Alabama now has a state cookie after governor signs a law
WeirdNews
Fourth-grader Mary Claire Cook submitted the winning recipe
MONTGOMERY (AP/Web Desk) — Alabama now has an official state cookie: The Yellowhammer Cookie, thus making it one of only a handful of US states with an official state cookie.
Gov Kay Ivey on Friday signed legislation naming the confection created by a Montgomery fourth-grader as the official state cookie.
Students at Montgomery’s Trinity Presbyterian School came up with the idea of a state cookie. Fourth-grader Mary Claire Cook submitted the winning recipe, which includes pecans, peanut butter and honey, WSFA-TV reported.
Cook brought a batch of the cookies to Ivey for the bill-signing ceremony.
Alabama has a long list of official state emblems and symbols, including a state vegetable, nut, amphibian and spirit.
Earlier this month, a bill was moved forward in the Alabama House of Representatives to designate a blend of mainstay Alabama ingredients as the official state cookie. Rep Reed Ingram brought students from Trinity Presbyterian School who coined the recipe to make the case.
The Yellowhammer cookie features peanuts and pecans – two crops that have historical and agricultural significance to the state.
Alabama ranked second in the nation in peanut production in 2021, with more than 1,000 farm families growing some 622 million pounds of peanuts. More than 500 farmers dedicate more than 8,000 acres to pecan production in the state.
The peanut and the pecan are already official state symbols of Alabama – but the Yellowhammer cookie would put a sugary spin on classic ingredients.
