The History of Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip cookies are an American classic. Some might say they are the cookie of America, as an overwhelmingly 53% of all Americans love this cookie. On top of that an estimated 7 billion Chocolate Chip Cookies are eaten annually by Americans. And who does not like a good Ooey Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies? When the first Chocolate Chip Cookie was made it looked a little different than it does today, but the cookie was an instant success!  

The cookie origins begin in a restaurant in Whiteman, Massachusetts. The restaurant was run by Ruth and Kenneth Wakefield, who ran an inn as well. Ruth mainly managed the restaurant called Toll House, because it was a place where people paid their tolls when traveling between Boston and New Bedford. The Toll House restaurant started small but quickly grew in popularity. It was in this very restaurant that Ruth Wakefield conjured up the first Chocolate Chip Cookie. But how the Chocolate Chip Cookie came to be is a mystery. There are many stories about how the Cookie was created by accident when Ruth Wakefield ran out of baker’s chocolate and used a chocolate bar instead. She believed the chocolate bar would melt into the cookie, but the chocolate did not melt but retained its chunkiness. However, this story seems very unlikely as Ruth Wakefield was an experienced cook, she was a food lecturer and dietician before she opened the Toll House. Wakefield knew what she was doing when she created the cookie.

In 1938, Wakefield published the first Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe in her cookbook called Tried and True Recipes, the cookie was found under the name “Chocolate Crunch Cookie.” The Recipe, although most of it remains the same today (ingredient-wise), has some notable differences. First, Wakefield calls for the baking soda to be dissolved in warm water, by doing this it ensures that the baking soda is evenly distributed in the batter. The recipe directs you to alternate between the baking soda and flour. Today recipes call for the baking soda to be mixed in with the flour mixture, and then added to the batter. Second, the original recipe calls for a Nestle Chocolate bar to be chopped up. The reason why Wakefield used a chocolate bar instead of chocolate chips, is simply because chocolate chips were not invented yet. Chocolate chips until after the popularity of the cookie. These are the only two notable differences in the original recipe.

The creation of the Chocolate Cookie was an instant success in the Whiteman, Massachusetts area, and soon they gained national notoriety when Marjorie Husted, the Betty Crocker, featured the delicious cookie on her radio show. The cookie even gained the attention of the chocolate company Nestle, as the “Chocolate Crunch Cookie” called for “2 bars (7-oz.) Nestles yellow labeled, semi-sweet…” Nestle cut a deal with the Wakefields. In exchange for putting the recipe on Nestle Chocolate Bars with the Toll House name attached to the recipe, the Wakefields would receive free Chocolate from the company for life. This was a sweet deal, and Ruth Wakefield used this payment to its fullest extent, as in a time of rationing due to World War II, Ruth Wakefield sent care packages to many soldiers overseas.

Today, Nestle continues to feature the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe on the back of their yellow bags of Chocolate chip, along with the pre-made cookie dough packaged in that iconic yellow.

Chocolate Chip Cookies are easy easy recipes to make and are the first cookies I ever made from scratch. When I first started making Chocolate Chip Cookies, I used the recipe on the back of the Nestle Chocolate Chips, since then I have improved upon it making it my own. My recipe does not call for softened butter as most recipes, but browned butter, which gives the Chocolate Chip cookie more flavor. Browning butter may look intimidating, but it is really easy when you get the hang of it. If you are not feeling up to browned butter; you may use softened butter instead.

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

DRY INGREDIENTS

-        2 ¼ cup of All- Purpose Flour

-        1 teaspoon of Baking Soda

-        ½ - 1 teaspoon of salt (depends on you taste preference)

WET INGREDIENTS

-        1 cup (2 sticks) of Browned butter

-        ½ - 1 tablespoon of milk

-        ¾ cup of brown sugar

-        ¾ cup of white sugar

-        2 eggs

-        1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

-        12 ounces of chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS

1.     Cut the stick of butter into smaller pieces. Then place butter into a saucepan and melt on low heat, stirring occasionally. Once melted turn the heart to medium to begin the browning process. (At this point you want to keep an eye on the butter to make sure it does not burn) Constantly stir the butter, and once you see little brown granules form, then remove from heat. Pour into your mixing bowl, and let cool.

2.     While butter is cooling, combine all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.

3.     When butter is cooled, add in both sugars and mix together until combine.

4.     Add in the milk, eggs, and vanilla mixing until combined.

5.     Once all the wet ingredients are mixed together, add in the dry ingredients a little at a time. Mix on low, until all the dry and wet ingredients are well combined. Do not forget the scrape the sides, as well.  

6.     Fold in your Chocolate Chips

7.     Form dough into 1 Tablespoon balls. Place them in a zip lock bag and refrigerate overnight, or 6-12 hours.

8.     Preheat the oven to 350°

9.     Place the cookies on a prepared baking sheet

10.  Cook for 12 min. for the perfect cookie

11.  Cool and enjoy!