Christmas - A Partner to Milk, a Treat to Santa
Sometimes it’s easy to forget how delicious cookies are. Despite the moistness and chewiest, cookies are not as popular anymore.
For instance, look at television. One of the most well-liked commercials were the advertisements for Oreos. But all of a sudden, those timeless 30-second moments are now gone.
But the other day I was reminded of why the cookie is recognized as the perfect snack. Out of the blue, a friend of mine decided to bake cookies from scratch.
By filling the house with an intense, yet delicious aroma, I was attracted to the kitchen. To my surprise, white chocolate-almond cookies were stacked on a plate on the kitchen counter.
In no later than an hour, the baked treats disappeared due to the appetite of everyone in the house!
Now cookies have always been around for generations, but how was the snack first created? Have they been a delicacy for centuries? Or was some random baker inspired out of the blue? The answer is quite simple.
Cookies were actually made by accident. The very first cookies were just a form of testing an oven’s temperature.
Dutch bakers would use very small amounts of cake batter to test their oven temperatures before baking the actual cake. These test cakes were called “koekje”, which means “little cake” in Dutch.
Early American cookbooks also showed that the earlier versions of cookies were called "Tea Cakes". These tea cakes would normally be known now as “butter cookies”.
Back then, the English also called them biscuits. The Spanish called them “galletas”, the Germans called them “kels” and in Italy, the types of cookies there were known as “amaretti” and “biscotti”.
Every country also has their favourite type of cookie. In England, it’s the shortbread cookie. In France, the favourites are sables and macaroons while biscotto is the favourite in Italy.
The most popular cookie in North America is the chocolate chip cookie. Despite the different variations of cookies, the tasty treats with chocolate chips have lasted decades. An interesting fact is that the chocolate chip cookie was also made by accident.
A lady named Ruth Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies at the Toll House Inn, which was run by her and her husband near Whitman, Massachusetts. One evening in 1937, she got the idea to make a chocolate butter cookie.
So she broke up one of the bars of semi-sweet chocolate that was given to her by a friend. She thought that it would mix together with the dough and produce pure chocolate cookies.
Needless to say, it didn't. However the cookies came out decent enough to be served, which they were. They of course were so good, they had to be done again. She then published the recipe in several newspapers, making the chocolate chip cookie very popular.
Wakefield then called her cookie, the Chocolate Crunch Cookie. She also struck a business deal with the company Nestle that allowed Nestle to put the recipe on their chocolate bar if they supplied her with free chocolate for her cookies at the Inn.
Nestle was so intrigued by the whole concept that they agreed to the deal. The popularity of the cookie then grew instantly and in 1939, the chocolate chips that we know today, were introduced.
When it comes to Christmas, leaving out cookies for Santa Claus has become a popular tradition. The act not only keeps the Christmas spirit alive, but it also excites children everywhere.
The reason may be because kids know that cookies are delicious and that Santa Claus will enjoy them. With a jolly Santa, they think more amazing gifts may be put under the tree.
So not only does the caring act put a smile on everyone’s face, but it will also remind people of how delicious cookies are.
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