Difference Wiki

Cookie vs. Cracker

Edited by Sumera Saeed || By Sawaira Riaz || Updated on September 27, 2023
A cookie is a sweet baked treat, often containing additions like chocolate or nuts, while a cracker is a thin, savory or unsweetened baked good, typically crisp.

Key Differences

While cookies often boast a chewy or soft texture – think of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie – crackers are designed to be crisp and can sometimes even be flaky. This inherent crispness in crackers arises from their low moisture content, contrasting the moist richness of many cookies.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023
Ingredients play a pivotal role in distinguishing cookies from crackers. Cookies often contain higher amounts of sugar, fats, and flavorful add-ins like chocolate, nuts, or dried fruits. Crackers, on the other hand, may contain fewer fats and sugars, and instead might feature salt, seeds, or herbs on their surface for a touch of flavor.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023
A cookie and a cracker, both prevalent in the world of baked goods, differ in several key aspects. Cookies generally lean towards the sweet spectrum, making them a popular choice for desserts or snacks. Crackers, conversely, are more neutral or savory, making them an excellent accompaniment for cheese, spreads, or dips.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023
Another interesting divergence is cultural interpretation. In some regions like the UK, a "cookie" refers specifically to a type of biscuit with inclusions, while most other biscuits align more closely with the American definition of "cracker." Nevertheless, regardless of the region, the distinction in flavor profile and texture between these two baked items remains evident.
Samantha Walker
Sep 27, 2023

Comparison Chart

Flavor Profile

Sweet or rich.
Neutral or savory.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023

Texture

Can be soft, chewy, or crisp.
Predominantly crisp or flaky.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023
ADVERTISEMENT

Common Ingredients

Sugar, butter, chocolate, nuts.
Flour, water, salt, sometimes seeds or herbs.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023

Typical Use

Dessert or snack.
Accompaniment for other foods.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023

Cultural Interpretation

Often a sweet treat with inclusions.
More aligned with "biscuits" in some regions.
Samantha Walker
Sep 27, 2023

Cookie and Cracker Definitions

Cookie

A person, often used affectionately.
She's one smart cookie.
Harlon Moss
Sep 27, 2023

Cracker

A term sometimes used to describe a white person in a derogatory manner.
It's not appropriate to use racial slurs like cracker.
Samantha Walker
Sep 27, 2023

Cookie

Something shaped or cut like a cookie.
The artist created clay cookies before firing them.
Harlon Moss
Sep 27, 2023
ADVERTISEMENT

Cracker

A device for cracking nuts
. He used a cracker to open the walnut.
Aimie Carlson
Sep 27, 2023

Cookie

A small sweet baked good.
She baked chocolate chip cookies for the party.
Aimie Carlson
Sep 27, 2023

Cracker

An excellent thing or event.
The party last night was a cracker!
Aimie Carlson
Sep 27, 2023

Cookie

A piece of data sent from a website.
The website uses cookies to remember your preferences.
Aimie Carlson
Sep 27, 2023

Cracker

A thin crisp wafer or biscuit, usually made of unsweetened dough.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

A perforated material for casting shadows.
He used a cookie to create a dappled light effect on set.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023
ADVERTISEMENT

Cracker

A firecracker.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

A small, usually flat and crisp cake made from sweetened dough.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A small cardboard cylinder covered with decorative paper that holds candy or a party favor and pops when a paper strip is pulled at one or both ends and torn.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

(Slang) A person, usually of a specified kind
A lawyer who was a tough cookie.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

The apparatus used in the cracking of petroleum.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

(Computers) A collection of information, usually including a username and the current date and time, stored on the local computer of a person using the World Wide Web, used chiefly by websites to identify users who have previously registered or visited the site.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

One who gains unauthorized access to a computer or computer network, usually for a malicious purpose such as to steal information or damage programs. See Usage Note at hacker.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

(North America) A small, flat, baked good which is either crisp or soft but firm.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

(Offensive) Used as a disparaging term for a white person, especially one who is poor and from the southeast United States.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

A sweet baked good (as in the previous sense) usually having chocolate chips, fruit, nuts, etc. baked into it.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A dry, thin, crispy baked bread (usually salty or savoury, but sometimes sweet, as in the case of graham crackers and animal crackers).
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

(Scotland) A bun.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A short piece of twisted string tied to the end of a whip that creates the distinctive sound when the whip is thrown or cracked.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

An HTTP cookie.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A firecracker.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

(computing) A magic cookie.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A person or thing that cracks, or that cracks a thing (e.g. whip cracker; nutcracker).
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

An attractive young woman.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

The final section of certain whips, which is made of a short, thin piece of unravelled rope and produces a cracking sound.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

The female genitalia.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A Christmas cracker.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

A piece of crack cocaine, larger than a rock, and often in the shape of a cookie.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

