  There are no more comforting words than "Have a cookie," especially when it comes from Mom.
 If there's ever been a true international food, it's the cookie. The English have their tea biscuits, the Swedes their gingerbread and the Scottish have their shortbread.
 America could be considered the melting pot of cookies.
 What joy! Helping Mom or Grandma bake a batch of love in the shape of a delicious cookie. Nothing like that first bite after you spread on the icing!
 Here's an example of one of the first cookies, a Roman wafer, which dates back to the 3rd century B.C.
 By the early 1900s cookies were so popular that special tins and cookie jars were produced to hold them.
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Have yourself a cookie--it's the perfect comfort food!
Americans have an ongoing love affair--or cookie craze--with these soft and gooey or crunchy mouthwatering morsels.
There seem to be more varieties and recipes for cookies than greeting cards for Mother's Day. Oatmeal, pecan, ginger, macadamia nut, almond, lemon, various candies and on and on. Think of an ingredient and most likely a cookie recipe exists.
Tradition has become a key to the allure of cookies as well. The first baking experience for so many was in the kitchen with Mom or Grandma cooking up a batch of these crumbly delights.
For many the quest to bake the perfect cookie is a pursuit of culinary art, but whether you bake a gourmet recipe or an old family favorite, one absolute is that a good cookie is simply irresistible.
Whether the cookie crumbles or melts in your mouth, most connoisseurs belong to one of the following categories:
Miss Soft & Gooey--Some folks like their cookies straight from the oven, ready to melt in their mouths.
Mr. Crumble--Others prefer to let their cookies cool and become hard and crumbly.
Daddy Dunkmeister--Many want their cookies as hard as Mount Rushmore so they can dunk them in milk, hot chocolate or the beverage of their choice.
Did you know?
- Cookies can be traced back to the 3rd century B.C. when a Roman baker made the first wafer, which became known worldwide as the biscuit. They were popular for their crispness and long life. Today the British still call their cookies biscuits.
- Until the invention of the wood-burning and coal-fired oven, cookie results were unreliable at best. By 1870, cast-iron ranges were all the rage in American kitchens, making it possible to create great cookies at home.
- Early flavorings for cookies were quite different from what we enjoy today. Vanilla was difficult to come by, as was sugar, so other ingredients such as wine, cherries, caraway seeds and nutmeg were used instead.
