Hot cookies
Anand S
I ordered a Caramel Cashew Cookie - Soft & Chewy at the Chennai airport, an hour before my flight.
I've had cookies before, but not heated. The person at the counter put it in the microwave for 30 seconds before handing it to me.
It was the best discovery I made in Jan 2026!
It is crumbly. It is chewy. It melts. It soaks. It bends when you pick it up. It's warm. It's sweet. It's nutty. It's gooey. Oh, I could go on. It's heavenly.
Since then, I've had a few cookies - all heated. They always taste better hot - especially if they're almost melting. (The taste of the more buttery ones improves more.)
There's a reason for it.
- ~80% of taste is actually smell. When heated, cookies vaporize carrying the smell of vanilla, caramel, butter, etc from the mouth to the nose.
- TRPM5, a taste "valve", opens when hot. That's why melted ice cream tastes sweeter. So do hot cookies.
- Heat melts fat, which coats the mouth evenly. That carries the flavors to every corner of the mouth.
Some other foods that taste better hot are:
- Brie or Camembert cheese
- Peaches, plums, and nectarines
- Dark chocolate (like in a sizzling brownie sundae or a choco lava cake)
- Banana bread (or any dense loaf / cake)
- Pecan pie
- Cinnamon rolls
- Leftover pizza
I haven't tried them all, but I repeat: hot cookies are my best discovery this month!