I've never met a cookie I didn't like. If there is one, I think I would still eat it. Soft and chewy or crisp and crunchy, every one loves these sweet treats.

The first cookies were created by accident. The very first cookies were just an oven temperature test. Early bakers used very small amounts of cake batter to test their oven temperatures before baking the final cake. These little test cakes were called “koekje,” which means “little cake” in Dutch. That is how the first cookies came into being.

Early American cookbooks show that the earlier versions were called “Tea Cakes.” Our simple “butter cookies” strongly resemble the English teacakes and the Scotch shortbread. The English also call them biscuits. The Spanish call them galletas and the Germans call them kels.

Every country has its favorite kind of cookie. In the United Kingdom, it is shortbread, in France it is sables and macaroons, and in Italy biscotti. The favorite cookie in America and Canada is the chocolate chip cookie. In fact, at least half of the cookies baked in American homes are chocolate chip.

The earliest cookies were probably baked about 600 A.D. in Persia. The Muslim invasions of Spain, the Crusades and the spice trade spread cookies to Europe.

By the end of the 14th century, one could buy little filled wafers on the streets of Paris. Renaissance cookbooks were rich in cookie recipes.

Hardtack, the cookie's unsweetened cousin, was a staple of all seafarers including those sailing to the New World.

There are countless cookie recipes in the United States. No one book could hold the recipes for all the various types of cookies. The geographic development of the United States was reflected in popular cookie recipes. The railroad's expansion in the early 1800s gave cooks access to coconuts from the south. Later in the century, oranges from the West were included in many recipes. Around the turn of the century, the Kellogg brothers in Michigan invented cornflakes and cookies were made with cereal products. In the 1930s, with the invention of electric refrigerators, icebox cookies became popular.

Today, cookies are most often classified by method of preparation - drop, molded, pressed, refrigerated, bar and rolled. There are different cookie styles, any of which can range from tender-crisp to soft. Their dominant ingredient, such as nut cookies, fruit cookies or chocolate cookies, can also classify them. Whether gourmet, soft or bite-sized cookies, new categories are always cropping up as the American appetite for cookies continues to grow.

There's nothing like eating a warm cookie freshly baked from the oven.

Perfect for snacking or as dessert, cookies today are consumed in 95.2 percent of U.S. households. Americans alone consume more than 2 billion cookies a year, or 300 cookies for each person annually.

The art of making cookies and crackers is that of turning simple ingredients into wonderful things. Making cookies is a very forgiving art as well. In the end, it is the taste that really counts and the appearance is secondary

Every family has their favorite cookie recipes. My great grandmother, Jane Liberman, made a delicious dark chocolate cookie with walnuts. My mom always says this is her favorite cookie. They were always waiting when she would visit. They are a dark, semi sweet delight. Somehow, they never tasted quite the same as when Nana Jane made them, I guess there is a secret ingredient missing - her hands and her love. Here is that recipe. I have also included a recipe from Paula Deen for an amazing loaded oatmeal cookie. Enjoy.

This column has been a collaborative effort between Auburn natives chef Max Hitchcock and his mother, Susan Silverman. They can be reached at Birdscapes@adelphia.net

Nana Jane's Chocolate Walnut Cookies

1/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 squares melted bakers chocolate

1 cup broken walnuts

Cream sugar and butter; add egg and milk. Then sift in flour mixed together with baking soda. Stir in chocolate and nuts. Drop off a tablespoon, one at a time, 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Paula Deen's Loaded Oatmeal cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice

2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

1 cup raisins

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one or more cookie sheets.

Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, shortening and sugar in a bowl until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until mixture is light in color. Add buttermilk. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and allspice; stir into creamed mixture. Fold in oatmeal, raisins, walnuts and vanilla, blending well. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Recipe from Paula Deen, “The Lady and Sons Just Desserts,” Simon and Schuster, 2002