RICE KRISPIES TREAT

A childhood favorite, no-bake cookie. The recipe was invented in 1928 by Mildred Day and others in the home economics department at The Kellogg Company. It was created as a fund raiser-for the Camp Fire Girls, a nationwide American youth organization. The recipe consists of butter, marshmallows and Rice Rice Krispies cereal. The butter and marshmallows are melted together, blended with the Rice Krispies and pressed into a pan. When cool, they are cut into bars. Many subsequent variations include other ingredients, from chocolate to licorice and gummi bears. Read our review of Milk & Krunchies, a gourmet re-thinking of Rice Krispies treats.

ROCHERS À LA NOIX DE COCO
French for coconut macaroons.

ROLLED COOKIE

One of the eight basic types of cookies, rolled cookies are made from a stiffer dough that is chilled and then rolled out and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter, knife or pastry wheel. Gingerbread men are an example (as are any cookie made with a cookie cutter).

ROLLED WAFER COOKIE

Rolled cookies are delicate, wafer-thin cookies that, along with fan-shaped cookies (gaufrettes), are popular garnishes for ice cream. The dough can be plain or embellished with finely-chopped nuts. The wafers can be rolled plain, or filled with creams of all flavors.

ROYAL ICING

The hard icing used to decorate cookies. Traditionally an uncooked mixture of egg whites, powdered sugar and lemon juice, people wary of salmonella have turned to pasteurized egg whites or meringue powder to create the stiffness.

RUGELACH

Rugelach are often classified as cookies, but they are really miniature pastries: soft dough with filling. Fruit preserves (apricot, raspberry), raisins, nuts, and chocolate are the most popular fillings; walnut-and-currant is another common filling. There are two basic rugelach shapes: snail, shown in the photo, and horn or crescent. The cream cheese dough is an American invention, as cream cheese did not exist in Europe. The European recipe was made with sour cream. Since rugelach was made in perhaps a dozen European countries by bakers who spoke a dozen different languages, it has been variously spelled rugelah, rugalah, rugelach, rugalach, rugulah, ruggelach and ruggalach. See also schnecken.

RUM BALL

See Bourbon ball.

RUSK, HARDTACK or ZWIEBACK

A hard, dry, twice-baked cookie that achieves a dryness like biscotti, but without the flavorings of biscotti. It is thus blander, and popularly given to teething infants. The shelf life of biscotti is three to four months without preservatives or additives. The cookies are called a rusk in English and Dutch, biscotte in French and zwieback in German. Biscotti date back at least to second century Rome. Early seaman’s biscuits, known as hard tack, are a  variation. See the history of biscotti.