An Amazing Assortment

A cookie is a baked or cooked food that is small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar and some type of oil or fat. It may include an array of ingredients including sugars, spices, chocolate, butter, peanut butter, nuts, or dried fruits.

In most English-speaking countries except for the United States and Canada, crisp cookies are called biscuits. Chewier biscuits are sometimes called cookies even in the United Kingdom. Some cookies may also be named by their shape, such as date squares or bars.

Cookies are most commonly baked until crisp or just long enough that they remain soft, but some kinds of cookies are not baked at all. The softness of the cookie may depend on how long it is baked.