For the longest time fats, oils, and sweets sat at the top of the food pyramid — naturally this denoted their position as the pinnacle of cuisine despite their taboo hold on society. While it is assuredly unfair that the best tasting things in life also happen to be some of the worst for our bodies, there is no denying how deliciously forbidden dessert can be. Whether it be decadent chocolate, velvety vanilla, or sweet fruit flavors there is no substitute for a tasty desert to end what I would call a perfect meal.
America’s Favorite Snack
Cakes, pies, and other pastries are well and good, but nothing quite beats a cookie for the perfect snack. Around 92% of all households in the United States will regularly have some kind of cookie in their pantries for good reason, cookies are the perfect individual dessert — easy to prepare, as sweet as can be, and perfectly portioned so there is no reason to share! It is estimated that Americans eat a combined 2 billion cookies per year; that is enough for 300 cookies for every American each year — nearly a cookie a day to keep us smiling with guilty pleasure! Over the years, millions of different cookie recipes have emerged to tantalize us with new flavors, textures, and combinations across the globe, allowing everyone’s dream of becoming an international cookie connoisseur to become a reality.
A World of Desserts
Cookies as we know them today actually emerged from the Amsterdam region in the late 1620s; the word “cookie” actually comes from the Dutch word keokje which means “little cake” — this is due to the origin of the cookie which was originally cake batter that was used in small portions to test the temperature of an oven. From there the cookie spread throughout the world, adapting to suit the people and cuisine of the region — for example, in England cookies are referred to as biscuits; the Spaniards call cookies galletas ; and Germans call refer to cookies as keks . A staple of the United States, the American favorite chocolate chip cookie was invented by innkeeper Ruth Wakefield in Massachusetts in 1938 — so beloved was her recipe that Ruth eventually went on found the modern Toll House cookie company which was named after the Toll House Inn where the cookies were first created.
Personalized Cookie Gift Baskets
Given the popularity of these little desserts across the world, it is no wonder that many bakers have specialized in offering personalized cookie gift baskets. Some of the most popular cookie flavors and shapes include lemon bars, peanut butter surprises, pecan tassies, snicker doodles, traditional chocolate chip, and specialized heart-shaped sugar cookies — no matter what occasion, there is bound to be a number of cookie gift baskets available locally and across the net. Cookie gift baskets are perfect for graduations, birthdays, holidays, weddings, baby showers, or a Saturday night movie at home — really when isn’t there a good time for a basket full of confectionary goodness? For a gift you can guarantee won’t last long, nothing beats the guilty pleasure endowed by a freshly baked cookie!