Cookie Recipes

The great thing about cookies is that they are quick and easy to make and taste delicious. You can easily change the recipe to make many different varieties  like chocolate chip, oatmeal & raisin, custard cream, vanilla, shortbread, almond, orange, coconut, ginger snaps etc.

The word cookie was first used in America in the early 18th century; it described a small, sweet confection. The name seems to come from the Dutch term koekie which meant a small cake. As people arrived in the USA from all over the world they added their own flavours and style to cookie recipes to give a wonderful range of tasty treats.

Cookies first appeared to have been made for celebrating New Year’s Day in America. But now of course people eat them at all times of day, and don’t need any special reason! Cookies are called biscuits in the U.K. and are part of the traditional English Tea-break when people stop for tea and biscuits. Cookies are also known as keks in Germany, biscotti in Italy and galletas in Spain.

Cookie recipes will typically contain flour, fat, sugar, a raising agent e.g. baking powder & flavourings. There are two basic methods for making cookies. The first is Creaming where you put the sugar and fat together in bowl and mix it together to a fine creamy consistency until it’s creamed. Next you mix in eggs and any liquid, and lastly add flour and any raising agent e.g. baking powder. How much you cream the ingredients can affect the raising and texture of your cookies.

For the second method, called one stage, you put all the ingredients in a bowl or food processor and blend everything together until you have a smooth batter. Some cooks say that you have less control using this method but it’s very convenient to do.

It’s useful to know that cookie dough freezes well. So you can make up extra dough and freeze it  then when you are ready take it out of the freezer and bake it fresh. That way you can have fresh-baked cookies at a moment’s notice.

Happy baking!