October 1, 2023
U.S. With the average person consuming almost 19,000 cookies in a lifetime, it is no surprise why we celebrate National Homemade Cookies Day! Every year on October 1, bakers, homemakers, and cookie enthusiasts alike, preheat their ovens to serve up these delicious treats.
Who can possibly resist this day?
Sampling the cookie dough before baking.***
The smell of baking cookies filling the house.
And finally, the moment you’ve been waiting for: Warm, crispy or gooey cookies right out of the oven.
And with the days turning cooler (usually), it’s the perfect time to turn on the oven and get baking.
We haven’t been able to discover who started Homemade Cookie Day or when. But we’re guessing it was a cookie lover who also loved to bake!
A Bite of Cookie Tips & Trivia
The favorite cookie in the US is the chocolate chip cookie. Ruth Graves Wakefield invented this cookie in the 1930s. She originally called it the Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie (she owned the Toll House Inn).
Her recipe appeared in a 1938 cookbook and was an instant hit.
Of course, the invention (like many) was a complete accident. She had run out of baker’s chocolate and substituted a semi-sweet chocolate bar instead. The pieces didn’t melt like she was expecting. But the resulting cookie was even better than the one she was trying to make!
A few tips for making perfect cookies:
Butter and eggs should be at room temperature before you start (this is very different from things like biscuit recipes where you want your butter as cold as possible).
If your oven has a hot spot (most do), rotate your cookies halfway through the baking time.
Let your cookies cool! As tempting as it is to pop one in your mouth as soon as it comes out of the oven, you’ll get better results by letting them cool a few minutes on the pan and them carefully moving them to cooling racks to finish cooling.
Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this unofficial baking holiday.
How to Celebrate National Homemade Cookie Day
So normally for a food holiday we’ll suggest either buying or making the day’s food.
But since the name of the day includes “homemade,” well you’re just going to have to make your own cookies.
No, homemade bakery cookies don’t count. They might be handmade—if the bakery’s any good, they’re definitely handmade—but they’re not homemade.
Homemade implies made in somebody’s kitchen at home. And getting a home kitchen licensed to make things to sell to the public is very unlikely (in the US at least). Not impossible. But unlikely.
So we’re back to you making yourself some cookies to celebrate the day. And then enjoying them completely guilt free.
Now, you could buy premade cookie dough or a cookie mix and bake it at home.
This stretches the definition of homemade a bit. But you could argue that the cookies are homemade even if the dough wasn’t. And with the mix even the dough is technically made at home.
But mixing up a batch of cookie dough from scratch isn’t that hard. Really!
It depends on the cookie, but many are as simple as stirring together flour, sugar, butter, and a few extras (like chocolate chips!) and plopping spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Simple!
So if you have a favorite cookie recipe, make it today.
Or try one of these recipes:
The Original Nestle® Toll House® Chocolate Chip Cookies: There’s nothing like a simple classic.
Snickerdoodles: Another classic cookie. Full of cinnamony goodness.
Homemade Thin Mints: Enjoy that minty, chocolaty cookie all year long! The taste is soooo close to the “real thing.”
Paula’s Loaded Oatmeal Cookies: Quite possibly the best oatmeal cookies you have ever tasted. Loaded is an understatement!
Homemade Oreos (oh, yeah!): According to the blog post, these aren’t copycat Oreos. Rather they’re elevated Oreos, or “Oreo’s posh, slightly snotty cousin.” So … Better than Oreos, if that’s even possible!
Almond Linzers: Cherry preserves (or whatever you like!) sandwiched between delicate almond cookies.
Pumpkin Molasses Sandwich Cookies: Fall is here and everything’s coming up pumpkins and pumpkin spice, so we figure we should include at least one pumpkin cookie too! These pumpkiny cookies encase a cream cheese filling for a pumpkin cheesecake experience in a cookie.
Now October days can still sometimes be hot, so if you’d rather not turn on your oven, try no-bake cookies. Check out this article on How to Make No Bake Cookies.
So, what cookies will you be making today? Or will you be convincing a friend to make enough homemade cookies for you both to celebrate?
***Yes, yes, we know. Salmonella. So please, only sample raw cookie dough that’s eggless or made with either pasteurized eggs or an egg substitute.
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