I can’t tell you all how much I love these tasty morsels. Let me drop some knowledge on you. A chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that originated in the U.S. The traditional recipe combines a dough composed of butter and both brown and white sugar with semi-sweet chocolate chips. It was invented by Ruth Graves Wakefield. She owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, MA, featuring home cooking in the 1930s. Her 1938 edition cookbook of Toll House Tried and True Recipes, was the first to include the recipe “Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie” which rapidly became a favorite cookie in American homes.
Ruth Wakefield & Toll House Restaurant
Wakefield stated she deliberately invented the cookie. “We had been serving a thin butterscotch nut cookie with ice cream. Everybody seemed to love it, but I was trying to give them something different. So I came up with Toll House cookie.”
A different version says she had been making chocolate cookies and on running out of regular baker’s chocolate, substituted broken pieces of semi-sweet chocolate thinking that they would melt and mix into the batter. They did not and the chocolate chip cookie was born.
During WWII, US soldiers from Massachusetts stationed overseas shared the cookies they received in care packages. Soon, hundreds of soldiers were writing home asking their families to send them some Toll House cookies. The recipe became in high demand and began a nationwide craze!
Chocolate chip cookies are commonly made with white sugar, brown sugar, flour, eggs, a leavening agent such as baking powder, a fat, typically butter or shortening; vanilla extract, and semi-sweet chocolate pieces.
Some recipes are optimized to produce a softer, chewy cookie while others will produce a crunchy style. The procedure for making the cookie is fairly consistent in all recipes: First, the sugars and fat are creamed, with a wooden spoon. Next, the eggs and vanilla extract are added followed by the flour and baking powder. The chocolate chips are mixed in towards the end of the process to keep them from breaking. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet and get baking. You can eat the dough as is, or add to vanilla ice cream to make chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream! This is the original recipe of the Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie.
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped nuts
1. PREHEAT oven to 375° F.
2. COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen bars.
SLICE AND BAKE COOKIE VARIATION: Prepare dough as above. Divide in half; wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Shape each half into 15-inch log; wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.* Preheat oven to 375° F. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices; place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
Whetting Appetites 