cookie
American Heritage Dictionary:
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cook·ie
also cook·y (kʊk'ē) 
n., pl., -ies.
n., pl., -ies.
- A small, usually flat and crisp cake made from sweetened dough.
- Slang. A person, usually of a specified kind: a lawyer who was a tough cookie.
- Computer Science. A collection of information, usually including a username and the current date and time, stored on the local computer of a person using the World Wide Web, used chiefly by websites to identify users who have previously registered or visited the site.
[Dutch koekje, diminutive of koek, cake, from Middle Dutch koeke.]
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cookie
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not cooky, is the established spelling in its various meanings: in American English 'a biscuit' and (slang) a person (as in tough cookie), in Scottish 'a plain bun'. Since the 1980s cookie has become more familiar in all forms of English as a computing term for a set of data sent by the server of an Internet website to a user's browser to identify and track the user's future access to a that website.
| convince, convict, convertible | |
| cool, coomb, cooperate |
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A small file downloaded to your computer when you browse a web page. Cookies hold information that can be retrieved by other pages at the site.
| Conveyance, Convey, Convertibles | |
| Cooling-Off Period, Cooperative, Cooperative Advertising |
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A cookie can be any of various hand-held, flour-based sweet cakes-either crisp or soft. The word cookie comes from the Dutch koekje, meaning "little cake." The earliest cookie-style cakes are thought to date back to 7th-century Persia, one of the first countries to cultivate sugar. There are six basic cookie styles, any of which can range from tender-crisp to soft. A drop cookie is made by dropping spoonfuls of dough onto a baking sheet. Bar cookies are created when a batter or soft dough is spooned into a shallow pan, then baked, cooled and cut into bars. Hand-formed (or molded) cookies are made by shaping dough by hand into small balls, logs, crescents and other shapes. Pressed cookies are formed by pressing dough through a cookie press (or pastry bag) to form fancy shapes and designs. Refrigerator (or icebox) cookies are made by shaping the dough into a log, which is refrigerated until firm, then sliced and baked. Rolled cookies begin by using a rolling pin to roll the dough out flat; then it is cut into decorative shapes with cookie cutters or a pointed knife. Other cookies, such as the German springerle, are formed by imprinting designs on the dough, either by rolling a special decoratively carved rolling pin over it or by pressing the dough into a carved cookie mold. In England, cookies are called biscuits, in Spain they're galletas, Germans call them keks, in Italy they're biscotti and so on.
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Origin: 1703
You won't hear cookie in England. But you will in the United States, thanks to our Dutch forebears. Cookie is a Dutch term meaning "little cake." It was brought to the New World by the Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam. Though they lost the colony to the English, who promptly renamed it New York in 1674, the Hollanders maintained their hearty practices. In 1703, it was reported, certain New York residents of Dutch ancestry laid out for a funeral "rum, beer, gloves, rings," one and a half gross of pipes, and eight hundred "cockies." Cookies were also a Dutch treat for New Year's Day, along with pound cake, wine, and a drink called cherry bounce (made of cider, whiskey and cherries).
During the 1700s the sweet, flat little cakes became the favorites of New Yorkers of all backgrounds. In 1786, for example, a New York newspaper complained about "idle boys, who infest our markets and streets, with baskets of cookies." From New York, cookies made themselves at home throughout the country by means of travelers, recipes, and hungry children. In the late twentieth century, when a children's television show wanted to associate a leading character with a culinary passion, who else could they imagine but a monster who loved cookies?
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cookie
sign description: The open right claw hand comes down and then twists on the palm of the left flat hand.
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noun
noun, esp
1: A woman; an attractive girl. (1920 —) .
R. Longrigg I met a cookie I know....She said you'd said Faustus was like Oklahoma (1959).
2: A man; often with defining adjective. (1928 —) .
W. R. Burnett He's a real tough cookie and you know it (1953).
3: (that's) how (or the way) the cookie crumbles (that is) how things turn out; the unalterable state of affairs. (1957 —) .
