Cookies | Can’t Sleep? Learn About Fresh Baked Favorites

This episode of I Can’t Sleep is a calm, encyclopedic tour through the history, varieties, and cultural spread of the cookie. The central argument is that the cookie, in its many forms, is a deceptively simple baked good that has traveled across centuries and continents, adapting to local tastes, technologies, and economies. The episode treats the cookie not as a trivial snack but as a historical artifact shaped by trade, industrialization, and migration.

The story begins with the word itself. The term "cookie" dates from at least 1701 in Scottish usage, where it meant a plain bun, not a thin baked good. The modern American sense—a small, flat, sweet cake—comes from the Dutch koekje, meaning "little cake," brought to New Amsterdam in the early 1620s. The first documented reference to cookies in America is from 1703, when the Dutch in New York provided 800 cookies at a funeral. This linguistic journey reflects a deeper pattern: cookies were a portable, durable food that traveled well, making them a natural companion for global exploration.