Redartz: This week, our subject is both short and sweet: cookies! Or, for our UK contingent, biscuits (correct me if I'm wrong here, guys and gals). Anything and everything about those wonderful little round edibles. Which are your favorites? Which do you avoid at any cost? Home-baked or store bought? Any recommended recipes? What cookie commercials do you remember? It's all fair game, from the bag to the crumbs. My personal favorite: chocolate chip cookies, no contest. Preferably home baked and fresh from the oven, with a glass of cold milk ( I've always told my wife, if for some reason I'm ever on death row and they ask me for my final meal choice, it will include a big plate of warm chocolate chip cookies and cold milk). Of course, I'll never turn down a bag of Chips Ahoy!, or even some Oreos (particularly fond of the chocolate Oreos).
To put you in the munchie mood, here's a few vintage cookie ads you might recall...
Chips Ahoy!
Oreos
Keebler
Fig Newtons
Oh, and for the benefit of our UK contingent, here's what I see when I hear 'biscuits'...
Bon Apetit!
25 comments:
I rarely eat biscuits anymore but I suppose chocolate digestives are my favourite and ginger biscuits are quite nice too. Some brands of British biscuits are called cookies because it makes them sound more cool, fun and exotic. The word "biscuit" was originally spelt as "bisket" but the spelling was changed in the 18th Century to make the humble bisket seem French and therefore more cultured and upmarket. I also like fig newtons but here in Britain they are called fig rolls.
My wife and I always have a stash of ginger cookies handy all year 'round, not just gingerbread men at Christmastime!
The Fig Newton commercial came to mind immediately when I first started reading today's missive. A definite favorite ditty! And the cookies are pretty good, too.
As a dark chocolate fan, I tend to go for a freshly made dark chocolate chip cookie, especially if it turns into a "Kitchen Sink" variety with toffee chips, pecans, caramel and even some pretzel pieces mixed in! Yum!
Disney parks have a fun version of butter cookies called Mickey's Shorts Bread Cookies, shaped like the Mouse's double-buttoned shorts. And they're sooo buttery good, too!
Pepperidge Farms ‘Chessmen’ butter cookies are fairly simple, almost basic, but really good.
We used to get Van De Camp’s Windmill cookies at Ralph’s supermarket when I was a kid. Spicy, not too sweet, with those little slivers of almond — MMMMMM. Best gingerbread cookie EVER.
I love a good chewy semi-soft oatmeal raisin cookie.
I liked Oreos when I was younger (dip em in a cold glass of milk, oh boy) but as I got older I found the creamy stuff in the center too sweet and too artificial tasting. Gave ‘em up, never looked back. So a couple years ago, I quit smoking after almost 40 years and as a lot of people (foolishly) do, I started snacking more to take the edge off my withdrawal. That was when I discovered Oreos with chocolate filling. OMG. I tried really hard to pace myself with those babies, but I’d wind up eating an entire package in two days. Sometimes just ONE. Before I knew it, I’d put on twenty pounds! Had to go cold turkey on those little dark brown devils, and I’m still struggling to lose those extra pounds. But I still haven’t gone back to smoking, so I guess it was a fair trade, all things considered.
-b.t.
Yeah, chocolate chip is pretty good; I also love oatmeal raisin, especially if they're chewy not crisp. When I was a kid I loved these maple-flavoured sandwich cookies, but my parents hated them because the maple smell was overpowering as soon as you opened the bag.
A subject I can sink my teeth into! Awesome Red!
When we visited my Hungarian grandparents there was only 1 type of cookie: Almond crescents with the powdered sugar. Used to love to smash the sugar on the roof of my mouth and then try to peel it away with my tongue!
At my Scottish grandmother’s house, she had the variety pack. I’d go after the sugar cookie with the faux cherry in the center, lol. Occasionally she would get these chocolate or strawberry-covered marshmallow cookies which were dy-no-mite!
My parents: almond-slice, maple windmills and off-brand crème filled ones!
My frugal ancestors had NO NEED for name brands, LOL!
One of the little "personal touch" benefits that I've maintained for my set strike/load-in crews for, wow, like 28 years now is that almost w/out exception, I'll bake a couple of batches of home-made toll-house cookies to add a bit of restorative sweetness during our (infrequent) breaks. The pay is never great, the hours used to be dreadful, and a lot of pulling in a reasonably capable crew these days relies as much on good will and camaraderie as it does on folks really needing a few days of overhire work. Over the decades, this tradition has built up its own little mini-reputation, which is nice.
A bit of quick math tells me I have probably baked about 300 batches in that span of time. I suspect I've easily eclipsed my own Mom's lifetime output--- although she still acts like I couldn't POSSIBLY know how to REALLY make them RIGHT. Heh--
Do I still follow the Nestle version of the recipe'? Well-- yep, but my own modifications have made them very much my own:
Double the vanilla (2 tsp instead of one)
Always use dark brown sugar (not light)
NEVER let the butter melt all the way-- important.
