"The key to eating a black and white cookie, Elaine, is you want to get some black and some white in each bite. Nothing mixes better than vanilla and chocolate. And yet, still, somehow racial harmony eludes us. If people would only look to the cookie. All our problems would be solved."

"Sometimes me think what is love, and then me think love is what last cookie is for. Me give up the last cookie for you."

Recently, our Food411 sampling rooms have been filled with cookies (and so have our bellies). The internet has made it possible for wonderful bakers from all walks of life to make their creations available to all of us – door to door. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to eat those supermarket commercial cookies - most which are loaded with trans fats, HFCS, and other ingredients that we cannot pronounce! Real cookies are made with real, all natural ingredients and the ingredient list is very short! We have discovered many delicious cookies that you can order online, some are just down home goodness – delicious but not fancy. Some are bakery style cookies, others are works of art. There is a whole new world of cookies available to us with the click of the mouse or you can just get baking in your own kitchens – cookies are fun & easy to bake.

Let’s first learn the history of our beloved cookie. Cookies were actually created by accident. They were just an oven temperature test. Long ago bakers used very small amounts of cake batter to test their oven temperatures before baking the actual cake. These little test cakes were called "koekje", which means "little cake" in Dutch. Early American cookbooks revel that the first versions were called "Tea Cakes" Every country has its favorite cookie. In the U.K. It’s shortbread, in France it’s macaroons, and in Italy biscotti. The favorite cookie in America and Canada? Of course it is the Chocolate Chip Cookie! At least half of the cookies baked in American homes are chocolate chip.

In 1937, Ruth Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookie at the Toll House Inn that she ran with her husband Kenneth in Massachusetts. She made food for her guests and one evening she decided to make a chocolate butter cookie .She broke up a bar of semi-sweet chocolate that Andrew Nestle gave her. She thought that it would mix together with the dough and produce an all chocolate cookie . As we know, this did not happen. However the cookies looked and smelled good, so she served them. They of course were so good that everyone wanted them again. She published the recipe and the rest is cookie history!

Major Category of Cookies:

Drop Cookies are the easiest kind of cookie to make. They are usually made from a soft dough that is dropped from a spoon in spoonfuls onto a baking sheet.

Cut Out Cookies are made from a stiff dough that are usually rolled out into a thick or thin sheet and then cut into a shape with a knife or with a cookie cutter.

Molded Cookies,Shaped Cookies, Pressed Cookies are made out of a stiff dough as well into logs, crescents, balls or they can be pressed flat with a fork or the bottom of a glass. Cookies can also be shaped by using a cookie gun or press.

Sliced Cookies are usually referred to as refrigerator cookies. These cookies are also made from a stiff dough that is usually shaped into a long roll and chilled in the refrigerator. They are then sliced and baked.

Bar Cookies are made from a soft dough that is usually spread in a pan. They can be crisp or chewy. They can also be filled or layered. Brownies are an example of a bar cookie.

No Bake Cookies - Although technically not a type of cookie, these cookies do not require the use of an oven. They are usually quite rich and taste more like a candy.

A beautiful box of fresh baked, all natural cookies is always a wonderful gift to give to everyone, even to be good to yourself. Cookies cross all boundaries, even if you are watching your diet one small deliciously baked cookie is the perfect small indulgence. Our Bake Goods Section is always ready and waiting with wonderful resources that we have hand selected for your convenience. In addition we have listed a few cookie resources that we have sampled that have stood out. So let’s remember to take time each day, to savor a few moments with at least a bite of a really good cookie. We all learn at a early age that homemade cookies = love. They are easy to make, or just Point. Click. Eat.