The word “cookie” derives from the Dutch word koeptje (or koekje), meaning “small cake.”
It came to America with Dutch colonists who settled in New Amsterdam (later New York).
The term was adopted throughout the American colonies, while the term used in England is “biscuit.”
Amelia Simmons, author of American Cookery (1796), is credited with publishing the first known cookie recipes, one of which was for Christmas cookies.
American cookbooks have included numerous recipes for cookies ever since.
Commercial cookies had been manufactured by many companies during the nineteenth century, but their popularity soared in about 1900.
The National Biscuit Company introduced a product in honor of Sylvester Graham, called the Graham cracker, in 1898.
It had little in common with what Sylvester Graham had originally advocated.
In 1902 the company relaunched yet another cracker, Animal Biscuits, by changing their name to Barnum’s Animals.
Since then, thousands of other wheat-based cookies and crackers have been manufactured in the United States.
In 1910 the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company of Kansas City, Kansas, using the brand name Sunshine Biscuits, introduced Hydrox Biscuit Bonbons, which was later shortened to Hydrox Cookies.
They were very popular and their success encouraged Nabisco to introduce Oreo cookies in 1912. Oreos became America’s best-selling cookie, a position it has held ever since.
Selling cookies has been a traditional method of raising money for charities and nonprofit causes. Girl Scouts began selling cookies in about 1917 to raise money, but it was not until 1922 that the national organization endorsed the idea.
Beginning in 1934, the Girl Scouts sold commercially baked cookies.
The following year, boxes were manufactured with “Girl Scout Cookies” printed on the outside and in 1936 bakers were first licensed to make the cookies.
One of their leading licensed bakers is Little Brownie Bakers, a subsidiary of Keebler Foods. Three varieties emerged in 1951—sandwich, shortbread, and thin mints.
They have been an important source of income for the Girl Scouts ever since.
The most popular cookie in America is the chocolate chip cookie, which is attributed to Ruth Wakefield. Her Toll House Cookies, also called Chocolate Chip Cookies, originated in about 1933.
Making fresh chocolate chip and other cookies is at the center of commercial cookie chains, including Famous Amos (launched in 1975) and Mrs. Fields (1977).
In 2010 total annual cookie sales in the United States were estimated at $4.1 billion.
By far the largest commercial cookie manufacturer is Nabisco, maker of Oreo cookies and Chips Ahoy! Kellogg’s subsidiary, Keebler Foods, maker of Cheez-It, Chips Delux, Famous Amos, Sesame Street Cookies, and Sunshine cookies, is the second-largest producer of commercial cookies and crackers in America.
Other cookie manufacturers include Parmalat, maker of Mother’s Cookies, Delicious brand cookies, and Archway cookies; Pepperidge Farm cookies and crackers; and McKee Foods, maker of Little Debbie products.
Private labels control only about 11 percent of the American commercial cookie market.
Info Source: Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat Book