Oils, whether in the form of butter, vegetable oils, or lard, are much more viscous than water and evaporate freely at a far higher temperature. In the cookie the agent of cohesion has become some form of oil. Water in cakes serves to make the batter as thin as possible, the better to allow bubbles-responsible for a cake's fluffiness-to form. Despite its descent from cakes and other sweetened breads, the cookie in almost all its forms has abandoned water as a medium for cohesion. Cookies are produced in a wide variety of styles, using an array of ingredients including sugars, spices, chocolate, butter, peanut butter, nuts, or dried fruits.Ī general theory of cookies may be formulated in the following way. Other types of cookies are not baked at all, such as varieties of peanut butter cookies that use solidified chocolate rather than set eggs and wheat gluten as a binder. Description A dish of assorted cookies, including sandwich cookies filled with jam Cookies baking in an ovenĬookies are most commonly baked until crisp or else for just long enough to ensure soft interior. There was much trade and cultural contact across the North Sea between the Low Countries and Scotland during the Middle Ages, which can also be seen in the history of curling and, perhaps, golf. Īccording to the Scottish National Dictionary, its Scottish name may derive from the diminutive form (+ suffix -ie) of the word cook, giving the Middle Scots cookie, cooky or cu(c)kie. Another claim is that the American name derives from the Dutch word koekje or more precisely its informal, dialect variant koekie which means little cake, and arrived in American English with the Dutch settlement of New Netherland, in the early 1600s. The American use is derived from Dutch koekje 'little cake,' which is a diminutive of 'koek' ('cake'), which came from the Middle Dutch word 'koke'. From 1808, the word 'cookie' is attested '.in the sense of 'small, flat, sweet cake' in American English. The word cookie dates from at least 1701 in Scottish usage where the word meant 'plain bun', rather than thin baked good, and so it is not certain whether it is the same word. Ĭookies that are baked as a solid layer on a sheet pan and then cut, rather than being baked as individual pieces, are called in British English bar cookies or traybakes.

In Scotland the term 'cookie' is sometimes used to describe a plain bun. The container used to store cookies may be called a cookie jar.

However, in many regions both terms are used. The term 'cookie' is normally used to describe chewier ones. In many English-speaking countries outside North America, including the United Kingdom, the most common word for a crisp cookie is ' biscuit'. Terminology Traditional American Christmas cookie tray Fresh-baked cookies are sold at bakeries and coffeehouses. Factory-made cookies are sold in grocery stores, convenience stores and vending machines. Cookies are often served with beverages such as milk, coffee or tea and sometimes dunked, an approach which releases more flavour from confections by dissolving the sugars, while also softening their texture. Some cookies may also be named by their shape, such as date squares or bars.īiscuit or cookie variants include sandwich biscuits, such as custard creams, Jammie Dodgers, Bourbons and Oreos, with marshmallow or jam filling and sometimes dipped in chocolate or another sweet coating.

Chewier biscuits are sometimes called 'cookies' even in the United Kingdom. Most English-speaking countries call crunchy cookies ' biscuits', except for the United States and Canada, where ' biscuit' refers to a type of quick bread. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, nuts, etc. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. A cookie ( American English), or a biscuit ( British English), is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet.

Peek freans assorted creme