40 Cookies From Around the World
Cookies are one of the most beloved creations enjoyed around the globe. From fluffy and delicate French macarons and tender, buttery Austrian linzer cookies to Indian cardamon-spiced shortbread nankhatai and Korean deep-fried honey and rice wine yakgwa, there are countless ways to make and indulge in cookies from around the world. The team at Kulick’s Cookie Recipes had so much fun discovering international cookie recipes and all of the different ways that people enjoy them. So which country has the best cookies? What are the most popular cookies in the world? Let’s find out!
Here are the 40 cookies from around the world we have presented on this international cookies guide to feast your eyes upon:
- Algerian cookies — Samsa
- Argentinian cookies — Alfajore
- Austrian cookies — Linzer cookie
- Australian cookies — Anzac biscuit
- Bolivian cookies — Cocadas
- Brazilian cookies — Brigadeiros
- Canadian cookies — Nanaimo bar
- Chinese cookies — Almond cookie
- Danish cookies — Vaniljekranse
- Egyptian cookies — Kahk
- English cookies — Jammie Dodgers
- Finnish cookies — Joulutorttu
- French cookies — Macaron
- German cookies — Pfeffernüsse
- Greek cookies — Moustokouloura
- Iranian cookies — Nan-e nokhodchi
- Israeli cookies — Mandelbrot
- Italian cookies — Baci di dama
- Japanese cookies — Hato sabure
- Korean cookies — Yakgwa
- Malawian cookies — Mbatata
- Mexican cookies — Marranitos
- Dutch cookies — Stroopwafel
- New Zealand cookies — Chocolate rough
- Norwegian cookies — Krumkake
- Filipino cookies — Silvanas
- Polish cookies — Kolaczki
- Scottish cookies — Shortbread
- Serbian cookies — Vanilice
- Singaporian cookies — Kuih tart
- Slovakian cookies — Laskonky
- South African cookies — Hertzoggie
- Spanish cookies — Borrachuelos
- Thai cookies — Kanom dok jok
- Ukrainian cookies — Sochniki
- New York City cookies — Rainbow cookie
- American cookies — Chocolate chip cookie
How Were Chocolate Chip Cookies Invented?
Who first created chocolate chip cookies, the beloved treat that is the ultimate partner in crime with a cold glass of milk? In 1938, co-owner Ruth Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, added broken pieces of a Nestlé semisweet chocolate bar into her cookie batter. While she considered the conventional cookie recipe of half white sugar and half brown sugar to be innovative, she sought to improve the recipe further, and the result was the legendary Toll House cookie. She wrote a best-selling cookbook, Toll House Tried and True Recipes, which went through 39 printings. The 1938 edition of the book was the first to feature the chocolate chip cookie recipe, called “Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie.” During World War II, U.S. soldiers from Massachusetts shared cookies they received in care packages from home with fellow soldiers from all across the nation. Before long, hundreds of soldiers wrote home requesting Toll House cookies from their families, and Wakefield was innundated with letters requesting her recipe. Thus began the everlasting craze for chocolate chip cookies.
As the popularity of this delicious dessert blossomed, so did the sales of Nestlé semisweet chocolate bars. Andrew Nestlé and Ruth Wakefield established a business agreement; Wakefield granted Nestlé the right to use her cookie recipe as well as the Toll House name for just a dollar and a lifetime supply of Nestlé chocolate. Nestlé started marketing chocolate chips to be used specifically for cookies and printed the Toll House cookie recipe on its packaging.
We hope that this delightful cookie guide inspires you to seek out more cookies from around the world and recipes to try. It can be so fun to experiment with international desserts and introduce new favorites to your family and friends. Enjoy!
