First in the tastebuds of Americans is the chocolate chip cookie, created in the late 1930s when Ruth Grace Wakefield who had a degree in household arts, made what she called Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies. These were tiny, about the size of a quarter. From 1930-1967, she and her husband Kenneth owned and operated the Toll House Inn and Restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts, a spot well known for its fabulous desserts.
According to one story, the cookie resulted after “Wakefield unexpectedly ran out of nuts for a regular ice-cream cookie recipe. In desperation she replaced them with chunks chopped out of a bar of Nestlé’s bittersweet chocolate.”
Her recipe became very popular. She included it in her first cookbook “Tried and True Recipes” where she added chopped pieces of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar to a cookie dough, creating the chocolate chip concept. Even the Betty Crocker Radio show featured this new recipe.
On March 20, 1939 Wakefield gave Nestlé the right to use her cookie recipe and the Toll House name. It is a bargain that rivals Peter Minuit’s purchase of Manhattan: the price was a dollar which Wakefield said she never received. However, it is reported that she received free chocolate for life and was also paid by Nestlé for work as a consultant.
The largest chocolate chip cookie ever made was by the Immaculate Baking Company in North Carolina; it weighed over 40,000 pounds and had a diameter of 101 feet.
References: “What is the Number 1 Cookie in the United States,” “The History of Chocolate Chip Cookies,” “Chocolate Chip Facts,” and “Sweet Morsels: A History of the Chocolate Chip Cookie.”
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE
2¼ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. butter, softened
¾ c. sugar
¾ c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
12-oz. pkg. (2-c.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. chopped nuts
Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Set aside. Combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla at high speed in mixer’s large bowl. Beat, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed after each addition. Stir in chips and nuts. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets; remove to cooling rack. Cool completely.
A GOOD CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE
3¼ c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
1/3 c. butter, softened
1¼ c. granulated sugar
1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
4 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. (12-oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. chopped walnuts, optional
Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts, if desired. Drop by rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE COOKIE RECIPE
1 c. salted butter, softened
¾ c. granulated sugar
¾ c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2¼ c. + 2 Tbs. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 c. Nestlé Toll House semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 c. chopped nuts, optional
Cream together the butter and sugars in either a large bowl with an electric hand mixer or of a stand mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until thoroughly incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix well. Add the flour, baking soda and salt, mixing until a soft dough forms. Add the chocolate morsels and nuts (if using), mix until evenly distributed. Drop 1 Tbs. rounds of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375°F. for 7-9 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
RUTH WAKEFIELD’S ORIGINAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE
1 c. butter, softened
¾ c. brown sugar
¾ c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
2¼ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped nuts
2 (7-oz.) bars Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into pea-sized pieces
Preheat oven to 375°F. and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together in a large bowl using a hand held or stand mixer on low speed. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until combined. Mix in vanilla extract.
Sift flour and baking soda over a medium bowl; stir in salt. Add to butter mixture and mix until combined. Add nuts and chocolate. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough on the prepared baking sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.