Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast,
Where I help you drift off one fact at a time.
I'm your host Benjamin Boster and today's episode is about cookies.
A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content.
Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures.
The dough typically contains flour,
Sugar,
Egg,
And some type of oil or fat.
It may include other ingredients such as raisins,
Oats,
Chocolate chips,
Or nuts.
Cookie texture varies from crisp and crunchy to soft and chewy,
Depending on the exact combination of ingredients and methods used to create them.
People in the United States and Canada typically refer to all sweet biscuits as cookies.
People in most other English-speaking countries call crunchy cookies biscuits,
But may use the term cookies for chewier biscuits,
And for certain types,
Such as chocolate chip cookies.
Cookies are often served with beverages,
Such as milk,
Coffee,
Or tea,
And are sometimes dunked,
Which releases more flavor by dissolving the sugars,
While also softening their texture.
Factory-made cookies are sold in grocery stores,
Convenience stores and vending machines.
Fresh baked cookies are sold at bakeries and coffee houses.
In many English-speaking countries outside North America,
Including the United Kingdom,
The most common word for a crisp cookie is biscuit.
Where biscuit is the most common term,
Cookie often only refers to one type of biscuit,
A chocolate chip cookie.
However,
In some regions,
Both terms are used.
The container used to store cookies may be called a cookie jar.
In Scotland,
The term cookie is sometimes used to describe a plain bun.
Cookies that are baked as a solid layer on a sheet pan and then cut,
Rather than being baked as individual pieces,
Are called bar cookies in American English,
Or traybakes in British English.
The word cookie dates from at least 1701 in Scottish usage,
Where the word meant plain bun rather than thin baked good,
And so it is not certain whether it is the same word.
From 1808,
The word cookie is attested in the sense of small,
Flat,
Sweet cake in American English.
The American use is derived from Dutch koekje,
Little cake,
Which is a diminutive of cake,
Which came from the Middle Dutch word koke,
With an informal dialect variant koekie.
According to the Scottish National Dictionary,
Its Scottish name may derive from the diminutive form plus suffix i.
E.
Of the word cook.
There was much trade and cultural contact across the North Sea between the Low Countries and Scotland during the Middle Ages,
Which can also be seen in the history of curling and perhaps golf.
Cookies are most commonly baked until crisp,
Or belds for just long enough to ensure a soft interior.
Some types of cookies are not baked at all,
Such as varieties of peanut butter cookies that use solidified chocolate rather than set eggs and wheat gluten as a binder.
Cookies are produced in a wide variety of styles,
Using an array of ingredients including sugars,
Spices,
Chocolate,
Butter,
Peanut butter,
Nuts,
Or dried fruits.
Cookie-like hard wafers have existed for as long as baking has been documented,
In part because they survive travel very well,
But they were usually not sweet enough to be considered cookies by modern standards.
Cookies appear to have their origins in 7th century AD Persia,
Shortly after the use of sugar became relatively common in the region.
They spread to Europe through the Muslim conquest of Spain.
By the 14th century,
They were common in all levels of society throughout Europe,
From royal cuisine to street vendors.
The first documented instance of the figure-shaped gingerbread man was at the court of Elizabeth I of England in the 16th century.
She had the gingerbread figures made and presented in the likeness of some of her important guests.
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 traveled especially well and became known on every continent by similar names,
Was the jumble,
A relatively hard cookie made largely from nuts,
Sweetener,
And water.
Cookies came to America through the Dutch in New Amsterdam in the late 1620s.
The Dutch word koekje was anglicized to cookie.
The earliest reference to cookies in America is in 1703,
When the Dutch in New York provided in 1703 at a funeral 800 cookies.
The modern form of cookies,
Which is based on creaming butter and sugar together,
Did not appear commonly until the 18th century.
The Industrial Revolution in Britain and the consumers it created saw cookies,
Biscuits,
Become products for the masses,
And firms such as Huntley and Palmer's formed in 1822,
McVitie's formed in 1830,
And Carr's formed in 1831 were all established.
