NO-BAKE COOKIE

One of the eight basic types of cookies, no-Bake cookies are a “faux” cookie, a kind of candy-cookie hybrid. An example is Rice Krispies Treats.

 

OATCAKE

A buttery oat biscuit—think of shortbread made with oats instead of flour.

OATMEAL COOKIE

A drop cookie that can be very basic—just oatmeal—or embellished with raisins or other dried fruit, chocolate chips, and/or nuts; two teaspoons of maple syrup can be added to the recipe as well. See drop cookie.
 

PALMIER or ELEPHANT EAR

A palmier is a cookie made of sheets of puff pastry that are rolled in sugar and folded to resemble palm leaves (palmiers) or elephant ears, depending on your perspective. These cookies are baked until the sugar becomes caramelized. See the photo at top of the page.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE

Peanut butter was invented in 1890 as a nutritional food for people who could not chew meat and other proteins. It became a spa food in a home-ground, gritty style. In 1922: Joseph L. Rosefield of California created a smooth-churned peanut butter that he sold under different brand names, and peanut butter as we know it was on its way. The first peanut butter cookie recipes appear around 1930-1931. And the rest is history for one of America’s favorite drop cookies. Read the history of peanut butter.

 

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE or
PEANUT KISS COOKIE


This cookie, based on the shape of the sombrero, is a peanut butter ball cookie that has a chocolate Kiss in the center, filling up the well that is used for jam in thumbprint cookies. After the dough is rolled into a ball, baked, and removed from the oven, a chocolate Hershey’s kiss is pressed firmly into the center. You can also make them for the holidays as gingerbread kiss cookies.

PETIT-FOURS

Petit-fours(pronounced petty-foor) are tiny cakes or other tiny baked goods, served at the end of a meal with coffee—typically after the main dessert(s). The words are French for “small oven” but mean “small baked pastries.” There are many varieties of petit-four; the most familiar in the U.S. is a one-inch-square layered sponge cake, filled with butter cream and iced in a variety of colored fondants, often with tiny roses or other piped embellishments. In France, this style is not common; and there are confections that can be included on a petit fours plate that are not baked at all (e.g. glazed or chocolate-dipped fruit, marzipan, chocolates, and nut clusters).
 

PFEFFERNÜSSE or PFEFFERNUESSE

Pfeffernüsse (pronounced FEH-fehr-NEE-suh—the word means “pepper nuts”) are hard, spicy cookies often dunked in wine during a visit (think of a tea party with wine). The “nuts” refer to the nut-like hardness of the cookie; there are no nuts in the recipe, which includes gingerbread spices (anise, cloves, nutmeg), pepper, and citron. The black pepper adds to the spiciness without adding heat. Here’s a recipe.

PIGNOLI COOKIE

A crunchy Italian cookie made from almond flour, sugar, egg whites, and whole pine nuts.

PINWHEEL COOKIE or TWIST
COOKIE

A refrigerator cookie with two different colored doughs rolled in the shape of a jelly roll. When sliced, the effect is of a pinwheel (see photo).

PRESSED COOKIE, PRESSED
BUTTER COOKIE


One of the eight basic types of cookies, pressed cookies are made from a soft dough that is extruded from a cookie press (cookie gun) or pastry tube into various decorative shapes. Spritz cookies are an example. See spritz cookie.

PRINTEN COOKIES

Printen cookies are spice cookies similar in flavor and texture to American gingerbread, but crunchier. While the classic recipe is crisp, there are now softer varieties as well. Printen cookies are from the German city of Aachen and have a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status that restricts the production of the cookie to that city (which also has a Printen cookie museum). Here’s the history of Printen cookies.
 

QUARZAMALI COOKIE

Another word for almond biscotti.