Do you call it cookies? Well, we call it biscuits. Understandable, since India was under the British colonial for a long period of time. You know how there’s common phrase in Hindi, “Angrez chale gaye, tumhein chordh gaye”, where the word tumhein can be replaced with almost anyone and anything that has a touch of the British culture to it. It reflects the strong influence that the colonizers have had on us that despite years of Independence, certain things have been retained. Biscuits, for instance, are one such thing. While the Americans call it cookies, the English have referred to the sweet treats as biscuits since the beginning. What’s the difference you ask? Well, you’ll find out.
The origin of the idea of cookies can be attributed to the Persians from the 7th century. While baking was a well-known art for years before that, the concept of a sweet cookie like present-day came about much later. In fact, the word cookie is derived from the word Kokje which means little cake in Dutch. These were hard and more like wafers in texture, which differs from the cookies that we eat today. It was the increase in consumption of sugar which acted as a catalyst in spreading the concept of these baked goods from Persia to several parts of Europe in the 14th century.
Trickled down to various classes of society, cookies became a part and parcel for the poor as well as the royal classes. The Europeans travelled to the US and these settlers brought the cookies with them. Americans worked upon these baked delights and brought about their own versions of these cookies like the famous choco chip cookie.
Did you know that the first cookies were simply a part of the cake baking process? Yes, that’s true. The bakers used a little amount of cake batter and dunked into the oven to check the temperature so that the cake doesn’t get burnt or isn’t left undercooked. It was like a pre-testing method where a small portion of the batter was swirled on the tray in a round shape as sample for the cake.
It was only later that the cookie emerged as a sweet treat in itself. While cookies and biscuits are often used interchangeably, they diverge from each other at some points. Unlike biscuits, cookies have a thicker and denser batter as they are stuffed with cream cheese, choco chips and more. Due to this, they are also bigger in size and chunkier while the dough is soft. The former is generally sweet while we could have sweet to salty and spicy biscuits too.
Now that you know how to differentiate between the two, don’t you think it’s time to celebrate the day? That’s right. We’ve got some crusty and gooey cookie recipes that aren’t choco chip.
1. Peanut Butter Cookies
Do you like spreading that crunchy peanut butter on your toast? Maybe you’d like the flavour in your cookies too then. Just swirl some peanut butter into the cookie batter and your cookies would be ready to be baked. Hold on, you could also make a cookie sandwich simply by throwing in some marshmallows and then snacking on this creamy delight.
2. White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies
The sweet, white chocolate gives rise to light brown-coloured cookies which are not only pleasant to look at but taste well too. These buttery cookies have a tantalizing aroma that is best paired with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee on a cold winter evening. Cookie day snacks, ready!
3. Lime Pistachio Cookies
Ever thought lime could feature in cookies? The essence of lime juice infused with coconut shaving mixed in a cookie batter is definitely a National Cookie Day kind of treat. Throw in some chopped pistachios and you are good to go.
4. Chocolate Toffee Banana Cookies
Why have the plain, boring cookies when we’ve got this amazing recipe for you. You could fool your guests by making them think these are the cliché chocolate chip cookies. One bite in and the surprising flavours of banana with a crunch of toffee will totally change the look on their faces.
5. Lemon Tea Cookies
Yet another cookie batter with the zest of lemon is ready to be baked this cookie day. All you have to do is prepare a rich and creamy lemon filling and stuff the cookies with it to make a delectable cookie sandwich. The aroma of butter mixed with lemon is quite teasing for the taste buds.
6. Granola Cookies
Granola is one ingredient that is perfect for any dessert. Be it a baked good like cookie or a chilled dessert like parfait, the crunchy and sticky bites of the mixture lends the cookies a very chewy taste.