The decorative biscuit tin,
Invented by Hundley and Palmers in 1831,
Saw British cookies exported around the world.
In 1891 Cadbury filed a patent for a chocolate coated cookie.
Cookies are broadly classified according to how they are formed or made,
Including at least these categories.
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.
In British English,
Bar cookies are known as traybakes.
Examples include brownies,
Fruit squares,
And bars,
Such as date squares.
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,
Oatmeal raisin or other oatmeal-based cookies,
And rock kegs are popular examples of drop cookies.
This may also include thumbprint cookies,
For which a small central depression is created with the thumb or small spoon before baking,
To contain a filling such as jam or chocolate chips.
In the UK,
The term cookie often refers only to this particular type of product.
Filled cookies are made from a rolled cookie dough,
Filled with a fruit,
Jam,
Or confectionary filling before baking.
Hamantaschen are a filled cookie.
Molded cookies are also 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.
Some cookies,
Such as hermits or biscotti,
Are molded into large flattened loaves that are later cut into smaller cookies.
No-bake cookies are made by mixing a filler,
Such as cereal or nuts,
Into a melted confectionary binder,
Shaping into cookies or bars,
And allowing to cool or harden.
Oatmeal clusters and rum balls are no-bake cookies.
Pressed cookies are made from a soft dough that is extruded from a cookie press into various decorative shapes before baking.
Spritz Quebec is an example of a pressed cookie.
Refrigerator cookies,
Also known as icebox cookies,
Are made from a stiff dough that is refrigerated to make the raw dough even stiffer before cutting and baking.
The dough is typically shaped into cylinders,
Which are sliced into round cookies before baking.
Pinwheel cookies and those made by Pillsbury are representative.
Rolled cookies are made from a stiffer dough that is rolled out and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter.
Gingerbread men are an example.
Sandwich cookies are rolled or pressed cookies that are assembled as a sandwich with a sweet filling.
Fillings include marshmallow,
Jam,
And icing.
The Oreo cookie made of two chocolate cookies with a vanilla icing filling is an example.
Other types of cookies are classified for other reasons,
Such as their ingredients,
Size,
Or intended time of serving.
Breakfast cookies are typically larger,
Lower-sugar cookies filled with heart-healthy nuts and fiber-rich oats that are eaten as a quick breakfast snack.
Low-fat cookies or diet cookies typically have lower fat than regular cookies.
Raw cookie dough is served in some restaurants,
Though the eggs may be omitted since the dough is eaten raw,
Which could pose a salmonella risk if eggs were used.
Cookie Dough Confections in New York City is a restaurant that has a range of raw cookie dough flavors,
Which are scooped into cubs for customers like ice cream.
Skillet cookies are big cookies baked in a cast iron skillet and served warm.
They are either eaten straight from the pan or cut into wedges,
Often with vanilla ice cream on top.
Super-sized cookies or large cookies,
Such as the Panera Kitchen Sink Cookie.
These very large cookies are sold at grocery stores,
Restaurants and coffee shops.
Vegan cookies can be made with flour,
Sugar,
Non-dairy milk,
And non-dairy margarine.
Aquafaba icing can be used to decorate the cookies.
Cookie cakes are made in a larger circular shape,
Usually with writing made of frosting.
Leah Etman from Nutrition Action has criticized the high calorie count and fat content of supersized cookies.
She cites a Panera Kitchen sink cookie,
A supersized chocolate chip cookie,
Which measures 5.
5 inches in diameter and has 800 calories.
For busy people who eat breakfast cookies in the morning,
Kate Bratzker from the Huffington Post recommends lower sugar cookies filled with heart-healthy nuts and fiber-rich oats.
A book on nutrition by Paul Insull et al.
Notes that low-fat or diet cookies may have the same number of calories as regular cookies due to added sugar.
There are a number of slang usages of the term cookie.
