Natalie Pociask, a media arts and technology senior, takes chocolate chip cookies out of the oven Thursday evening at Grand Traverse Pie Company, 1403 E. Grand River Ave.
Although Thanksgiving has passed and the various winter holidays have yet to begin, there still is one shining day for those looking for a reason to celebrate and embrace their inner child: National Cookie Day.
Although it might be an obscure holiday, don’t let that stop you from purchasing, making, or indulging in your own fiesta of sweet treats.
Morgan Yates, store manager of Bake N’ Cakes, 3003 E. Kalamazoo St., in Lansing, said there are a few things those students looking to bake their own culinary creations for the holiday should keep in mind.
“If you decide to use butter, make sure it is allowed to soften before mixing, do not microwave it,” Yates said. “Microwaving will make the cookies flatter and greasier.”
Yates also cautioned against mixing the ingredients for too long. Excessive mixing will let more air into the batter and make the end result chewy or crunchy.
There are plenty of places in the Greater Lansing area to purchase cookies if you want to get yourself in the spirit of the cookie celebration and baking happens not to be your forté.
In Lansing, the Sugarshack, 2315 E. Grand River Ave., has some affordable deals, with the store offering a three cookies, three brownies combo for $6.
Ariel Walgraeve, a psychology junior, said she recommends dropping into Insomnia Cookies, 603 E. Grand River Ave.
“My favorite kind of cookie is chocolate chip,” Walgraeve said. “I love the dough and the accent of chocolate — the mix of chewy and crunchy and salty and sweet is good.”
If you’re farther east, you can duck in to Grand Traverse Pie Company at 1403 E. Grand River Ave., which despite its name, sells cookies as well.
“I would say our specialty cookie is the oatmeal cherry,” said Garth Hooper, general manager of Grand Traverse Pie Company.
“It’s made with cherries from Michigan and we make everything from scratch — starting with butter and sugar and working our way up.”
A little food for thought …
According to foodtimeline.org, the word “cookie” comes from the dutch word koekje, or “little cake.”
The first cookie was created some time in seventh century Persia, and since then the hits have kept on coming.
Arguably the most famous type of cookie — chocolate chip — was created in 1937 in Boston by Ruth Graves Wakefield when she used semi-sweet chocolate pieces in an attempt to create chocolate cookies.
Also according to the Web site, the pieces of chocolate remained intact and the chocolate chip cookie was born.
Eventually, Nestlé began marketing Wakerfield’s cookies as “Toll House” cookies and the rest is history.
The chocolate chip cookie is the most popular type and also boasts the title of the official cookie of the commonwealth of Massachusetts.
And that, as they say, is the way the cookie crumbles.
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