One of my favorite things to bake is cookies! The options are endless. You can make one base cookie dough and just by switching out the add-ins, create many different kinds. If I was pressured to name my favorite cookie of all time, I would have to say it is a soft chocolate chip. Oh yeah, I love all cookies, but my absolute, all time favorite is the soft, gooey chocolate chip cookie! You will find my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe at the bottom of this page. Or…(click here to go directly to my recipe).
Several years ago, I traveled to Costa Rica for business. I stayed at a hotel that greeted each traveler with a warm chocolate chip cookie upon arrival. This was such a nice touch and that memory still lingers.
Last year, some of my coworkers from Costa Rica came to here, to Toronto to work and train. I was pretty certain that the hotel they were staying at wouldn’t be handing out cookies….so I baked a whole batch of chocolate chip cookies to bring to the office to greet them.
Just before my buddies headed back home to Costa Rica, I whipped up another batch of the cookies to send back with one of them for the rest of the team. I researched online and found out that he would be able to pack the containers in his luggage with no problem. So I thought…Yikes…his luggage was held hostage by the airport and he didn’t get it back until a couple of days later. (I’m sure it wasn’t the cookies that caused that…right?) Luckily, the cookies were still intact and he brought them to the office. Everyone sent me thanks and said they really enjoyed the cookies. Now I can say my baking has hit the international market. hahaha!
While I was doing some research, I uncovered some interesting facts about cookies that I wanted to share. Let’s start with a brief history of the cookie…
Hard, cookie-like wafers appear to have been around as long as baking has been documented. Probably because they would have travelled well, but they were usually not sweet enough to be what we now consider “cookies”.
Sweet cookies seem to have their origins in the 7th century AD Persia, after the use of sugar became common there. During the Muslim conquest of Spain, the cookie spread to Europe and by the 14th century, were common from royal cuisine to street vendors. They made a natural additive to journeys being that they were easy to pack and hard to spoil. One of the early cookies that travelled well became know as the jumble, which was a hard cookie made from nuts, sweetener and water.
Cookies or “koekje” came to the Americas in the late 1620s through the Dutch people in New Amsterdam, however, the most common modern cookie (where creaming butter and sugar was used) was not popular until the 18th century.
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Fun Fact
Most English-speaking countries outside Canada and the US call crisp cookies biscuits. The chewier biscuits will sometimes be called cookies, even in the UK. Also, some cookies could also be named for their shape, such as date squares or bars.
The Most Popular Cookie Classifications
Bar Cookies – batter poured into a pan, baked and then cut into cookie size squares to serve. These would include brownies, squares and bars such as date squares.
Drop Cookies – relatively soft dough that is dropped by spoonful onto a cookie sheet. They will flatten and spread out during the baking process. Chocolate chip or oatmeal-based cookies are examples of drop cookies.
Filled Cookies – made from a rolled cookie dough filled with a fruit, jam or confectionery filling before baking. Pinwheels are an example of rolled cookies.
Molded Cookies – made from a stiffer dough that is molded into balls or cookie shapes by hand before baking. Snickerdoodles and peanut butter cookies are examples of molded cookies.
No-bake Cookies – made by mixing a filler like cereal or nuts into a melted sweet binder and shaping them into cookie or bar shapes. They will then have to cool or harden before eating. Oatmeal clusters, coconut macaroons or rum balls are examples of No-bake cookies.
Pressed Cookies – made from a soft dough that is extruded from a cookie press into various decorative shapes before baking. Shaped shortbread cookies are an example of Pressed Cookies.
Refrigerator Cookies – made from a stiff dough that is refrigerated to make it even stiffer before cutting and baking. The dough is usually rolled into a cylinder shape and then sliced when chilled enough. An example of this is the beloved Pillsbury Chocolate Chip cookies!
Rolled Cookies – made from a stiffer dough that is rolled flat and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. The gingerbread people are examples of this.
Sandwich Cookies – are rolled or pressed cookies that are assembled as a sandwich with a sweet filling such as icing or jam. The Oreo is a famous example of a Sandwich Cookie.
Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1tsp baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- Cream together butter and granulated sugar and brown sugar with a hand mixer. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time and mix, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Mixture may look lumpy.
- With the mixer on low-speed, slowly add the bowl of dry ingredients and mix just until dough comes together, it may be a little crumbly which is totally fine! You do not want to over mix the dough, otherwise the cookies can flatten when baked.
- Lastly, mix in chocolate chips. Place dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour to firm up. This step is important as the cookies will spread too much if dough is not chilled.
- Form balls with the dough (approx 2 inches). Do not hold in hand too long or they will start to warm. Add them to a cool baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes (baking time will depend on oven) until edges are golden. Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes than transfer to cooling rack.
I love cookies!
Me too!! More than I should. Do you have any favorite cookie recipes you want to share?