P. G. Wodehouse Oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles. You can't win 'em all (1961).
noun, esp
1: A woman; an attractive girl. (1920 —) .
R. Longrigg I met a cookie I know....She said you'd said Faustus was like Oklahoma (1959).
2: A man; often with defining adjective. (1928 —) .
W. R. Burnett He's a real tough cookie and you know it (1953).
3: (that's) how (or the way) the cookie crumbles (that is) how things turn out; the unalterable state of affairs. (1957 —) .
P. G. Wodehouse Oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles. You can't win 'em all (1961).
| cook, cooee, coo | |
| cookie-duster, cookie-pusher, cool |
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'cookie'
- Types of Food - cookie: small, sweet cake
- Cookies - cookie: small, sweet cake
- Pet Names
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Cookie
This article is about the food. For the computer term, see HTTP cookie. For other uses, see Cookie (disambiguation).
 Chocolate chip cookies |
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| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Alternative name(s) | Biscuit |
| Place of origin | Persia[1] |
| Details | |
| Course | Snack, dessert |
| Serving temperature | Variable |
In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have different meanings. A cookie is a plain bun in Scotland,[2] while in the United States a biscuit is a kind of quick bread similar to a scone. In the United Kingdom, a cookie is referred to as a biscuit, although some types of cookies maintain this name, such as the American-inspired Maryland Cookies, which are also sold there. In South Africa they are called biscuits, and the word cookie refers to cupcakes.
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Etymology
Its American name derives from the Dutch word koekje or (informal) koekie which means little cake, and arrived in American English through the Dutch in North America.
According to the Scottish National Dictionary, its Scottish name derives from the diminutive form (+ suffix -ie) of the word cook, giving the Middle Scots cookie, cooky or cu(c)kie. It also gives an alternative etymology, from the Dutch word koekje, the diminutive of koek, a cake. There was much trade and cultural contact across the North Sea between the Low Countries and Scotland during the Middle Ages, which can also be seen in the history of curling and, perhaps, golf.
Description
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Cookies are most commonly baked until crisp or just long enough that they remain soft, but some kinds of cookies are not baked at all. Cookies are made in a wide variety of styles, using an array of ingredients including sugars, spices, chocolate, butter, peanut butter, nuts or dried fruits. The softness of the cookie may depend on how long it is baked.
A general theory of cookies may be formulated this way. Despite its descent from cakes and other sweetened breads, the cookie in almost all its forms has abandoned water as a medium for cohesion. Water in cakes serves to make the base (in the case of cakes called "batter"[3]) as thin as possible, which allows the bubbles – responsible for a cake's fluffiness – to form better. In the cookie, the agent of cohesion has become some form of oil. Oils, whether they be in the form of butter, egg yolks, vegetable oils or lard are much more viscous than water and evaporate freely at a much higher temperature than water. Thus a cake made with butter or eggs instead of water is far denser after removal from the oven.
Oils in baked cakes do not behave as soda tends to in the finished result. Rather than evaporating and thickening the mixture, they remain, saturating the bubbles of escaped gases from what little water there might have been in the eggs, if added, and the carbon dioxide released by heating the baking powder. This saturation produces the most texturally attractive feature of the cookie, and indeed all fried foods: crispness saturated with a moisture (namely oil) that does not sink into it.
History
Cookie-like hard wafers have existed for as long as baking is documented, in part because they deal with travel very well, but they were usually not sweet enough to be considered cookies by modern standards.[4]
Cookies appear to have their origins in 7th century Persia, shortly after the use of sugar became relatively common in the region.[1] They spread to Europe through the Muslim conquest of Spain. By the 14th century, they were common in all levels of society, throughout Europe, from royal cuisine to street vendors.
With global travel becoming widespread at that time, cookies made a natural travel companion, a modernized equivalent of the travel cakes used throughout history. One of the most popular early cookies, which traveled especially well and became known on every continent by similar names, was the jumble, a relatively hard cookie made largely from nuts, sweetener, and water.
Cookies came to America in the early English settlement (the 17th century), although the name "koekje" arrived with the Dutch. This became Anglicized to "cookie" or cooky. Among the popular early American cookies were the macaroon, gingerbread cookies, and of course jumbles of various types.
