Today’s Spotlight is on Cookies.

Cookies are a baked or cooked snack or dessert that are typically small, flat, and sweet. They are made from a sweet, flour-based dough and usually contain flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. They may also include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, or nuts.

Some popular types of cookies include:

• Chocolate chip cookies
• Peanut butter cookies
• Sugar cookies
• Snickerdoodle cookies
• Oatmeal raisin cookies
• Shortbread cookies
• Peanut butter blossoms
• No bake cookies

Cookies are versatile and can be used in a variety of ways, including:

• As a post-meal dessert
• A random nibble during the day
• A thoughtful and delicious gift

 

History

Cookies originated in 7th century Persia (now Iran). They were originally created as “test cakes” to check oven temperatures. Persia was one of the first countries to grow and harvest sugar cane, which introduced sugar to their baked goods.

Cookies spread to Europe through the Muslim conquest of Spain. By the 14th century, they were common in all levels of society throughout Europe.

The first known cookie recipe was brought to America by the English in the early 1600s. The Dutch first popularized cookies in the United States. The British took a liking to them in the 19th century, incorporating them into their daily tea service.

The word “cookie” originates from the Dutch word ‘Koekje’ meaning ‘little cake’. These little cakes were originally made to test the temperature of an oven before baking a real cake.

The pizzelle is believed to be the oldest cookie in history. They were first made in the 8th century in south-central Italy. The name pizzelle comes from the Italian words pizze (round and flat) and elle (small).

Pizzelles are made from a sugar and butter-based batter that is pressed between two hot irons. They were originally made for the “Festival of the Snakes” in the village of Colcullo in the Italian region of Abruzzo.

Other early cookies include:

• Macaroons: A popular early American recipe
• Gingerbread: A popular early American recipe
• Jumbles: A popular early cookie made from nuts, sweetener, and water
• Chocolate chip cookies: Invented in 1938 by American chef Ruth Graves Wakefield

The first commercial cookie in the U.S. was the Animal Cracker, introduced in 1902. The sugar cookie is believed to have originated in the mid-1700s in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

 

Here are some fun facts about cookies:

• Americans eat over 2 billion cookies each year, which is about 300 cookies per person.
• The average American eats 35,000 cookies in their lifetime.
• 2% of U.S. households consume cookies.
• Half of the cookies baked in American homes each year are chocolate chip.
• More than half of Americans prefer homemade cookies to store-bought.
• 33% of men and women say they eat cookies a couple of times a week.
• The word “cookie” comes from the Dutch word “koekje” which means “little cake”.
• It’s commonly believed that the first chocolate chip cookie was created by accident.
• Christmas cookies date back to Medieval Europe.
• Dutch and German settlers first introduced cookie cutters to America.
• Animal crackers began as edible ornaments.

 

Centuries of Heritage

Cookies have been around for centuries. The worlds oldest cookie recipe was found on a cuneiform tablet carved in stone 4000 over years ago.

(4000 years ago)

Inda3 gug2 gu-la (“sweet cakes”) recipe:

Add 100 ml each of two good flours (emmer flour), 30 ml each of clarified butter, grated cheese and raisins and 100 ml each of finely chopped dates to a dough with a little water. Optionally some sourdough can be incorporated, so that the formed fruit breads become somewhat fluffier. Bake in embers (or in the oven at 200°) for 30 minutes. Good luck!

 

In the winter of 1915, the British-Hungarian archeologist Marc Aurel Stein opened a 1,300-year-old tomb in Xinjiang China. Grave robbers had emptied it of everything, except for a large number of remarkably preserved fancy cookies and the recipes.

Below is the Ancient Jam Tartlet Cookie recipe for you to try (slightly modernized):

Ingredients

• 1 stick softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• Purple, seedless grapes, either 12 large ones or 24 small ones
• 2 tablespoons apricot jam

Instructions

1. Mix the softened butter with the sugar until pale, then add the egg and blend until completely incorporated.
2. Gradually add in the flour and mix well. The dough will be firm and a creamy yellow. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
3. Wash the grapes. If the grapes are very large, slice them into halves. To get one grape on each cookie, you’ll need about 24 grapes or grape halves. Gently mix with the apricot jam until they are completely coated.
4. Take the cookie dough out of the fridge and divide it into about two dozen pieces. Roll the pieces into balls, each about an inch in diameter.
5. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
6. After placing the balls on a greased or silicon pad–covered cookie sheet, gently score them crosswise four times, creating a pattern like an asterisk (*). Then, with your thumb, depress the center of each cookie so that the dough bulges outward.
7. With a small spoon, scoop a grape or grape-half into each cavity, being sure to add a little of the jam as well.
8. Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden along the edges and the top.
9. Enjoy!

 

Consumption

Americans eat over 2 billion cookies each year, which is about 300 cookies per person. The average American eats 35,000 cookies in their lifetime. In the United States, 7 billion cookies are eaten each year. More than half of these cookies are homemade.

The most popular type of home-baked cookie is the chocolate chip. It’s estimated that 7 billion chocolate chip cookies are eaten every year in the U.S., and about half of those are homemade. The best-selling cookie in the world is the Oreo cookie. Since the brand’s inception in 1912, more than 450 billion Oreo cookies have been sold around the world.

 

Celebrating Cookies

There are several cookie holidays, including:

• National Cookie Day: Celebrated on December 4th.
• Bake Cookie Day: Celebrated on December 18^th.
• Shortbread Day: January 6th
• Fig Newton Day: January 16th
• Granola Bar Day: January 20th
• Blonde Brownie Day: January 22nd

Let us know in the comments, your favorite type of cookie.