--- description: A bake-off between nominees' spouses began in 1992, after a Hillary Clinton gaffe. Bill Clinton now continues the tradition—sort of. title: A Brief History of the Clinton Family's Chocolate-Cookies image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb9f5fa2053f704b/6988a05c428a9e2c27cd3b20/hillary-bill-clinton-gender-role-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Brief History of the Clinton Family's Chocolate-Chip Cookies by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 19, 2016 6:10 PM CUT  Democratic Nominee for President Hillary Clinton and former US President Bill Clinton on stage during final day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on July 28, 2016. Democratic Nominee for President Hillary Clinton and former US President Bill Clinton on stage during final day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on July 28, 2016.Tannen Maury—EPA by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 19, 2016 6:10 PM CUT While Bill Clinton could soon be the [first male presidential spouse](http://time.com/4426577/hillary-bill-clinton-marriage/ "undefined"), he won’t be fully participating in a 24-year-old presidential election tradition for spouses: the _Family Circle_ Presidential Cookie Poll, a.k.a the First Lady Cookie Contest. The recipe the Clintons have opted to [submit to the magazine](http://www.familycircle.com/recipes/desserts/cookies/family-circle-2016-presidential-cookie-poll/?page=1?socsrc=FB81816cookiepoll "undefined")—labeled the Clinton Family’s Chocolate Chip Cookies—is Hillary Clinton’s [original 1992 recipe](https://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/EOP/First%5FLady/html/cookies.html "undefined"), according to the [Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/the-2016-first-lady-cookie-contest-is-just-as-weird-as-the-rest-of-the-election/2016/08/17/2c0fb4fa-63c9-11e6-8b27-bb8ba39497a2%5Fstory.html?tid=sm%5Ftw "undefined"). In the poll that opened Thursday, those cookies will face off against Melania Trump’s Star Cookies. This cookie face-off actually has a long history with the Clintons, as Hillary’s [comments](http://time.com/4054623/clinton-dunham-tea-cookies/ "undefined") on the campaign trail in 1992 are the reason it began. During a debate before the Michigan and Illinois primaries, Bill was accused by a rival of delivering favorable contracts to his wife’s law firm during his tenure as governor of Arkansas, TIME reported. The comment rattled Hillary, resulting in her making a comment that provoked immediate backlash: “I suppose I could have stayed home, baked cookies and had teas,” she [said](http://time.com/vault/issue/1992-03-30/page/32/ "undefined"), speaking of “the sort of thing that happens to women who have their own careers.” Her comments outraged many American women into a fit of rage, as evidenced by the[ Letters section in the April 20, 1992](http://time.com/vault/issue/1992-04-20/page/14/ "undefined"), edition of TIME: --- > “” --- _Family Circle_ saw an opportunity in the controversy, according to the _Post_, setting up a bake-off between Barbara Bush and Clinton. Clinton said,[ reported the New York _Times_ ](http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/15/garden/now-is-the-time-to-come-to-the-aid-of-your-favorite-cookies.html "undefined")that July, that if the cookie comment were going to become a competition, she intended to win. Not only was her recipe the product of a lifelong love of chocolate-chip cookies—beginning with her family’s Christmastime tradition of seeing who could bake the largest—but she was also willing to campaign hard on behalf of her recipe. “My friends say my recipe is more Democratic,” she was [quoted](http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/13/news/democrats-in-new-york-a-softer-image-for-hillary-clinton.html?pagewanted=2 "undefined") as saying, “because I use vegetable shortening instead of butter.” Clinton’s determination (or at least her sweet tooth) paid off. She won—along with her husband, who defeated George H.W. Bush to become the 42nd President of the United States. [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter "undefined") The winner of Family Circle’s First Lady Cookie Cook-Off ended up in the White House in[ every election ](http://time.com/vault/issue/2004-11-15/page/27/ "undefined")between that contest in 1992 and [2008](http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/02/michelle-obama-wins-critical-first-lady-cookie-contest/ "undefined"), when Cindy McCain took home the prize. Clinton has won against Bush’s chocolate chip cookies in 1992 and [Elizabeth Dole’s pecan cookies](http://www.dolekemp96.org/about/cookies/cookies.html "undefined") in 1996, now she’s up against Melania Trump’s sugar cookies. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4459173/hillary-bill-clinton-cookies-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4459173/hillary-bill-clinton-cookies-history/"},"headline":"A Brief History of the Clinton Family's Chocolate-Chip Cookies","datePublished":"2016-08-19T18:10:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:05:41.042Z","description":"A bake-off between nominees' spouses began in 1992, after a Hillary Clinton gaffe","url":"https://time.com/4459173/hillary-bill-clinton-cookies-history/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","History","Melania Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb9f5fa2053f704b/6988a05c428a9e2c27cd3b20/hillary-bill-clinton-gender-role-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb9f5fa2053f704b/6988a05c428a9e2c27cd3b20/hillary-bill-clinton-gender-role-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"DNC in Philadelphia 2016","caption":"Democratic Nominee for President Hillary Clinton and former US President Bill Clinton on stage during final day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on July 28, 2016.","creditText":"Tannen Maury—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4459173/hillary-bill-clinton-cookies-history/","name":"A Brief History of the Clinton Family's Chocolate-Chip Cookies"}}]}] ```