The catchphrase,
That's the way the cookie crumbles,
Which means,
That's just the way things happen,
Is attested to in print in 1955.
Other slang terms include smart cookie and tough cookie.
According to the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms,
A smart cookie is someone who is clever and good at dealing with difficult situations.
The expression cookie cutter,
In addition to referring literally to a culinary device used to cut rolled cookie dough into shapes,
Is also used metaphorically to refer to items or things having the same configuration or look as many others,
E.
G.
A cookie cutter tract house,
Or to label something as stereotyped or formulaic.
E.
G.
An action movie filled with generic cookie-cutter characters.
Cookie duster is a whimsical expression for a mustache.
Cookie Monster is a Muppet on the children's television show Sesame Street.
He is best known for his voracious appetite for cookies and his famous eating phrases such as,
Me want cookie,
Me eat cookie,
Or simply cookie.
Om Nom Nom Nom said through a mouthful of food.
Cookie Clicker is a game where players click a cookie to buy upgrades to make more cookies.
A fortune cookie is a crisp and sugary cookie wafer made from flour,
Sugar,
Vanilla,
And sesame seed oil with a piece of paper inside,
A fortune,
An aphorism,
Or a vague prophecy.
The message inside may also include a Chinese phrase with translation,
Or a list of lucky numbers,
Used as some as lottery numbers.
Fortune cookies are often served as a dessert in Chinese restaurants in the United States,
Canada,
Australia,
And other countries.
But they are not Chinese in origin.
The exact origin of fortune cookies is unclear,
Though various immigrant groups in California claim to have popularized them in the early 20th century.
They most likely originated from cookies made by Japanese immigrants to the United States in the late 19th or early 20th century.
The Japanese version did not have the Chinese lucky numbers and were eaten with tea.
There is no single accepted Chinese name for the cookies,
With a large variety of translations being used to describe them in the Chinese,
All of which being more or less literal translations of the English fortune cookie.
Examples include.
.
.
Good luck biscuit,
Or jambu bing,
Divining cookie.
As far back as the 19th century,
A cookie very similar in appearance to the modern fortune cookie was made in Kyoto,
Japan.
And there is a Japanese temple tradition of random fortunes called omikuji.
The Japanese version of the cookie differs in several ways.
They are a little bit larger,
Or made of darker dough,
And their batter contains sesame and miso.
They contain a fortune.
However,
The small slip of paper was wedged into the bend of the cookie,
Rather than placed inside the hollow portion.
This kind of cookie is called Tsujiura Senbei and is still sold in some regions of Japan,
Especially in Kanazawa,
Ishikawa.
It is also sold in the neighborhood of Fushimi Inaritaisha Shrine in Kyoto.
Makoto Hagiwara,
Of Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco,
Is reported to have been the first person in the U.
S.
To have served the modern version of the cookie,
When he did so at the tea garden in the early 1900s.
The fortune cookies were made by a San Francisco bakery,
Benquito.
David Jung,
Founder of the Hong Kong Noodle Company in Los Angeles,
Made a competing claim that he invented the cookie in 1918.
San Francisco's Court of Historical Review attempted to settle the dispute in 1983.
During the proceedings,
A fortune cookie was introduced as a piece of evidence with a message reading,
S.
F.
Judge who rules for L.
A.
Not very smart cookie.
A federal judge of the Court of Historical Review,
From San Francisco themselves,
Determined that the cookie originated from Hagiwara,
And the court ruled in favor of San Francisco.
The City of Los Angeles condemned the decision.
Seiichi Ikito,
The founder of Fugetsudo,
Of Little Tokyo in Los Angeles,
Also claims to have invented the cookie.
Kito claims to have gotten the idea of putting a message in a cookie from omikoji,
Fortune slip,
Which are sold at temples and shrines in Japan.
According to his story,
He sold his cookies to Chinese restaurants where they were greeted with much enthusiasm in both the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas before spreading.
