“You’re bringing cookies, right?”
Whenever Ray Devaughn would RSVP for a party, this was the common response. It wasn’t “can’t wait to catch up on life,” or “you’re going to love the pasta salad.” It was always about his cookies.
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What started as a go-to potluck contribution soon turned into a crowd-pleasing staple.
For Devaughn—a man whose main occupation seemed to be getting degrees (he has an AA in general studies, a BS in chemistry, a MS in chemistry, and an MBA), baking cookies was just a hobby. But when he was laid off from his job selling laboratory management software during the pandemic, he had a sugar-infused a-ha moment.
“The chocolate chip was my party cookie,” he says. “And many people have said it’s the best chocolate chip cookie they’ve ever had. So I decided to see if I could make a business out of selling cookies.”
So far, so good, both literally and figuratively.
Devaughn introduced King Cookie at the Soulard Farmers’ Market in March, and customers began urging him to visit the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market, which he did in April.
“I remember the first day of the season, it was pouring rain,” Devaughn recalls. “It was really windy and gross. It was horrible. A lot of people still came. And they bought cookies.”
That was enough to convince him to add The Boulevard Market to his stops in May and then the Lake St. Louis Farmers & Artists Market shortly thereafter. He’s also at the Maplewood Market at Schlafly Bottleworks the first Sunday of every month.
His cookies aren’t flashy. You’ll find no sprinkles or pink icing—just big, straightforward peanut butter, chocolate chip (also available gluten-free), chocolate crinkle, and oatmeal raisin cookies made with quality ingredients.
For Devaughn, it’s about quality and simplicity. “I use real butter and quality chocolate, like Ghirardelli and Guittard,” he says. “My cookies are not excessively sweet—I’ve gotten that feedback from a lot of customers. I make it that way on purpose. If I want a cookie, I want the whole cookie. I don’t want just a bite and the sugar goes straight to my head and I have to throw the rest away.
“It’s about simplicity,” he continues. “My table setup, my packaging, my cookies. I’m not about putting pretzels and candy corns in a cookie. I’m all about the fact that this is a chocolate chip cookie, but it will be the best chocolate chip cookie you’ve ever had.”
Whatever he doesn’t sell each week, he donates to Trinity Lutheran in Soulard and the food pantry and homeless shelter Loaves and Fishes in Maryland Heights, where he’s told that his cookies are the favorite treat for the kids who live there.
So it would seem that community is also among the winning ingredients for this chemist-turned-cookie-king.
But what about taste?
“For me, baking is part science but part art, too,” Devaughn says. “I do feel like I tap the creative side of my brain when making cookies.”
It’s a formula that seems to work, based on the amount of repeat customers Devaughn’s been seeing early in the game.
“It’s profound to see the people who come to the market just for my cookies,” he says. “I know I’m on to something.”
