The history of cookies truly holds a colorful and tasty past. So how did this delicious baked good become an integral part of the American and worldwide dessert line? Well it seems the invention of the cookie was actually an accident. Linda Stradley, author for WhatsCookingAmerica.net, says that the earliest type of cookie that we are familiar with dates back to the 7th century A.D. (600s A.D.). Beginning in Persia, which is believed to be one of the first countries to cultivate sugar and then spreading West to neighboring Europe.

With the ability of cultivating sugar, bakers were able to make delicious cakes and other baked goods. According to Kitchen Project, cooks would use a small amount of cake batter so that the oven temperature could be tested before baking an entire cake. These test cakes came to be called “koekje,” which in Dutch means “little cake.” From this Dutch word, “koekje,” came our English word, “cookie.” So without knowing it, bakers created a hand-held dessert that would win the hearts (and taste buds) of people all over the world.

The Dutch, Scottish, and English immigrants are credited with popularizing the cookie in America. All around the world countries have different names for a “cookie.” But the definition is pretty universal, a small hand-held and flour-based sweet cake. These small hand-held desserts can be crispy or soft, depending on a persons preference. If we look to some of the first American cookbooks that had recipes for cookies, they would only appear at the ends of cake chapters, with no space of their own. As the cookie’s popularity began to take off though, many colonial housewives would pride themselves on their cookie desserts. This is really before we saw a variety of flavors that are now offered. The main flavoring was mainly butter and possibly rose water.

So let us take a look at just how popular the “cookie” has become in America.

• Just over 95% of households consume cookies
• Over 2 billion cookies per year are consumed
• Equates to 300 cookies per-year, per-person

Also notable is the history of chocolate chip cookies. Just like the “cookie,” chocolate chip cookies were also discovered accidentally.

James Ehler, of FoodReference.com, states that Ruth Wakefield is the person that is credited with inventing the chocolate chip cookie. Ruth was a dietitian who lectured about food, until she and her husband bought the tourist lodge, the Toll House Inn. Ruth liked baking a cookie from the colonial times called the "Butter Drop Do" cookie. The main ingredient was baker's chocolate which melted into the cookie and on this particular day she did not have the ingredient. However, she did have a bar of semi-sweet chocolate given to her from Nestle, which she chopped up into small pieces and mixed in with the dough. Once baked, instead of melting into the cookies, the small chunks only softened and stayed visible on the cookie. The chocolate chip cookie became an immediate success and soon after took over the nation. Because this was done at the Toll House Inn, she called the cookies, "Toll House Crunch Cookies." The name Toll House has become a household name in the baking and cookie industries.

So the history of cookies and chocolate chip cookies is quite amazing, who would have thought that two accidents could create some of the most demanded desserts that exist today.