Sugar Cookies
Circa: 1700's
Since today is National Sugar Cookie day I thought that there was no better time to share a great sugar cookie recipe and a little history behind this sweet treat! Oddly enough, many historians actually believe that the origin of cookies arose out of necessity rather than want. Before the creation of our more modern stoves bakers throughout history worked with ovens heated by fire. Finding the right temperature could prove difficult when you weren’t able to turn a dial or even better punch in 350 degrees. In order to test the heat they began baking a small amount of batter to ensure they had the correct temperature. Well, who could resist a mini cake… no one! So bakers began selling the mini-cakes and the cookie was born. However then they were known by many names including jumbles, cry babies, plunkets, gemmels and even gimblettes! However a cookie by any other name is still a cookie!
The cookie’s arrival to America has been attributed to Dutch settlers in New York who made a small cake known as a koekje pronounced cookie. While there were similar cakes found in Europe the koekje was unique because it utilized a new innovation at the time: chemical leavening. The alkali leavener pearlash was first in use in the 18th century around New York City and the first published recipe for “cookies” appeared in 1796. In the days before modern refrigeration and food preservation, non-leavened food grew in popularity because it could be dried and stored for many months.
The modern sugar cookie we have all grown to love dates back to the 1700s in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. German Protestant settlers created a crumbly, buttery round cookie that became known as the Nazareth Sugar Cookie. Over the years the Nazareth Sugar Cookie grew in popularity leading to House Bill of 1892 that made it the official cookie of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
With the rise of industry and processed food, the sugar cookie gained the delicious addition of vanilla! Before this ingredient became a pantry staple it was very expensive and difficult to acquire. Now with artificial vanilla widely available and affordable people began adding it to everything! By the 1920s people were using it so much that it became known as “plain vanilla!” Over time the cookie continued to grow in popularity and in 1948 Betty Crocker’s Cook Book included a recipe for Rolled Sugar Cookies and it has been a family favorite ever since! So put on your cute vintage apron head to the kitchen and celebrate National Sugar Cookie Day!
I had to include this cute behind the scenes shot! She always joins me when I am shooting, especially if there is food involved!
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