ADD a 1/3 cup of corn meal to the dry ingredients-- but DON'T USE LESS FLOUR (otherwise you clobber the the chemistry)
It's such a small perk in the grand scheme of a tough turn-around. . . but it's amazing what a boost to team/crew morale it provides.
Personal favorite store-boughts?
Yeah, chocolate filled oreos were big (when I was still eating oreos); OH-- as were the chocolate-COVERED oreos when they first came out!! Man, 3 of those, and yer advancing toward coma-territory!
Then a toss-up between Pepperidge Farms Orange Milanos and Dark Chocolate Milanos--- oh lordy, I could woof down a whole package of those in younger days. . .
Archway's Chocolate Chip cookies were pretty darned good, but we rarely seemed to get them.
Ugh-- Fig Newtons? Man, I cannot force one of those down even TODAY-! (Loved the blueberry newtons, though.)
And-- remember Hydrox? The Oreo alternative? For a long time my girl-friend (now wife) and I preferred those to Oreos for our late-night snack runs to the local High's convenience store. A little different taste that was its own kind of good.
HB-- eaten a lot of cookies in this lifetime. . .
Quick question!
For some reason when I hear Fig Newton, I think of Fahr Vergnugen from the old VW commercials in the early 90s. They were actually quite successful for VW. (Fahr Vergnugen translates approximately to "driving enjoyment.")
I know at one point there was a comedy spoof, perhaps on Saturday Night Live, changing Fahr Vergnugen to Far From Poopin.
But I also recall something with Fig Newton. Anyone else?
Colin J- thanks for the 'biscuit background '. It may be a trait from the midwest where I grew up, but to me a biscuit is a flaky sort of dinner roll. Preferably slathered with butter, jelly or honey.
Disneymarvel- those Mickey cookies sound odd, but tasty. Brings to mind Bart Simpson and "eat my shorts". Doubt that's what the folks at Disney have in mind, though.
B.t.- yes, anything from Pepperidge Farm is worth a try. And yes, the chocolate Oreos are...habit forming.
Mike W- you bring to mind a critically important question: chewy or crispy? Personally I lean towards chewy. But a cookie is a cookie. And maple cookies? Hmmmmmmm. Intriguing.
Charlie- you and my wife, big on almond cookies. She loves 'em. As for your marshmallow cookies- were they the ones that were kind of humpy, built upon a sort of Graham crackery cookie base? You bite into them and the chocolate shell breaks and the marshmallow oozes out...
And those VW commercials were common for awhile. Seem to remember that SNL sketch, but no luck on the Newtons...
HB- man, I'd join your crew if it meant getting home baked chocolate chip cookies! Will have to try your variation. Oh, and do you recall the old commercials for Hydrox? Wasn't there something called a "Drox", and it was customary to say "Hi Drox"? Or maybe I was hallucinating. Too many visits with the Keebler elves...
Red--- dude, I TOTALLY remember that brief Hydrox ad campaign, yes-- It practically haunts me to this day-- ha!
The "Drox" was the anthropomorphized little dollop of white creamy filling between the two chocolate outside cookies. A little, fluffy, gleeful sprite-creature. The hook was to have kids twist open the cookie, say "Hi Drox!" to the filling. . . then scrape it off of the cookie with their teeth, and joyfully eat it alive. . . It's Drinking the Kool-Aid Man's soul away, all over again.
And, being little boys-- that's EXACTLY how we played it-- reveling in a gastronomic orgy of pseudo-cannibalistic power--- something akin to being the Giant in Jack & the Beanstalk: "HIIIIIIIIIII DRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHXXXX!!! YARRR-HARHARHARHARHAR----- *SNARF* *SLURP* *SKRUNCH* "
Way to go, Madison Ave advertising execs. . .
HB (STILL scarred---)
I will second Colin's nomination of chocolate digestives which, despite the name, are not a form of medicine.
Also, I will nominate Jammy Dodgers, Clubs and Penguins. Jammy Dodgers are two layers of shortbread with jam (jelly) sandwiched inbetween. Clubs are rectangular biscuits covered in chocolate. Penguins are also rectangular biscuits covered in chocolate but have a chocolatey strip running through the middle and have a terrible joke on each wrapper.
For legal reasons, the same flavour of Clubs are not allowed to be sold in the Irish Republic as can be bought in the United Kingdom. It's a major trauma for some of us.
Red- Do they have Dare cookies in the States, or is that just a Canadian brand? Here's the Maple Crème cookies I mentioned ... apparently they still make them. Dare used to make a pretty good chocolate chip too, if I remember right.
Steve DC- ok, had to look up "chocolate digestives". They may not be medicated, but the ads seemed to promote them as digestive aids! Kind of reminiscent of how Graham Crackers were touted as health food...
