The first cookies probably began in ancient Persia, around the 8th century. A noblewoman there would bake thin, sweet wafers called *bârij* with honey and spices, then roll them in powdered sugar. These little treats were a way to use up excess honey and to share a sweet gift at court. Fast forward to the 18th‑century English, and you find those same ideas turned into butter‑rich biscuits, and eventually into the chocolate‑chip cookie of the 20th century. So, if you bite into a chocolate‑chip cookie, you’re tasting a taste that might stretch back to a Persian kitchen over a thousand years ago.