An Econ Conjecture (be forewarned: this entry was recently voted by my followers as the Most Boring Entry Ever, but it has to do with Econ, not really with cookies.): When I was a child, cookies were considered good if they were crisp. A box of Nabisco vanilla wafers promised crisp golden coins of carmelized sugar. Chips Ahoy? The same.
But now, vanilla wafers are pale yellow and instead of crisp, they're chewy to the point of bendable. Chips Ahoy aren't crisp either. And, of course, many cookie manufacturers have been marketing the chewy, almost doughy nature of cookies. Indeed, cookie dough is sold as is for eating and it's folded into ice cream.
How and why did we go from crisp to doughy? Finally, my conjecture: I suspect that the oil embargo of 1973 and the attendant steep rise in fuel costs cut deeply into the profits of industrial bakeries.
What to do? The demand for cookies continued unabated, but the cost of production skyrocketed.
But if the cookies could be baked for less time and at lower temperatures, well, they'd still be cookies, right? There'd be a saving in fuel costs to be sure and with each batch cooking for less time, labor productivity would go up and labor costs might diminish.
Would people buy cookies that seemed, in their experience, undercooked?
Certainly! But only if they were told to by marketing ploys that sold the idea of the "chewy" cookie.
And since the late 70's, I haven't had one decent vanilla wafer.
Can I have a cookie?
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