Up to around World War II,
Fortune cookies were known as fortune tea cakes,
Likely reflecting the origins in Japanese tea cakes.
Fortune cookies before the early 20th century were all made by hand.
They are made from a simple batter of sugar,
Flour,
Water,
And eggs.
When heated,
The dough stays flexible,
Allowing it to be shaped.
As it cools,
The sugar crystallizes,
Creating a crisp,
Glossy cookie.
Traditionally,
Bakers would bake three-inch circles of dough,
Insert a fortune while still warm,
And use chopsticks to fold the cookies into its iconic shape before a hardened.
The fortune cookie industry changed dramatically after the fortune cookie machine was invented by Edward Louie in the late 1960s.
The machine allowed for mass production of fortune cookies,
Which subsequently allowed the cookies to drop in price to become the novelty and courtesy dessert many Americans are familiar with after their meals at most Chinese restaurants today.
There are approximately 3 billion fortune cookies made each year globally.
The majority of them consumed in the U.
S.
The largest manufacturer of the cookies is Wonton Food Inc.
,
Headquartered in Brooklyn,
New York.
They make over 4.
5 million fortune cookies per day.
Other large manufacturers are Bailey International in the Midwest and Peking Noodle in Los Angeles.
There are other smaller local manufacturers including Siu Chang Koh in Seattle,
Kiefer Court Food in Minneapolis,
Sunrise Fortune Cookie in Philadelphia,
And Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory in San Francisco.
Many smaller companies will also sell custom fortunes.
Manufacturing processes vary,
But they generally follow the same procedure.
The ingredients,
Typically made with a base of flour,
Sugar,
Vanilla,
And sesame seed oil,
Are mixed in a large tank and squirted onto fast-moving trays.
These function like a conveyor belt and are heated to cook the dough.
Cookies are compressed with round hot plates to shape and cook them.
The cookies bake for approximately 1 minute and are reshaped.
They can be mechanically shaped or folded by hand.
When automated,
A machine folds the cookie into the correct orientation with the fortune inside.
Cooled and hardened cookies are sealed in plastic wrappers,
Which are inspected before being shipped.
Today,
Most cookies are produced in the United States.
The message inside may include a list of lucky numbers,
Used by some as lottery numbers.
Since relatively few distinct messages are printed,
In the recorded case where winning numbers happened to be printed,
The lottery had an unexpectedly high number of winners sharing a prize.
Authorities briefly investigated wonton food in 2005,
After 110 Powerball Lottery players won about $19 million,
After using the lucky numbers on the back of fortunes.
Fortune cookies are sometimes used for special marketing promotions.
For example,
The film Kung Fu Panda 3 was promoted by putting quotations from the protagonist of the film on fortune cookie slips.
In 1989,
Fortune cookies were reportedly imported into Hong Kong and sold as genuine American fortune cookies.
Wonton Food attempted to expand its fortune cookie business into China in 1992,
But gave up after fortune cookies were considered too American.
Cookies from different manufacturers have different ingredients and nutritional content.
One cookie typically contains around 80 to 130 kilojoules of food energy and 5 to 7 grams of total carbohydrates.
A cookie may have sugar varying from 0 to 3 grams,
Between 2 to 8 milligrams of sodium,
And may have significant,
Compared to their size,
Amounts of iron or protein.
The small size means they have little overall nutritional value.
Fortune cookies,
While largely an American item,
Have been served in Chinese restaurants in Australia,
Argentina,
Brazil,
Canada,
France,
Germany,
India,
Italy,
Mexico,
New Zealand,
Norway,
Singapore,
The United Kingdom,
And the United Arab Emirates,
Among others.
There are also multicultural versions of the fortune cookie.
For instance,
The Mexican version of the fortune cookie called the Lucky Taco is a red taco-shaped cookie with a fortune inside.
The same company that makes the Lucky Taco also makes the Lucky Cannoli,
Inspired by Italian cannolis.