Refinery equipment used to pyrolyse organic feedstocks. If catalyst is used to aid pyrolysis it is informally called a cat-cracker
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

One's eaten food (e.g. lunch, etc.), especially one's stomach contents.
I lost my cookies after that roller coaster ride.
I feel sick, like I'm about to toss my cookies.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A fine, great thing or person (crackerjack).
She's an absolute cracker!
The show was a cracker!
A cracker of a day.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

(informal) fortune cookie
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

An ambitious or hard-working person (i.e. someone who arises at the 'crack' of dawn).
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

Affectionate name for a cook.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

(computing) One who cracks (i.e. overcomes) computer software or security restrictions.
Script kiddie
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

(slang) A cucoloris.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

(obsolete) A noisy boaster; a swaggering fellow.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

To send a cookie to (a user, computer, etc.).
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

An impoverished white person from the southeastern United States, originally associated with Georgia and parts of Florida; (by extension) any white person.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

Any of various small flat sweet cakes (`biscuit' is the British term)
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A police officer.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

The cook on a ranch or at a camp
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A northern pintail, species of dabbling duck.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cookie

A short line of text that a web site puts on your computer's hard drive when you access the web site
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

(obsolete) A pair of fluted rolls for grinding caoutchouc.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

One who, or that which, cracks.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A noisy boaster; a swaggering fellow.
What cracker is this same that deafs our ears?
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A small firework, consisting of a little powder inclosed in a thick paper cylinder with a fuse, and exploding with a sharp noise; - usually called firecracker.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A thin, dry biscuit, often hard or crisp; as, a Boston cracker; a Graham cracker; a soda cracker; an oyster cracker.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A nickname to designate a poor white in some parts of the Southern United States.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

The pintail duck.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A pair of fluted rolls for grinding caoutchouc.
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A thin crisp wafer made or flour and water with or without leavening and shortening; unsweetened or semisweet
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A poor white person in the southern United States
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A programmer who `cracks' (gains unauthorized access to) computers, typically to do malicious things;
Crackers are often mistakenly called hackers
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

Firework consisting of a small explosive charge and fuse in a heavy paper casing
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A party favor consisting of a paper roll (usually containing candy or a small favor) that pops when pulled at both ends
Sawaira Riaz
Feb 27, 2023

Cracker

A thin, crisp baked bread product.
She spread cheese on a cracker.
Janet White
Sep 27, 2023

Cracker

A person who breaks into computer systems.
The company hired a cracker to test their cybersecurity.
Aimie Carlson
Sep 27, 2023

FAQs

Are cookies typically softer than crackers?

Often, but there are also many crispy cookie varieties.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023

Do all crackers have salt on top?

No, but many have salt or other seasonings for flavor.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023

Can a cookie be as thin as a cracker?

Yes, there are thin cookie varieties like wafer cookies.
Harlon Moss
Sep 27, 2023

Are "biscuits" the same as crackers in the UK?

Not exactly; "biscuits" in the UK are more akin to American cookies.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023

Why do some websites ask about "cookies"?

They refer to web cookies, data pieces stored on your browser.
Harlon Moss
Sep 27, 2023

Can crackers be eaten with sweet toppings?

Yes, some crackers pair well with sweet toppings like jam.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023

Are cookies always sweet?

Mostly, but there are savory cookie varieties.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023

Are graham crackers a type of cookie?

They're a cracker, but sweet, blurring the line between cookies and crackers.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023

Can cookies be savory?

Rarely, but there are exceptions like cheese cookies.
Samantha Walker
Sep 27, 2023

Do cookies always have fillings or additions?

No, some cookies are simple without any add-ins.
Harlon Moss
Sep 27, 2023

Do cookies have more sugar than crackers?

Typically, yes. Cookies usually contain more sugar and fat.
Harlon Moss
Sep 27, 2023

Is it common to eat crackers with soup?

Yes, many people enjoy crackers as a crunchy side with soup.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023

What's a "cookie cutter"?

A tool to cut cookie dough into shapes before baking.
Sawaira Riaz
Sep 27, 2023

Can you make crackers at home?

Absolutely, many recipes allow for homemade crackers.
Janet White
Sep 27, 2023
About Author
Written by
Sawaira Riaz
Sawaira is a dedicated content editor at difference.wiki, where she meticulously refines articles to ensure clarity and accuracy. With a keen eye for detail, she upholds the site's commitment to delivering insightful and precise content.
Edited by
Sumera Saeed
Sumera is an experienced content writer and editor with a niche in comparative analysis. At Diffeence Wiki, she crafts clear and unbiased comparisons to guide readers in making informed decisions. With a dedication to thorough research and quality, Sumera's work stands out in the digital realm. Off the clock, she enjoys reading and exploring diverse cultures.

Trending Comparisons

New Comparisons