Gourmet Cookie Bouquets Recipe Blog

Archive for the ‘Facts’ Category

Warm and melty with an ice cold glass of milk or straight out of the package, the chocolate chip cookie is a National favorite. Perhaps no cookie is more all-American than the little cookie with the big chocolate taste.

Grocery store shelves are packed with chocolate chip cookies in every variety. They come in soft baked, peanut chocolate chip, white chocolate chip, and more. There’s no end to the variations that consumers have been willing to try and have often fallen in love with. Everyone has their favorite.

But perhaps the most famous cookie in America is the Toll House chocolate chip cookie. This now famous cookie was reportedly invented back in the 1930s by Ruth Wakefield, who kept an inn called, The Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. The inn originally served as a place where weary travelers could stop for rest and a bite to eat. The story goes that one day while baking for her guests, Wakefield ran of nuts for her cookies. Ever clever and able to make due, she broke up a chocolate bar she had in her pantry and added the chunks to the batter instead of the nuts. The patrons of her inn fell in love with the gourmet cookie and it quickly became known throughout New England as the Toll House cookie.

Just about every cook in America has tried their hand at making the Toll House cookie. The recipe has been printed on Nestle chocolate packaging ever since Ruth Wakefield sold her recipe to the company. But at first, Nestle put the recipe on their chocolate bars and included a little chopper so bakers could make their own chips. This proved to be too time-consuming, so in 1939 Nestle came out with the chocolate chip. Wakefield had one request--that she be granted a lifetime of chocolate chips so she could continue to make her famous Toll House cookies for the folks at the Inn. Her request was granted. In 1984, the Toll House Inn burned down on New Year’s Eve. But the legend lives on in cookie tins and boxes across America.

Massachusetts has adopted the Toll House cookie as their state cookie. Only one other state in the union has a state cookie. (It’s New Mexico with the bizcochito.)

Want to try your hand at the famous recipe? Here is the original form:

Mrs. Wakefield’s Original Toll House Cookie Recipe

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped nuts

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

PAN COOKIE VARIATION:
GREASE 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen bars.

Ice cold milk and an Oreo cookie, they forever go together. So the jingle goes. Today we take for granted that we can walk into any supermarket and find shelves packed with our favorite cookie—the Oreo. With its chocolaty wafer cookies and creamy sweet center, these cookies are a part of American culture. As the most popular cookie today, with over 362 billion sold, the Oreo is a classic that will never go out of style.

But how did the Oreo start out? Where did it get its name? Back in 1912 the Nabisco company was looking for a new cookie idea. They came up with a design that featured two chocolate discs and a cream-like center. The process began with a mound of batter and the wafers would be pressed and stamped with the company’s name and oreo cookie logo.

Perhaps that’s where the Oreo name came from. Some say it’s from the Greek word “oreo” which means mound. Some say it’s from the French word for gold “or” after the gold packaging that Oreos originally were housed in. The world may never know. Even experts at Nabisco history aren’t quite sure. One thing is for sure, however. That’s America’s obsession with the Oreo.

The Hydrox cookie was already being marketed back in the early 1900s. It was two vanilla wafers with frosting in between. But once the Oreo hit the market, there was no contest. Oreo reigned supreme.

Today, Oreos are the number one selling cookie in America. They’re sent along with school children for lunch and snacked upon by child-like adults as a midnight snack. They are a timeless, multi-generational snack that’s cool at any age.

There have been several incarnations of the Oreo including the 1920 edition of the lemon filled Oreo. That didn’t do well with consumers who stood by the original. Today you can find the wildly popular Double Stuff Oreo which includes twice the filling for double the fun. There are also mint Oreos, peanut butter Oreos and a new blizzard Oreo which mixes cookie crumbs into the cream.

There are seasonal versions too with orange-centered Oreos for Halloween and yellow-filled Oreos for spring. There are strawberry milkshake Oreos, and even a Golden Original which features yellow cookie discs. You can find reduced fat Oreos and even the Uh-Oh version which turns the cookies inside out (clearly a manufacturing mistake marketed to the masses). Oreo cakesters recently hit the market. They are soft, cakey versions of the crunchy original that are more the texture and taste of whoopee pies. They come in vanilla or chocolate oreo varieties.

While these Oreo versions enjoy popularity, it’s the original Oreo that is the king of cookies. You can’t improve on the original formula. You can’t add anything to it or take anything away. And while tastes will venture off into the other versions, the original Oreo is the iconic American cookie. Paired with a glass of milk, it is the perfect snack.

Adults and children alike debate the correct way to eat an Oreo. Should you twist off the top disc and scrape the cream off? Should you bite into it whole? Float it in a glass of milk until it crumbles? The jury is still out. But any way you choose to eat it, an Oreo is purely delicious.

Someone once said, “A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.” Cookies have long been the subject of sayings and pity maxims. People say, “That’s the way the cookie crumbles,” when life dishes out calamity. And, of course, there are other less pleasant euphemisms such as “tossing your cookies” when you’ve had a bit too much to drink. If you love quotes about cookies, sweets and desserts, take a look at these quotes. Everyone from Truman Capote to The Peanuts have something to say about sweets.

Whether you call cookies biscuits or biscotti, love chocolate fondue or Cookie Crisp cereal, you’ll get a chuckle out of these quotes. Why not sit yourself down with a chocolate dipped fortune cookie or six and an iced mocha and enjoy these pearls of wisdom?

Be warned, you might need a sugar free cookie after reading all this sweet stuff.

These verses are in the public domain and can be found at www.quotegarden.com.

Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go. ~Truman Capote

Coffee makes it possible to get out of bed. Chocolate makes it worthwhile. ~Author Unknown

The Vice-Presidency is sort of like the last cookie on the plate. Everybody insists he won't take it, but somebody always does. ~Bill Vaughn

Money may talk, but chocolate sings. ~Author Unknown

Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of the pieces. ~Judith Viorst

Everyone has a price - mine is chocolate. ~Author Unknown

We dare not trust our wit for making our house pleasant to our friend, so we buy ice cream. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles. ~Author Unknown

God gave the angels wings, and he gave humans chocolate. ~Author Unknown

If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage? ~Marquise de Sévigné

Fruit only angers my need for chocolate. ~Jason Love

Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. ~Sandra Boynton

Forget love - I'd rather fall in chocolate! ~Attributed to Sandra J. Dykes

A little chocolate is like a love affair - an occasional sweet release that lightens the spirit. A lot of chocolate is like marriage - it seems so good at first but before you know, it you've got chunky hips and a waddle-walk. ~Linda Solegato

All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt! ~Charles Schulz

Me and ice cream. Best friends forever. ~Jessi Lane Adams

Chocolate is the answer. Who cares what the question is? ~Author Unknown

Age does not diminish the extreme disappointment of having a scoop of ice cream fall from the cone. ~Jim Fiebig

Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap. ~ Robert Fulghum

One day when he was eating a cookie he offered me a bite. Don't underestimate that. The poor guy's so frightened of germs, it could darn near have been a proposal. ~ Jean Harlow quotes.

Is there any cookie as divine as the Oreo? This little sandwich cookie has stolen the nation’s heart. With just two crispy wafer cookies and a creamy middle, this cookie couldn’t be simpler. But its genius is in its lack of ornamentation. It’s wholesome deliciousness comes from ingredients that are basic and yet amazingly yummy.

So, how do you eat an Oreo cookie? This debate has raged on for some time. Is there any one right way to eat an Oreo? Here are some of the ways Oreo lovers eat their Oreos. Try them all and see what you think.

1. The Scrape

This method involves taking the cookie apart very carefully. You twist the top half off the Oreo while holding the bottom wafer steady with the other hand. Once the cookie is open, you bring the half with the cream to your mouth. Using your top or bottom teeth, scrape the filling off the cookie. It may take one or two strokes to get all that succulent cream off. Then you can crunch on the wafer halves.

1. The Dunk

Some people like to dunk their Oreos in milk. Milk is Oreo’s best friend, so that’s no surprise. The dunking is done by pinching the Oreo between the thumb and first finger. A half submersion is recommended for the first dunk. Sink the cookie in the milk until it touches your finger nail. Eat. Then redunk until there is no more cookie left.

1. The Mash

A technique used by some Oreo lovers is The Mash. This involves submerging several Oreos at once into a glass of milk. Using a spoon, you mash the Oreos until they’ve become a delectable pulp. Either drink the concoction, or spoon it out into your mouth.

1. The Whole Bite

Yes, it’s true; some Oreo eaters do remove the cookie from the package and eat it like they would any other cookie. They take a cookie in hand and bring it to their mouth and just bite. There’s no fanfare. Just pure cookie goodness. It’s a purist’s approach and best for beginners.

1. The Chow Down

Anyone who’s ever cleared out an entire row of Oreos in one sitting knows about The Chow Down. This method involves eating more than one Oreo at a time. Taking three cookies in hand, the eater will shove them in his mouth. Crunching down on a mass of Oreos is very satisfying. The only problem with this method is that you run out of Oreos faster. You can also take your Oreos and crumble them into a glass of milk in numbers. Four or five Oreos, when crumbled, will fit nicely into a large glass of milk. You can then spoon them out like a cool dessert, or drink the mixture right out of the cup.

Oreo eaters worldwide, and indeed around the country, have their own methods for eating their favorite cookie. There is no one right way to eat an Oreo. You have to try a few methods to find one that works for you, for all kinds of different Oreos (even chocolate covered oreos!) No two eaters have exactly the same requirements. Some need the cookie to be mashed and some need it to be free of any milk whatsoever.  However you eat them, they're sure to bring lots of smiles!

If you really love Oreos, you'll have to read this article and learn all about Oreos.

Have you been looking for a unique way to say "Thank You", "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Anniversary"?

Cookies make a great gift for just about any occasion. And when you send beautifully decorated, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth confections artfully arranged in a cookie bouquet then you've sent something really special!

The cookie has two different origins; one for the food, and one for the word. The food originated sometime around 3 B.C. in Rome, and was called "bis coctum" meaning, "twice baked". Roman bis coctum had no sugar added and is also the origin of the word "biscuit". A biscuit in the United States would be a flaky, unsweetened quick bread, where in England it would be a sweet treat.

The word "cookie" came from the Dutch word "koekje", which means "little cake". The Dutch introduced them to Americans in the 18th century and the word became "cookie".

Toll House invented chocolate chip cookies in 1930. Using butter and sugar in cookie recipes probably did not begin until the 18th century. In the 19th century, cookie production began to boom when the price of flour and sugar went down and products like baking soda came into existence. Thus came the era of the manufactured cookie! These days, every type of cookie you can imagine is available! In 1995, 16 billion Oreo cookies were produced in Nabisco’s Chicago, Illinois factory - the largest of its kind in the world!

Whether you are looking for a gift for a special occasion, or just something to tell someone you are thinking of him or her, you can’t go wrong with a beautiful cookie gift bouquet. So, instead of the same old bouquet of flowers, next time try something different and send cookies!

… Say what you want with cookies!