Chocolate Chip Cookie History, Facts, and Other Tasty Morsels

Chocolate chip cookies are known and beloved in households across America, and across the globe. In fact, approximately 2 billion cookies are consumed by each person in America every year. That’s a lot of cookies! But while many think that this cookie flavor has been around for all time, little know that it only celebrated its 75th birthday three years ago. Take a look inside the chewy, gooey, wonderful history of chocolate chip cookie recipes.
It all began in 1938 at the Wakefield Inn, when Ruth Wakefield, the innkeeper and resident cook, was making cookies for her guests. She had run out of cocoa powder and all that remained were blocks of Tollhouse bakers’s chocolate. In a pinch, Ruth decided to break up the Tollhouse chocolate into tiny pieces, and she mixed it into the batter. After tasting the new cookie recipe, people came from all over to try the delicious cookie recipe.
During World War II, wives began sending their husbands at war tins of chocolate chip cookies. After seeing fellow soldiers receive such a delicious care package, more and more troops wrote home, requesting the cookies in a care package of their own. Because of this, Ruth’s famous recipe was in high demand.
Around the same time, Ruth and Tollhouse struck up a deal. In exchange for a lifetime of Tollhouse chocolate, Ruth would allow her famous chocolate chip cookie recipe to be printed on the back of Tollhouse’s chocolate pieces bag. From there, history was made, and people all over the world were able to recreate and enjoy Ruth’s famous chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Now, there are mans variations of the cookie recipe. Many enjoy their cookies soft and chewy, while others enjoy their cookies crispy and crunchy. Some like nuts in their cookies and others enjoy just plain old chocolate chips. Some even like to add salt to the recipe, to give it a bit of a flavorful contrast and kick.
How do you enjoy chocolate chip cookies? Let us know in the comments below!