut butter, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter chocolate chip, and oatmeal chocolate chip.

A Hot Cookie gift will run you about $20, and includes a dozen cookies. You choose the mix: send someone a dozen of their favorite, or design a combination. If you're sending the cookies to someone in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito, Summerland, or Carpinteria, Gumpert will personally deliver them for a $5 delivery fee. Orders outside of the Santa Barbara area are shipped via USPS. Hot Cookie cookies are also sold at Red's and Panino restaurant. For more information, visit hotcookie.com.