Treat yourself to something sweet this National Cookie Day - indulge in delicious cookies and get creative with custom recipes!
Get ready to celebrate National Cookie Day on December 4 with a batch of delicious, homemade cookies! This special day has been around for centuries and is celebrated in many countries across the world. Cookies have become an integral part of many cultures, providing comfort and warmth during times of celebration or sorrow. Whether you prefer crunchy oatmeal raisin cookies or soft chocolate chip ones, there's something for everyone on this special day!
In America, a cookie is described as a thin, sweet, small cake. By definition, a cookie can be a variety of hand-held, flour-based sweet cakes, either crisp or soft. Each country has its own word for “cookie.” In England and Australia they’re referred to as biscuits, in Spain they’re galletas. Germans call them keks and in Italy they have several names to identify the various forms of cookie. In America, the Dutch word “koekje” was Anglicized to “cookie.” The sweet treat came to America through the Dutch in New Amsterdam in the late 1620s. The earliest reference to cookies in America is in 1703, when the Dutch in New York provided 800 cookies for a funeral. Hard cookie-like wafers have existed for as long (and maybe even longer) as baking has been documented. However, they were not sweet enough to be considered cookies by modern standards. They appear to have some origins in 7th century CE Persia, shortly after the use of sugar became relatively common in the region. They spread to Europe through the Muslim conquest of Spain. By the 14 century, they were common in all levels of society throughout Europe, from royal cuisine to street vendors. With travel becoming widespread at that time, cookies made a natural travel snack, a modernized equivalent of the travel cakes consumed throughout history. One of the most popular early cookies, which traveled especially well and became known on every continent by similar names, was the jumble: a relatively hard cookie made largely from nuts, sweetener, and water.
Making cookies is a fun and rewarding experience. There are so many types of cookies you can make, from sugar to chocolate chip, no bake to shortbread, the options are endless.
Check out your local bakery or cafe and see what type of freshly baked cookies they have in store. It's a great way to celebrate National Cookie Day while supporting small businesses in your community.
Gather up some friends and turn cookie decorating into a fun afternoon activity. Pick up some pre-made sugar cookies, icing and sprinkles, then let the creativity flow.
Take a tour of your city's best bakeries and cafes, or even better, plan a road trip to take you to all the top spots for delicious cookies. Make sure to take lots of pictures along the way.
Organize a cookie swap with your friends and family where each person brings their favorite homemade cookie. Everyone gets to sample each other's creations, creating a fun and unique way to celebrate National Cookie Day.
Oatmeal? Chocolate chip? Sugar? They can't all be the best cookie, but any of them could certainly be someone's favorite. With the vast variety of cookie types across the globe, you're bound to get ten different answers if you ask ten different people.
Come on — does this one really need elaboration? We've all got fond memories, filled with nostalgia, of eating cookies as a youngster. For most of us, that love for cookies never left us.
If you bake a massive cake, it's easy to eat too much. Think about it: even after cutting out a massive slice, there's still a ton of cake left and it barely looks like you've made a dent. With cookies, it's easier to stop at one (though no one ever does.)