Announcements – Behind The Cookie

National Cookie Day

Celebrating National Cookie Day: 5 Utensils for Your Best Cookies

Today is National Cookie Day—an appropriate holiday to start the gift-giving season!

Here at Pacific Cookie Company, we’re preparing our ovens for overtime. Though 2020 has been strange, to say the least, one thing remains true: cookies are one of the best sweets for the holidays!

Wondering what you need to start? Below, you’ll find some important utensils you’ll need to create your best cookies yet. Have a baker in your life? These gifts just might nudge them to make an extra batch… but we didn’t say that.

1. Cookie Scoops

Wanting that perfect bite? A cookie scoop will help you out! Differently-sized dough balls may bake irregularly, giving you an uneven batch. With cookie scoops, you’re guaranteeing a satisfying outside crunch and gooey middle in ALL of your cookies.

2. Food Scale

As Sally’s Baking Addiction puts it: “an ounce is always an ounce. A cup is NOT always a cup.” For the most precise measurements, put your ingredients on the scale; nothing will be as accurate. Plus, you can reuse your utensils—no need for three different measuring spoons when you can use the same bowl to measure your ingredients.

3. Cookie Cutters

We’ve all seen those #CookieFails: people make dough into custom shapes… only for the dough to expand and turn into an unrecognizable shape. (Still delicious, but not a snowman like they’d hoped!) Invest in cookie cutters if you’re wanting to branch out from circles, rather than free-handing it—the sharp edges will keep your dough in shape from pre- to post-bake.

4. Spatula

Sounds obvious to have in the kitchen, but when do you use spatulas for cookies? Well, there are lots of times. After mixing ingredients, use a spatula to get every bit of dough out from the bowl. It’s also necessary for folding in ingredients, like chocolate chips and sprinkles. And, most importantly: tasting the excess dough!

5. Cooling Racks

We won’t blame you if you snag a few cookies right off the sheet. But cookies need adequate cooling to avoid melting in the bottom, creating a still-delicious-but-sopping-mess cookie. These will raise them up and allow for good air circulation—bringing them to the perfect consistency.

We hope you have a good time baking on National Cookie Day. And, hey, if you’re not just feeling it, you’re welcome to stop by our store or order online! We’re here for you this holiday season.

Meet Our Newest Blogger!

Hello everyone! My name is Tess, and I am a HUGE Pacific Cookie Company fan. I’m a local Santa Cruz musician, but I also enjoy writing—mostly about food, and especially about cookies.

I’ve said it before: I can barely stop myself from entering the store on Pacific Avenue whenever I smell fresh cookies down the street. They’ve been icons in Santa Cruz for the past forty years for a reason. Take a bite into one of their cookies, and you’ll be hooked for life.

My first Pacific Cookie Company taste-tests were when I was a little girl. My parents would run around Santa Cruz for work, and they’d often stop and grab some fresh cookies prior to picking me up from school, or dance, or swim. It became a routine, a ritual: congrats, kid, you made it through the day, so eat a cookie.

Eventually, I moved away for college and work, and I had to leave the cute little shop and delicious cookies that had become a part of my sweet tooth. But six years later, I have returned to Santa Cruz—and the trips to Pacific Cookie Company have resumed once again!

I am so excited to join the team and contribute to their blog. The Pearsons are absolutely fantastic, and they clearly know what they’re doing in the kitchen. Here’s to much more taste-testing in the (very, very, very near) future.

Check in for recipes, baking tips, and other fun/informative articles on a weekly basis! I’m here to educate and amuse those who are as invested in cookie culture as I am.

Stay sweet,

Tess

Happy Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

Hip hip hooray! It’s National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! We aren’t sure where we would be without this classic cookie, but we are here to celebrate! It continues to be our most popular flavor and we can understand why. There is something so nostalgic about this cookie. Whether it reminds you of making your first batch as a kid, or perhaps picking up a warm cookie from our downtown bakery, you really can never go wrong with Chocolate Chip.

Our Chocolate Chip cookies are made with the finest ingredients, including Giustos Flour, Guittard semi-sweet chocolate and pure vanilla extract.

The History of the Chocolate Chip Cookie

The Chocolate Chip cookie was invented in the 1930’s by a woman named Ruth Wakefield. While on vacation, Ruth was brainstorming a cookie idea that involved adding chocolate squares into a “blond batter.” She broke up a chocolate bar into small pieces and to her surprise, the chocolate did not melt into the dough! It makes us wonder if the creation of the Chocolate Chip cookie was accidental, but regardless, we can’t thank Ruth enough!

Order Online Today!

To celebrate this special day, we are offering our customers $5 off our Chocolate Chip Cookies by the Dozen Gift Box! Use code CHOCOLATECHIP during checkout to redeem this offer. Offer is valid through this Friday, May 17th!

While we have some fun variations (Almond Joe – a chocolate chip cookie with a tantalizing medley of toasted almonds and coconut, Chocolate Chip Walnut – a popular variation on the All-American classic with fresh California Walnuts, Dark Chocolate Cranberry – a sweet and tart variation with dark chocolate chips and dried cranberries, Cahootz – a white chocolate chip cookie with macadamia nuts and a hint of coconut), we appreciate the simplicity of a Chocolate Chip Cookie – the epitome of all cookies!

Happy National Cookie Day!

Hip – Hip – Hooray, It’s National Cookie Day!
National Cookie Day is upon us and we couldn’t be happier to celebrate!

Today is the day we get to gather with family, friends, and co-workers and indulge in some of life’s sweet, sweet offerings. But, have you ever stopped and wondered just where did cookies come from? I know, it’s very hard to think of anything else when you bite into one of those chewy, warm, crispy, delicious, chocolatey – Wait, what was I saying…Ah, Yes! The history of the cookie! There is much speculation as to just where the cookie came from.
Especially, when there are many, many variations from all over the world!
In Australia and England, right around tea time you can find the tasty and crispy biscuits. Let’s head over to Mexico and Spain, here we might catch kids sneaking off with galletas before dinner, and in Italy where we can find people with coffee and Amaretti or Biscotti.

And of course, we mustn’t forget about Holland. Here is where most people think the word cookie came from, Koekjes (cook-yuhs) which means “small cakes” or “flat cakes” have been served in Holland since the 1600s.

It is quite clear that the world loves cookies! Long before kitchen timers and “take and bake” dough, the world was a complicated place. According to culinary historians, the first ever record of cookies were actually their use as “test cakes”. Bakers would pour dollops of cake batter on baking pans and put them in theirs ovens to test the oven’s temperature.

This makes me especially grateful for our downtown store this time of year. There you can find our gluten-free cookies, coconut macaroons and anyone of our 14 decadent cookie flavors (I personally suggest Dr. Midnight). All without having to crack one egg! A great place to pick up cookies for Santa or get a quick pick-me-up after some intense holiday shopping at the Pacific Garden Mall.

With the holidays quickly approaching, you can count on Pacific Cookie Company to cover you on gifts. You don’t even have to leave your home! Just visit our online store at www.PacificCookie.com and browse through our Holiday selections. There you can find a great local gift the whole family can enjoy (sharing not guaranteed).

Happy National Cookie Day!!!
-Pacific Cookie Company

Category: Announcements