Cookies and biscuits

Origin of Cookies and Biscuits

Historians believe that today's Christmas cookies and biscuits date back to the Middle Ages. The birth of Jesus was celebrated with the preparation and consumption of baked goods such as Stollen and Pfeffernüsse. Monasteries at the time had access not only to common baking ingredients, but also to special spices such as cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom. For this reason, the first Christmas cookies were also baked in monasteries. The term "Plätzchen" comes from the southern German word "Platz", which was used for flat cakes. Since cookies contained very expensive ingredients, only the upper classes could afford to eat them for a long time.

Cookies have their origins in the Roman Empire: at that time, a type of biscuit or hardtack was used as ship's provisions. Only from the mid-19th century, wheat flour was mostly used for baking, previously rye flour was used for the dough. The long-lasting and very nutritious baked goods were called "English cake" in the 19th century. After a German merchant had baked the pastries, the "cakes" became increasingly popular in Germany, and the term "cookie" became common. It took some time again for the distinction between the singular "cookie" and the plural "cookies" to become established.

Cookies & Co. Nowadays

Nowadays you have a choice of many different cookies and biscuits. Cookies that are popular not only at Christmas time are, for example, Vanillekipferl, Mailänder, and Anisplätzchen. Depending on the type of cookie, the individual pieces of pastry are either shaped by hand, piped, or cut out using molds. A special feature is the use of carved molds for Spekulatius and Springerle: the dough is pressed onto a wooden model to obtain an exact representation of the motif on the dough.

A fundamental difference of the cookies that you can buy is the dough used. Usually, it is either shortcrust pastry or hardtack dough. Shortcrust pastry corresponds to a shortcrust pastry, from which often also cake bases are made. A typical variant is the so-called "1-2-3 dough"; it contains one part sugar, two parts fat, and three parts flour. Commercially produced shortcrust biscuits must contain at least 16.5 parts fat for 100 parts flour (or other cereal products). In general, shortcrust pastry has more sugar and fat than hardtack dough. Shortcrust biscuits are mostly obtained by rolling out and then cutting out with shapes. Examples of shortcrust biscuits that you probably know are Heidesand, Friesenkekse, and Schwarz-Weiß-Gebäck.

The comparatively low-fat and low-sugar hardtack dough typically contains 100 parts flour, 10 to 20 parts fat, and 20 to 30 parts sugar; also, usually, 10 to 30 parts water are added. The usual way of making them is also to roll out the dough thinly and use shapes for cutting out. Unlike shortcrust pastry cookies, however, bubbles can form during baking, which is why hardtack biscuits are pricked in several places before baking. You can see this particularly well, for example, with butter cookies and double biscuits.

Butter cookies - popular for generations

Although they are quite simple cookies, butter cookies are very popular with adults and children. Every manufacturer of butter cookies must make sure to add at least ten parts of butter (or butterfat) per 100 parts of cereal products to the dough. Butter cookies have been produced in their typical form since 1886. The French company Lefèvre Utile (LU) produced the first rectangular butter cookies, each with 14 teeth on the long sides and ten teeth on the short sides. Since 1891, there has been the well-known Leibniz biscuit of the company Bahlsen GmbH & Co. KG, which was then still called Hannoversche Cakes-Fabrik H. Bahlsen. Apart from products of the Bahlsen brand, the subcategory of butter cookies in the food shop includes butter cookies of other well-known manufacturers - also covered with chocolate.

Colorful Cookie Mixtures

If you also love variety in cookies, then cookie mixtures are the right choice. In the online shop, you can find, for example, waffle and piped biscuit mixtures. But if you want to offer something special to your coffee guests, you can also opt for packages of exquisite pastry specialties. Due to their long shelf life, you can of course stock up with cookie mixtures and offer unannounced guests not only a cup of coffee but also delicious cookies. In the case of a cookie mixture, it can be assumed that your guest likes at least one of the included cookie varieties.

Cookies Packaged in Rolls

As well known as the rectangular-shaped butter cookies are the double biscuits. The invention of the double biscuit is due to the Belgian Edouard de Beukelaer, who first joined two round biscuits together with a layer of cream in 1870. The original name was "le petit prince fourré", which means "little, filled prince". Choose from various double biscuits of the De Beukelaer brand, such as Prinzen Rolle, and also from double biscuits and other round biscuits of other manufacturers.

Specialties in the Cookies & Co. Category

As a supporter of organic products, you don't have to do without industrially produced cookies. How about trying Dinkel Butterkekse, which contain spelt flour and Bourbon vanilla from controlled organic farming?

If you want to offer not only cookies but also other delicacies to your coffee guests, you will also find what you are looking for in this online shop within the Cookies & Co. category. Under "Packung & Beutel", you will find a wide selection of sweet nibbles with and without chocolate; milk chocolate-covered almond slivers and nutcrackers are just two product examples. Chocolate lentils, praline mixtures, and Hamburger Speck can also provide welcome variety on the coffee table.

The Right Storage of Cookies and Biscuits

Especially if you have opened several cookie packages to offer your guests a maximum selection, some cookies will probably be left over. If you want the cookies to remain crispy and tasty for the next few days, you should store them in tightly closed containers (tins or jars), sorted by type. A cookie jar is particularly suitable for crispy cookies due to its light ventilation.