Cookie
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/* Notes */ {{commonscat|Cookies}}
{{two other uses|the food|the computer term|HTTP cookie|other uses|Cookie (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:Choco chip cookie.jpg|thumb|275px|A [[chocolate chip cookie]]]]
In the [[United States]] and [[Canada]], a '''cookie''' is a small, flat baked dessert. In most English-speaking countries outside [[North America]], the most common word for this is '''[[biscuit]]'''<!-- (a French loanword)-->; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have different meanings—a '''cookie''' is a plain [[bun]] in Scotland<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9026125/cookie cookie - Britannica Online Encyclopedia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, while in the United States a '''biscuit''' is a kind of [[quick bread]] not unlike a [[Scone (bread)|scone]].
==Etymology==
Its name derives from the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] word ''koekje'' or (informal) ''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.
==Description==
[[Image:Cookie Cake.JPG|right|thumb|A cookie cake is a large cookie that can be decorated with icing similar to other [[cakes]].]]
Cookies are most commonly baked until crisp or just long enough that they remain soft, but some kinds of cookies are not baked at all. Cookies are made in a wide variety of styles, using an array of ingredients including sugars, [[spice]]s, chocolate, [[butter]], [[peanut butter]], [[nut (fruit)|nut]]s or dried [[fruit]]s. The softness of the cookie may depend on how long it is baked.
A general theory of cookies may be formulated this way. Despite its descent from cakes and other sweetened breads, the cookie in almost all its forms has abandoned water as a medium for cohesion. Water in cakes serves to make the base (in the case of cakes called "batter"<ref>''Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary'', Tenth Edition. Merriam-Webster, Inc.: 1999.</ref>) as thin as possible, which allows the bubbles – responsible for a cake's fluffiness – to form better. In the cookie, the agent of cohesion has become some form of oil. Oils, whether they be in the form of butter, egg yolks, vegetable oils or lard are much more viscous than water and evaporate freely at a much higher temperature than water. Thus a cake made with butter or eggs instead of water is far denser after removal from the oven.
Oils in baked cakes do not behave as soda in the finished result. Rather than evaporating and thickening the mixture, they remain, saturating the bubbles of escaped gases from what little water there might have been in the eggs, if added, and the [[carbon dioxide]] released by heating the baking powder. This saturation produces the most texturally attractive feature of the cookie, and indeed all fried foods: crispness saturated with a moisture (namely oil) that does not sink into it.
==History==
Cookie-like hard wafers have existed for as long as baking is documented, in part because they deal with travel very well, but they were usually not sweet enough to be considered cookies, by modern standards[http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcookies.html].
Cookies appear to have their origins in [[7th century AD]] [[Persia]], shortly after the use of sugar became relatively common in the region[http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/CookieHistory.htm]. They spread to Europe through the [[Muslim]] conquest of [[Spain]]. By the [[14th century]], they were common in in all levels of society, throughout Europe, from royal cuisine to street vendors.
With global travel becoming widespread at that time, cookies made a natural travel companion, a modernized equivalent of the travel cakes used throughout history. One of the most popular early cookies, which travelled especially well and became known on every continent by similar names, was the [[Jumble (cookie)|jumble]], a relatively hard cookie made largely from nuts, sweetener, and water.
Cookies came to America in the very first century of English settlement (the 1600s), although the name "koekje" arrived slightly later, with the Dutch. This became Anglicized to "cookie". Among the popular early American cookies were the [[macaroon]], [[gingerbread cookie]]s, and of course jumbles of various types.
The most common modern cookie, given its style by the creaming of butter and sugar, was not common until the 18th century[http://www.ochef.com/25.htm].
==Classification of cookies==
[[Image:cookieplateful.jpg|thumb|300px|Ten types of cookies|left]]
Cookies are broadly classified according to how they are formed, including at least these categories:
* ''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. [[Snickerdoodle|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 man|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. [[Chocolate brownies|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 (food)|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, [[Rosette (cookie)|rosettes]] and fattigmann as well as a newer American trend of deep-frying ordinary drop cookie dough.
[[Image:Christmas Cookies Plateful.JPG|right|thumb|300px|Six types of cookies]]
* Cookies also may be decorated with an icing, especially [[chocolate]], and closely resemble a type of [[confectionery]].
==Biscuits (cookies) in the United Kingdom==
A basic biscuit (cookie) recipe includes [[flour]], [[shortening]] (often [[lard]]), [[baking powder]] or [[Baking soda|soda]], [[milk]] ([[buttermilk]] or sweet milk) and sugar. Common savoury variations involve substituting [[sugar]] with an ingredient such as cheese or other dairy products. [[Shortbread]] is a popular biscuit in the UK.
In the UK the term cookie often just refers to chocolate chip cookies or a variation (e.g. cookies containing oats, [[Smarties (Nestlé)|Smarties]]).
==See also==
{{MultiCol}}
* [[Biscotti]], a twice-baked, hard [[Italian cuisine|Italian]] cookie
* [[Oreo]]
* [[Chips Ahoy!]]
* [[Chips Deluxe]]
* [[Cookie bouquets]]
* [[Cookie cutter]]
* [[Cookie decorating]]
* [[Cookie exchange]]
* [[Cookie Monster]]
* [[Girl Scout cookie|Girl Scout Cookies]]
* [[Fortune cookie]]
* [[Snickerdoodle]]
{{ColBreak}}
* [[Springerle]]
* [[Mrs. Fields]]
* [[Chocolate chip cookie]]
* [[Cake]]
* [[Black and white cookie]]
* [[Peanut butter cookie]]
* [[Tim Tam]]
* [[American and British English differences]]
* [[Shortbread]]
* [[Walkers Shortbread]]
{{EndMultiCol}}
== Notes ==
<div class="references-small">
<references />
</div>
{{commonscat|Cookies}}
{{wiktionary}}
{{cookbook}}
[[Category:Cookies|*]]
[[Category:Desserts]]
[[Category:Dutch loanwords]]
[[Category:Snack foods]]
[[ca:Galeta]]
[[da:Småkage]]
[[de:Keks]]
[[eo:Biskvito]]
[[es:Galleta]]
[[fa:کلوچه]]
[[fr:Cookie (cuisine)]]
[[hr:Keks]]
[[ko:쿠키]]
[[he:עוגייה]]
[[nl:Koekje]]
[[pt:Bolacha]]
[[ru:Печенье]]
[[fi:Keksi]]
[[th:คุกกี้]]
[[zh:曲奇]]