Answer:
48 or 36
Explanation:
25% of something is also 1/4 of something. This means you would want to multiply 12 by 4 t get 48 total cookies.
I don't know if they are or aren't counting the cookies Vernie ate, if they are counting the ones he ate it would be 48, but if they aren't it would be 48-12=36 since he did eat 12 cookies and they aren't in the bag anymore.
Hope this helps!