Alabama might just have a delicious new state symbol – the Yellowhammer cookie.
On Wednesday, a bill moved forward in the Alabama House of Representatives to designate a blend of mainstay Alabama ingredients as the official state cookie. Rep. Reed Ingram, the bill’s author, brought students from Trinity Presbyterian School who coined the recipe to make the case.
The Yellowhammer cookie originated in Montgomery as the winner of a school baking contest by fourth-grader Mary Claire as they were studying state history. When the students found out there was a state bird, tree, and flower – they wondered why there was no official state cookie.
According to the bill, 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.
“I’m really surprised we don’t have a state cookie,” State Rep. Chris Sells said during Wednesday’s committee hearing. “We have a state everything else, right?”
If passed, the bill will make Alabama one of only a handful of states with an official state cookie.
Grayson Everett is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @Grayson270 for coverage of the 2023 legislative session.
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