The most common modern cookie, given its style by the creaming of butter and sugar, was not common until the 18th century.[5]
Classification of cookies
Cookies are broadly classified according to how they are formed, including at least these categories:
- Drop cookies are made from a relatively soft dough that is dropped by spoonfuls onto the baking sheet. During baking, the mounds of dough spread and flatten. Chocolate chip cookies (Toll House cookies), oatmeal (or oatmeal raisin) cookies and rock cakes are popular examples of drop cookies.
- Refrigerator cookies (also known as icebox cookies) are made from a stiff dough that is refrigerated to become even stiffer. The dough is typically shaped into cylinders which are sliced into round cookies before baking. Pinwheel cookies are representative.
- Molded cookies are also made from a stiffer dough that is molded into balls or cookie shapes by hand before baking. Snickerdoodles and peanut butter cookies are examples of molded cookies.
- Rolled cookies are made from a stiffer dough that is rolled out and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Gingerbread men are an example.
- Pressed cookies are made from a soft dough that is extruded from a cookie press into various decorative shapes before baking. Spritzgebäck are an example of a pressed cookie.
- Bar cookies consist of batter or other ingredients that are poured or pressed into a pan (sometimes in multiple layers), and cut into cookie-sized pieces after baking. In British English, bar cookies are known as "tray bakes". Examples include brownies and fruit squares and bars such as date squares.
- Sandwich cookies are rolled or pressed cookies that are assembled as a sandwich with a sweet filling. Fillings include marshmallow, jam, and icing. The Oreo cookie, made of two chocolate cookies with a vanilla icing filling is an example.
Cookies also may be decorated with an icing, especially chocolate, and closely resemble a type of confectionery.
Biscuits (cookies) in the United Kingdom
A basic biscuit (cookie) recipe includes flour, shortening (often lard), baking powder or soda, milk (buttermilk or sweet milk) and sugar. Common savory variations involve substituting sugar with an ingredient such as cheese or other dairy products. Shortbread is a popular biscuit in the UK.
See also
Cookie varieties
Related pastries and confections
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Miscellaneous
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cookies |
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Look up cookie in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on |
- ^ a b "History of Cookies - Cookie History", Whatscookingamerica.net.
- ^ cookie - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
- ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition. Merriam-Webster, Inc.: 1999.
- ^ http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcookies.html Foodtimeline.org
- ^ http://www.ochef.com/25.htm Ochef.com
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
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Cookie
Dansk (Danish)
n. - småkage, sød pige, fyr, bolle
Nederlands (Dutch)
koekje, persoon, zoet broodje
Français (French)
n. - (US) gâteau sec, biscuit sec, un dur à cuire (fam), (US) jolie fille
Deutsch (German)
n. - Keks, Plätzchen
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (μαγειρ.) βούτημα, μπισκότο, (ΗΠΑ, καθομ.) άτομο, πρόσωπο
idioms:
- smart cookie furbacchione, volpone
Português (Portuguese)
n. - biscoito (m)
idioms:
- smart cookie espertinho
- tough cookie durão
idioms:
- smart cookie пройдоха
- tough cookie крепкий орешек
Español (Spanish)
n. - galleta, bizcocho, galletita
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - småkaka (am.), sötnos (am. vard.), kille (am. sl.), bulle (skotsk.), köksa (vard.), kock (vard.)
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
饼干, 小甜点
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 餅乾, 小甜點
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 쿠키, 사랑하는 사람, 놈, 위의 내용물
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) بسكويت, كعك
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ברנש, עוגיה
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Barron's Business Dictionary
Dictionary of Business Terms. Copyright © 2007 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Barron's Food Lover's Companion
Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Houghton Mifflin Word Origins
America in So Many Words, by David K.Barnhart and Allan A. Metcalf. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang
Oxford University Press. © 1997, 2008, 2010
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Random House Word Menu
© 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier.
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Wikipedia on Answers.com
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Cookie.
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