The early history of cookies
Seventh century (A.D.) Persians were some of the first people on the planet to cultivate sugar. Throughout the Persian empire, small and large cakes were common and were luxuriously sweet. By the end of the 1300’s, you could purchase little filled wafers on the streets in Paris. At the end of the 1500’s, middle class Elizabethan English citizens could buy cookbooks with cookie recipes. In the following centuries, people began to explore the world and they took with them hard baked “biscuits” that would last for a long time.
Europe strictly controlled the profession of baking from the end of the 1600’s through the 1700’s. Bakers would belong to “guilds” and this regulation made it easy for the control of what kinds and quantity of baked goods were available. Technology changed the way bakers could make their goods in the 1800’s, thanks to the Industrial Revolution. This resulted in a wide variety of sweet and savory biscuits made commercially.
The first cookies were brought to the United States by settlers from Holland, Scotland, and England. Today, simple butter cookies have a resemblance to the English teacake and Scottish shortbread. Butter and rosewater were the first flavoring agents when homemakers made their teacakes, but there are a large variety of these treats today.
Types of cookies in the United States
There are many different types of cookies made and sold throughout the United States. The following are some of the most popular choices.
Brownies
The first known brownie recipe was published in a Sears, Roebuck catalog in 1897. This recipe was so popular, that brownie mix was eventually sold in the catalog. The name comes from the color of this famous bar shaped cookie. Brownies can come in many shapes and feature many flavor combinations to fit any taste.
Chocolate chip cookies
The famous Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies were invented in 1936 by Ruth Graves Wakefield. She ran the Toll House Restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts. One day, Ruth did not have the baker’s chocolate she needed to make a butter drop cookie recipe, so she chopped up a semi-sweet bar of chocolate and mixed it into the batter. She thought the chocolate would melt, then spread through the cookies. However, they held their shape and she discovered a new and delicious way to make this dessert. Ruth named them Toll House Crunch Cookies. Guests at the restaurant loved her creation, and soon the recipe was printed in a Boston newspaper. From there, the new recipe spread across the country. The Nestle company bought the rights to the Toll House trademark from Ruth in 1940.
Amish Sugar Cookies
These sturdy sugar cookies were made when Protestant settlers from Germany moved to Nazareth, Pennsylvania and perfected their recipe. These cookies are sweet and fluffy, yet crispy on the outside.
Peanut butter cookies
The famous George Washington Carver developed hundreds of uses for peanuts in his recipes by 1903. A research bulletin he published in 1913 has the three recipes for peanut cookies. Peanut butter was first listed as an ingredient in cookies by the early 1930’s.
An edition of Pillsbury’s cookbook in 1933 listed a recipe for “Peanut Butter Balls.” This recipe instructs readers to form the dough into balls, place them on a cookie sheet, then press the tines of a fork into the dough. Most people still practice this technique when making peanut butter cookies today.
Get the best cookies from Belmar Bakery & Cafe in Amarillo, Texas
If you are craving cookies or another type of dessert, visit Belmar Bakery & Cafe in Amarillo, Texas today. We specialize in decorated cakes of all flavors, shapes, and sizes, as well as cookies and cupcakes. We have been in business for over 50 years producing wholesome and homemade foods. Call us today at (806) 355-0141 or Contact Us through email to learn more about the Products we serve. You can also visit us in person at 3325 Bell Street, in Amarillo, Texas.
