Adults and children have enjoyed cookies since the 7th century. The cookie’s travel through time has been a story of its own. It began as a test cake, to test oven temperature, in Persia. By the 16th century the cookie was known by many different names such as biscotti, rusk, morsel, wafer and biscuit. By the 17th and 18th centuries the cookie made its way to the New World as a tea cake and shortbread thanks to the English, Scottish and Dutch settlers. It is believed that the word cookie possibly derived from the Dutch koekie meaning little cake. When electricity became available in the 19th and 20th centuries, cookies became even more popular as they would last longer. In the 21st century, Mathews Memorial Library, added more to the cookie’s history, holding its first Holiday Cookie Exchange in 2012. Last year’s competition was the final to be held under the direction of Bette Dillehay, who retired as library director at the end of 2025. Once judging is completed and the winner is ann...