40 Cookies From Around the World
| Cookie + Country | Description |
| Samsa Algeria | Rich, crunchy cookie flavored with almond, orange, rose water, and sesame seeds |
| Alfajore Argentina | Sandwich cookie filled with dulce de leche that may be covered with powdered sugar or glaze, chocolate, or grated coconut |
| Linzer cookie Austria | Tender, nutty, buttery cookie filled with sweet fruit jam and dusted with sugar |
| Anzac biscuit Australia | Sweet cookie made with rolled oats, butter, golden syrup, and shredded coconut |
| Cocadas Bolivia | Soft, chewy cookie made from sweetened condensed milk, shredded coconut, and macadamia nuts and often dipped in chocolate |
| Brigadeiros Brazil | Fudgy morsel made with condensed milk, butter, and cocoa powder and rolled in sprinkles |
| Nanaimo bar Canada | Three-layer cookie with graham wafer, shredded coconut, buttery custard icing, and chocolate ganache |
| Almond cookie China | Sweet, buttery cookie made with almond flour or ground mung bean |
| Vaniljekranse Denmark | Buttery, crispy cookie with ground toasted almonds and a touch of vanilla flavor |
| Kahk Egypt | Buttery cookie made with ghee, honey, sesame seeds, and walnuts that may be filled with date jam |
| Jammie Dodgers England | Shortbread cookies filled with raspberry or strawberry jam |
| Joulutorttu Finland | Classic Christmas cookie traditionally made with ricotta pastry in a star or pinwheel shape and filled with prune jam |
| Macaron France | Fluffy, delicate meringue sandwich cookie with a crisp shell. Buttercream, fruit curd, chocolate, jam, and cream cheese are popular fillings. |
| Florentine France | Chocolate-dipped cookies topped with nuts, candied cherries, and honey |
| Pfeffernüsse Germany | “Pepper nuts,” spice cookies flavored with cardamon, pepper, mace, anise, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger that may be glazed or powdered |
| Moustokouloura Greece | Soft cookie made with grape molasses, honey, cinnamon, cloves, and olive oil |
| Nan-e nokhodchi Iran | Cookie made from chickpea flour, flavored with cardamon and garnished with pistachio |
| Nankhatai India | Shortbread biscuits made with ghee, semolina, cardamon, and chopped pistachio for garnish |
| Mandelbrot Israel | Twice-baked shortbread cookie with a soft, rich texture and crisp exterior that may be filled with toasted almonds or chocolate |
| Baci di dama Italy | “Lady’s kisses,” two hazelnut cookies joined by chocolate, which represents the “kiss” |
| Cuccidati Sicily, Italy | Flaky, rich cookie stuffed with figs, raisins, dates, honey, chocolate, walnuts, and spices |
| Hato sabure Japan | Dove-shaped butter cookies that date back to 1887. The creator chose the shape because the children at a nearby shrine he often visited adored the doves there. |
| Yakgwa Korea | Deep-fried honey cookie made with rice wine, sesame oil, and ginger juice |
| Mbatata Malawi | Soft, cake-like mashed sweet potato cookies with cinnamon and raisins, traditionally shaped like a heart |
| Marranitos Mexico | Pig-shaped cookie made with cane sugar, molasses or honey, spices, and ample butter |
| Stroopwafel Netherlands | Round waffle cookie made of two layers of sweet baked dough joined with caramel. They’re traditionally placed on top of a warm drink to warm the filling. |
| Chocolate rough New Zealand | Corn flake-filled dough with rich chocolate ganache on top, creating a cookie that is both crunchy and creamy in one bite |
| Krumkake Norway | “Curved cake,” a crispy and delicate waffle cookie served plain or filled with whipped cream |
| Silvanas Philippines | Frozen cookie made from two layers of buttercream sandwiched between cashew-meringue wafers and dusted in cookie crumbs |
| Kolaczki Poland | Flaky cream cheese cookie filled with jam |
| Shortbread Scotland | Traditionally made with one part sugar, two parts butter, and three parts flour; does not contain any leavening, which creates a crisp texture |
| Vanilice Serbia | Walnut and vanilla cookie sandwich with lemon zest and rose hip or apricot jam |
| Kuih tart Singapore | Melt-in-your-mouth shortcrust cookie topped or filled with pineapple jam |
| Laskonky Slovakia | Crispy walnut or coconut meringue sandwich filled with caramel buttercream |
| Hertzoggie South Africa | Apricot jam-filled cookie topped with a cloud of coconut meringue |
| Borrachuelos Spain | “Sweet drunk,” fried dough soaked in wine and anisette and flavored with citrus, sesame seeds, and fennel, then filled with pumpkin or sweet potato and dipped in honey |
| Kanom dok jok Thailand | Crispy rice flour and coconut milk cookie shaped like a lotus blossom |
| Sochniki Ukraine | Crumbly shortbread cookie filled with creamy farmer’s cheese |
| Rainbow cookie New York, United States | Vibrant three-layered cookie made with almond paste, sugar, and butter |
| Chocolate chip cookie United States | Soft, chewy cookie filled with chocolate morsels, invented in 1938 by Ruth Graves Wakefield after she chopped up a chocolate bar and added it to cookie dough |
Use the following embed code to post this infographic on your website:
This page was last updated by Bruce Kulick and Lisa Lane Kulick