Cookies

The earliest cookie-style cakes are thought to date back to 7th century Persia A.D. (now Iran), one of the first countries to cultivate sugar (luxurious cakes and pastries in large and small versions were well known in the Persian empire).  According to historians, sugar originated either in the lowlands of Bengal or elsewhere in Southeast Asia.  Sugar spread to Persia and then to the Eastern Mediterranean.  With the Muslim invasion of Spain, then the Crusades and the developing spice trade, the cooking techniques and ingredients of Arabia spread into Northern Europe.
By the end of the 14th century, one could buy little filled wafers on the streets of Paris.  Renaissance cookbooks were rich in cookie recipes.