The first record of any cookie-like treats worldwide is in Persia, in around the 7th century. As exploration and world travel continued to be popular in the centuries that followed, these creations flourished across nations, as, being compact with a long shelf-life, they were ideal food for travellers. However, modern day cookies originated in Europe as an accidental creation as cooks used to drop small amounts of cake mixture onto an oven tray to test the oven temperature. These ‘little cakes’ – or koekje in Dutch, from which the word ‘cookie’ originated – began to be served intentionally, comprised of sweet cake mixture, dough or batter, and often served with tea. This began a long and varied history of experimenting with assorted flavours and methods to create the plethora of different cookies available today.

Usually containing flour, eggs, fat and sugar, cookies are flat, usually round in shape, and more often than not are baked to cook. They can be soft, hard, of varying thicknesses, pressed, moulded or free-formed, and contain a huge range of extra ingredients, some of the most popular being nuts, fruit, spices, cereals and chocolate.

Already popular in Europe, cookies, called biscuits in Great Britain, travelled to America with settlers, originally arriving in such forms as butter cookies, tea cakes and shortbread. The sweet treats continued to be developed, with America’s melting pot configuration enabling influences from a range of cultures, leading to experimentation with new styles and flavours of cookie. Then in 1930s in Massachusetts, an American classic was born: the chocolate chip Toll House cookie, so named for the restaurant at which they were created by cook Ruth Graves Wakefield.

Another notable cookie to have been created in America is the Oreo, developed in 1912, and produced by Nabisco, a subsidiary company of Kraft foods. This sweet treat consists of two chocolate flavoured firm cookies sandwiched together with a layer of white vanilla cream filling, and has been marketed as ‘America’s favourite cookie.’ The claim is not without justification: Over 491 billion Oreos have been sold since they first hit the market. This staggering figure identifies Oreos as the best-selling cookie of the 20th century.

Having undergone only minor alterations to ingredients, mould design and packaging since its early days, Oreos are still more or less the same cookie as when they were first created; the Oreo cookie is celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2012.

As well as the original chocolate cookie and white cream configuration, many variations of Oreo cookie have been introduced over the years, some only for limited periods or locations. Alternative flavours include double chocolate, orange, banana, cool mint and peanut butter. The cookies have also been available in miniature form, and as ‘Double Stuf’, which have twice the usual amount of cream filling. The popularity of the cookie has seen it transformed into other foodstuffs, such as Oreo ice cream products and Oreo drinks, and a variety of desserts. There have also been organic and dietary-specific versions of the cookie, created to widen its appeal to an even greater consumer base.

Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of American Soda, importers of American food, including cookies like Oreos.

Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of American Soda (http://www.americansoda.co.uk), importers of American food, sweets and drinks into the UK.

Author Bio: Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of American Soda, importers of American food, including cookies like Oreos.

Category: Food and Drinks
Keywords: american food, cookies, oreos