Mike W- Not familiar with Dare cookies, must be a Northern thing. Regional/national differences in such products are fascinating. Some years ago our family took a trip to Canada, where I was ecstatic to find "Aero Bars". Had them eons ago as a child but hadn't seen one in decades.
Mike- checked out your Maple link. Might be worth ordering for a lark. That, and the Maple chewing gum listed on the same page. Maple gum, whoooda thunk it?
No mention of Girl Scout Cookies yet! I like the Samoas and the Dos-i-dos.
-b.t.
I. . . . will confess, b.t., that I've fallen out of love with Girl Scout Cookies as the years have passed. It took them awhile to drop some of their more problematic ingredients (trans-fats; cottonseed oil), and we'd stopped buying them for a long time. And now, they just taste kinda "enh" to our palate, y'know? They're okay, but not great. Well-- and they are murderously wasteful in their packaging-- filling boxes with more plastic tray than actual cookie in some cases-- so we pass them up on that score these days as well. . . (This might be the most un-American thing I've ever posted!)
HB
I was in my local supermarket this morning and, inspired by this discussion, I bought a pack of fig rolls. I also took the opportunity to do some research on BiTBA's behalf by studying the biscuits that call themselves cookies and I noticed they all follow a similar pattern - they are all round with a roughly textured surface and they are embedded with things like chocolate chips, caramel pieces and nuts. By contrast "ordinary" biscuits can be round or oblong and don't usually have bits embedded in them (with some exceptions such as Garibaldi biscuits which have tiny currants in them, giving them their nickname of "squashed-fly biscuits"). But in America the word "cookie" is just the general description of anything small, sweet and baked, right?
Red, I'm amazed by that thing you call a biscuit!!
Colin- I added an image to the post above, for your edification and enjoyment!
Red - this is a tasty subject!
Yes - the marshmallow cookies were on top of a "biscuit" of some sort (lol). And you would bite through the chocolate or strawberry or coconut topping into the marshmallow.
Hydrox! Now I do remember those! Weren't they a non-national brand and thus cheaper? That would make sense for them to be allowed into our house! (Things were funny in our house. My mom would not buy soda because we drank it???)
HB - I share your feeling about the Girl Scout cookies. We only buy them now if one of the neighbor kids solicits them, to be a good neighbor. (And to avoid getting our house TP'd at Halloween? Ha! Is TP shortage still a thing?)
Colin - yes indeed! A cookie is just a small, sweet, bite-sized thing. Typically baked but I've seen these round things made of peanut butter, usually at Xmas, which are not baked. And yes, I see the same referred to as biscuits, spelled in various ways, in France, Germany, etc. To me, the harder thing to translate is "pie" b/c, continental europeans do not eat pies. UK? YOu gents have meat pies! Ohh joy!
So — when U.K. folks hear the words ‘Biscuits and Gravy’, it probably sounds pretty disgusting, I imagine?
And Charlie, we have meat pies in the States too— only we call them empanadas :)
-b.t.
You hit it on the head, Red! Chocolate Chip and coooold milk!
I'm forever in search of the best chocolate chip cookie ever. Whenever near a new bakery I must by at least 1.
Others I crave at times are Pinwheels, Lorna Doones (I suck on them till they melt in my mouth), Fig Newtons (originals only) and Oreos, which somehow never tried in milk until I was 40! As kids we used twist them open and scrape the cream off with our teeth. But Oreos soaked in milk, well that's just cookie crack right there.
Charlie, the biscuits with marshmallow on top and coated in chocolate were probably Tunnock's Teacakes which are manufactured in Scotland.
Red, your description of an Indiana biscuit as a "flaky sort of dinner roll" made me think you were describing something similar to a French croissant but that image you've provided is like nothing I've seen before!
b.t, "biscuits and gravy" would definitely sound bizarre to us Brits, but I suppose "faggots and peas" would seem strange to Americans (a faggot is a kind of meatball - I just finished a pack of 6).
Charlie, like Steve your description of marshmallow cookies made me think of Tunnock's Teacakes (which are made in Scotland but sold all over Britain).
A meat pie has gravy in it but a "pasty" is like a meat pie plus vegetables but no gravy (there are also varieties without any meat such as a cheese & onion pasty or a vegan pasty).
Tunnocks Carmel waders and tea cakes are a big seller in the UK as Colin suggests and are a National treasure in Scotland (along with Irn Bru a carbonated drink that outsell coke and Peosi in Scotland) they makegm 5 million Carmel wafers a week ( not bad for a country of 5.3 million people) Of American biccys I like Oreos ,very addictive and tasty Ahh Lancashire meat and veg pies lovely stuff Colin
In the rest of the UK Irn Bru is the 3rd biggest selling soft drink, after Coke and Pepsi.
McScotty and Colin- so many exotic delicacies! Im Bru? Hmmmmm. My wife and I have long wanted to make a trip to your fine land, and are considering an attempt next year (pandemics and budget allowing). Would love to sample some of these intriguing items you describe...
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