A December Letter from the Editor: Take a Trip in Our Cookie Time Machine

Happy Sunday, friends! Today, I come bearing cookies. And not just any cookies, but the most iconic, nostalgia-inspiring cookies from the past 10 decades. All you have to do is jump in our Cookie Time Machine, this year’s completely rad holiday cookie feature. This concept and the cookies therein have been a source of absolute delight to the whole team as we’ve worked on it, and I’m so thrilled to share it with you!

If you jump in our Cookie Time Machine and spin backwards through the years, you’ll meet the most memorable cookie of each decade — and we stack some real history behind each, thanks to food historian Sarah Wassberg Johnson, who explains why drop cookies (and oranges) defined the 1920s, and how peanut butter blossoms lost the Pillsbury Bake-Off but won our hearts forever. I’m a child of the ’80s, so magic seven-layer bars truly were the taste of my memories. 

But this isn’t just a historical exercise; our Cookie Time Machine brings each cookie back to the future, too. We asked star baker Jessie Sheehan to update each decade’s cookie with a fresh twist for right now. Orange Drops became Blood Orange Crinkles; Martha’s iconic ’90s Espresso Shortbread gets a very 2020s update with a Vanilla Oat Milk Latte twist.  

Some more of my favorite pairings: 

• Classic Spritz, THE cookie of the 1950s, gets a sweet and fun cocktail-inspired update as “Aperol Spritz” Spritz 
• Chocolate Brownie Cookies (2000s) have a new sibling in marshmallow-stuffed Hot Chocolate Bomb Cookies 
• Salted Caramel Thumbprints (remember all the salted caramel in the 2010s?) get upgraded to Miso Caramel Cardamom Thumbprints

These are all going on my cookie plate this holiday season, along with the fascinating learnings about the history and stories of these cookies and the memories they offer. We hope you indulge your nostalgia with us and make some new memories with your journey in the Cookie Time Machine. 

P.S.: Our Time Machine goes forward, not just backward. Take a peek here at our resident cookie expert, Jesse’s, best guess for the taste of the Cookie of the Future!