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Cookies
Also known as biscuits in English-speaking countries outside North
America, cookies are small, round, flat baked desserts common
in the United States and Canada.
The word "cookie" derives from the Dutch word koekje or koekie, which means
little cake, and arrived in the English language through the Dutch in
North America. It spread from American English to British English where
biscuit is still the more general term.
Types of Cookies
Cookies are broadly categorized according to how they are formed:
- Drop cookies are
made from a relatively soft dough that is dropped by spoonfuls onto the
baking sheet. During baking, the mounds of dough spread and flatten.
Chocolate chip cookies (Tollhouse cookies), peanut butter cookies, and
oatmeal cookies are popular examples of drop cookies.
- Refrigerator cookies
are made from a stiff dough that is refrigerated to become even
stiffer. The dough is typically shaped into cylinders which are sliced
into round cookies before baking.
- Molded cookies are
also made from a stiffer dough that is molded into balls or cookie
shapes by hand before baking. Snickerdoodles are an example of molded
cookies.
- Rolled cookies are
made from a stiffer dough that is rolled out and cut into shapes with a
cookie cutter. Gingerbread men are an example.
- Pressed cookies
are made from a soft dough that is extruded from a cookie press into
various decorative shapes before baking. Spritzgebäck are an
example of a pressed cookie.
- Bar cookies consist
of batter or other ingredients that are poured or pressed into a pan
(sometimes in multiple layers), and cut into cookie-sized pieces after
baking. Brownies are an example of a batter-type bar cookie, while Rice
Krispie treats are a bar cookie that doesn't require baking, perhaps
similar to a cereal bar. In British English, bar cookies are known as
"tray bakes".
- Sandwich cookies are
rolled or pressed cookies that are assembled as a sandwich with a sweet
filling. Fillings may be with marshmallow, jam, or icing. The Oreo
cookie, made of two chocolate cookies with a vanilla icing filling is
an example.
- Fried cookies
including traditional cookies such as the krusczyki, rosettes and
fattigmann as well as a newer American trend of deep-frying ordinary
drop cookie dough..
Cookie
Tips
1. When cutting slice & bake cookies, slice with dentalfloss
and keep rotating the roll so that you don't have a flat side.
2. Avoid over-mixing cookie dough. Over-mixing will result in a tough
textured cookie.
3. Bake cookies only until they are done. Over-baking creates a dry
cookie. Underbaking creates a "doughy" cookie. Use the time given [in
the recipe] as a guide for doneness. Cookies are done if they retain a
slight imprint when pressed lightly with a finger.
4. When a cookie recipe calls for quick-cooking rolled oats, use
quick-cooking or old fashioned regular but not the instant breakfast
kind.
from Granny's
Taste of Christmas
Recipes
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Cookies
Direct from the Baker
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