Chocolate Chip Cookies

Let’s all take a moment to thank Ruth Wakefield for her culinary service! You may not recognize her name but you’ll surely recognize the name of the Inn where her famous treat was invented…Toll House. Yes, we’re talking about the most beloved cookie of all time…the chocolate chip cookie!

Ruth Wakefield invented the now world famous cookie in the 1930’s at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. There are unfounded stories that suspect this cookie’s invention was an accident; that somehow a chocolate bar broke into pieces and fell into the batch of pecan drop cookies she was preparing. To that I say, ABSOLUTELY NOT! To suggest that Ruth didn’t deliberately add the chopped chocolate to her cookies is not only gossip but heresy. Ruth, after all was a very talented cook and even held a degree in household arts. Even Eleanor Roosevelt, Joe DiMaggio, Cole Porter, and Joseph Kennedy Sr. ate her restaurant! She knew what she was doing! According to Ruth, she began brainstorming about her new cookie on a flight home from Egypt (ok, Now I’m REALLY obsessed with her. Ruth you fabulous creature, vacationing in Egypt and day dreaming of cookies…side note- commercial flights in this time were insanely expensive, around $260 in 1930 for a round trip coast to coast ticket, for double that price, you could buy a new car. So the Toll House Inn must have been doing pretty well, despite opening in the Great Depression). Back home in Massachusetts, While experimenting with her pecan drop cookies, she wanted to add chocolate. With the intention to melt it in, she added a chopped Nestle chocolate bar. She believed it would melt into the dough but to her surprise, they created chips of chocolate throughout. She called her creation Chocolate Crunch Cookies. Nestle bought the Toll House cookie name and recipe in 1939…. For get this…$1 and a lifetime supply of chocolate. What in the Willy Wonka kind of deal is this? Ruth went on to write cookbooks with many recipes made famous by the Toll House Inn and really just went on with her lovely life, unbothered. Seemingly pleased with this arrangement.

Her recipe changed the cookie industry and even sparked a new ingredient…the chocolate chip. No more chopping required. Today Nestle still prints the toll house recipe on the back of every bag of chocolate chips. Ruth’s original recipe was different from the thick, chewy cookies of today. Her recipe was thin and crunchy with nuts. No offense to the lovely and talented Ruth but my recipe is… different. I wouldn’t dare say better but yeah they’re really good. The best way to serve them is warm out of the oven with a little sprinkle of salt and vanilla ice cream. I hope that Ruth is proud of the many variations of her beloved cookie there are today. If you want to try her original recipe, the photo below comes from her cookbook: Toll House Tried & True Recipes. What we now call Chocolate Chip Cookies are her ‘Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies.’

The Toll House Inn (Image Credit:Library of Congress)

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 12

Author: Allyson Van Lenten

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 20 Min

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or by hand with a whisk), mix the softened butter with the white sugar & brown sugar for a few minutes until combined.
2. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Add the dry to the wet ingredients and mix until just barely combined. Do not over mix the dough or the cookies will be tough. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit .
5. Using an ice cream scoop or a large spoon, measure out 12 equal portions of dough into a round ball. Put 6 cookies on each of the 2 trays lined with a Silpat mat or parchment paper. Put the trays into the refrigerator and chill for 20 minutes.
6. Bake cookies for exactly 7 1/2 minutes. Rotate trays from bottom to top in the oven. Cook for an additional 7 1/2 minutes. Remove from the oven. Sprinkle with a little salt (optional). Allow to cool on the baking trays, for 2 minutes. Then using a spatula, transfer cookies to a cooling rack or tray.

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