National Chocolate Wafer Day

If you love chocolate, National Chocolate Wafer Day on July 3rd allows you to indulge in a delicately sweet cookie with a history. Have one for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Also called sugar wafers, these delicate snacks melt in your mouth. Made since the mid-1800s in the United States, makers called the cookies many names; wafer cookies, sugar wafers, sugar biscuits, fairy wafers. While many enjoyed them as snacks, they also became favorite after-dinner treats or served during teas. Lightly flavored and layered with a creamy filling, the thin cookies delight folks of all ages.

Numerous companies produced them in North America. Regardless of the company, each one considered the production of these cookies an art form. They took pride in everything from their ingredients to the employees and the recipe to the packaging. Over time, companies merged. By the 1930s, the number of production companies dwindled.

Today, they remain an American favorite. With a waffle surface pattern and thin layers, these cookies make an excellent addition to ice cream. Use them as an ingredient in cakes and cheesecakes. While you're baking, use them to decorate, too. If you prefer pie, crushed wafers make a delicious chocolate crust. There are so many ways chocolate wafers can be enjoyed. If you've never tried them, this holiday is the time to give them a whirl.

No matter where or how you are eating your wafers, these tasty treats are positively worth celebrating!