Cookies

Cookies are a favorite American sweet, made from a dough of flour and sugar that contains a relatively high ratio of fat, such as butter, vegetable shortening, or margarine. The dough typically is flavored with various combinations of spices, extracts, chocolate, fruits, and nuts and is baked in the form of small, thin cakes. Categories include cookies rolled and cut in shapes, bar cookies, drop cookies, molded or stamped cookies, pressed cookies, and sliced refrigerator cookies. America’s oldest and most beloved homemade cookies include macaroons, jumbles, and apees, as well as gingerbread, oatmeal, peanut butter, and chocolate chip cookies; commercially produced favorites include Fig Newtons, Animal Crackers, Lorna Doones, and Oreos. Although cookies are eaten year-round as snacks or dessert, they are especially popular at Christmas, when they often are made from heirloom recipes.