The Delicious History of the Cookie
Whether a Galleta from Spain, a Plätzchen from Germany or an Amaretti from Italy, the cookie’s historic background has earned its place as a hand-held tradition through the ages.
Early cookie development dates to the seventh century Persian Empire. Records show that the
“cookie” was originally used as a test cake: bakers would place a small amount of cake batter onto baking pans to ensure the oven was heated to the correct temperature for cake baking. However, baking techniques and recipes evolved with the melding of cultures across Northern Europe and the developing spice trade, allowing the cookie to become a culinary treat rather than a testing method.
As global sea travel became widespread starting in the 14th century, biscuits, or hardtack, were the ideal travel food because they stayed fresh for long periods of time. One of the most popular forms of this “travel cookie” was the jumble, a hard cookie made from nuts, sweetener and water.
Eventually, English, Scottish and Dutch immigrants brought their versions of the cookie to North
America in the 1600s. While the English primarily referred to the cookie as “small cakes,” or “tea cakes,” the Dutch used the word “koekje,” which eventually evolved into “cookie” or “cookey” in the 1700s. Affordable sugar and flour in the 19th century and the introduction of chemical rising agents such as baking soda led to the development of new cookie recipes that have become modern day favorites, including Snickerdoodles, Fig Newtons and, of course, the chocolate chip cookie.
Classifying the Modern Cookie
While cookies are generally thought of as sweet, flat and circular desserts, there are nine basic types that are broadly classified according to the way the dough is handled and formed:
Bar Cookies: Batter or other ingredients are poured or pressed into a rectangular pan, then baked and cut into individual-sized squares. Examples: Brownies, Lemon Bars.
Drop Cookies: A spoonful of relatively soft dough is placed on the baking sheet; the mound of dough spreads and flattens during baking. Examples: Chocolate Chip Cookies, Macaroons,
Peanut Butter Cookies.
Molded Cookies: A stiff dough is molded into balls or other shapes before baking. Examples:
Almond Crescents, Snickerdoodles.
No-Bake Cookies: A “faux” cookie that does not require any baking; a type of candy-cookie hybrid. Example: Rice Krispies Treats.®
Pressed Cookies: A soft dough is extruded from a cookie press or pastry tube into various decorative shapes before baking. Examples: Spritzgebäck or Spritz Cookies.

Refrigerator or Ice Box Cookies: A stiff dough is shaped into logs and refrigerated until it becomes hard. Then the logs are sliced into rounds and baked. Examples: Pinwheels, Shortbread.
Rolled Cookies: A stiff dough is chilled and then rolled thin and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter, knife or pastry wheel. Example: Gingerbread Men.
Sandwich Cookies: Rolled or pressed cookies are held together with a sweet filling such as marshmallow, icing or jam to form a “sandwich.” Examples: Oreos, French Macaroons.
Fried Cookies: Fried dough that is often dusted with powdered sugar. Examples: Krusczyki,
Zeppole, Rosettes.