Beloved Recipes - Chocolate Chip Cookies As Baked At The Legendary Toll House Inn

Although we tend to think of them as one of our older and long-loved recipes, chocolate chip cookies have actually only been with us since 1937. As American as apple pie, chocolate chip cookies history starts with what may have been a failed experiment or an accident in Whitman, Massachusetts. Fortunately for us, this event created one of the most popular chocolate chip cookies recipes ever.

It all started when a toll house was built on the old coach road between Boston and Bedford, Massachusetts. Built in 1709, this was where those who used the toll road paid their toll, changed horses, and were provided with hearty home-cooked meals. Over the years, the toll house developed a reputation for providing a night's solace for weary travelers.

Cookie Bake

When Ken and Ruth Wakefield established the Toll House Inn in 1930, they pledged to uphold the old tradition, and served only food they cooked themselves - lovely home-cooked meals. Ruth soon gained fame for her desserts and even authored a cookbook. But, it was her creation of the most loved of all chocolate chip cookies recipes that gained her, and the Toll House Inn, a place in baking history.

Of all the cookie recipes, chocolate chip cookies are one of the most beloved. How they came to be is still disputed, but one thing we know for sure - the chocolate chip cookies history has its beginning at the Toll House Inn.

The Controversial Chocolate Chip Cookies History

The version made popular by Nestle - the Swiss chocolate company - tells us that Mrs. Wakefield was making chocolate cookies, when she ran out of her regular baker's chocolate. Not ready to call it quits, she chopped up a Nestle semi-sweet chocolate bar and tossed the bits into the batter - thinking they'd melt into the batter. Of course, they did not and the famous Toll House cookie was born.

However, the story told by a former Toll House Inn employee shows that the chocolate chip cookie was a freak accident. Mrs. Wakefield was quite well known for her sugar cookies, which she offered with every meal and sold in the inn's lobby. One day, while mixing up a large batch in her monster Hobart mixer, a Nestle bar rattled off a shelf, and fell into the mix. With chocolate bits throughout her cookie dough, Mrs. Wakefield believed her batch of cookies to be ruined. Fortunately, her frugal employee talked her into baking the batch.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipes Become An American Staple

Whichever story is true, the Toll House Inn is indisputably the birthplace of this favourite of recipes. Chocolate chip cookies were born in this homey inn, and soon became a famous treat.

During WWII, soldiers from Massachusetts received Toll House cookies from back home, and shared them with their comrades in arms from other parts of America. Soon, hundreds of letters started a nation-wide craze for Toll House cookie recipes, chocolate chip cookies, and the Nestle semi-sweet chocolate that made them possible.

How To Make Chocolate Chip Cookies The Toll House Way

Even today, amongst the most popular cookie recipes, chocolate chip cookies are still tops, and half the cookies baked in American homes are chocolate chip cookies. Recipes for the famous Toll House cookie vary, but my favourite is a faithful rendition of the original. See, Nestle streamlined the recipe by simply tossing the baking power in with the dry ingredients, but the couple extra seconds needed to dissolve it in water is worth it.

First get all your ingredients out on the counter. You'll need one cup of butter - no, margarine will not cut it here. Measure out 3/4 of a cup each of brown and white sugar. In a small bowl, beat 2 eggs. Measure out 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 2 1/2 cups of flour, one teaspoon salt, a cup of chopped walnuts (my special addition to this tasty recipe), 12 ounces of chocolate, and one teaspoon vanilla.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and prepare a 10 x 12 baking sheet. Although you can simply grease the sheet with some extra butter, it's a lot easier to remove the baked cookies if you lay down a layer of parchment paper for baking. Note that this is not just any parchment paper, but parchment paper for baking - a special paper that is food safe and oven safe.

Now, in a large bowl, cream the butter well with a wooden spoon - no plastic imitation gives the same feel. Slowly add the sugars and cream them into the butter with good strong strokes. Creaming with good strong strokes is how to make chocolate chip cookies that have that perfect texture we all love.

Next, add the egg and vanilla, and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. This should take about 3-5 minutes with an electric beater, or more by hand.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add about half of this flour mixture to the liquid ingredients, and beat well.

Dissolve the baking soda in one teaspoon of hot water, and add to the cookie dough, stirring it in well. Then, add the rest of the flour mix and beat until completely mixed.

With a knife, chop the chocolate into large chunks and - along with the walnuts - stir into the dough.

Drop the dough onto the cookie sheet - or parchment paper for baking - by large heaping spoonfuls. Place the dough balls about 2 inches apart and flatten them with the back of a fork - to a little under 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are lightly browned all over. The outside should be crisp and crunchy. This is how to make chocolate chip cookies that the whole family will love.

Let them cool on a rack, and soon you'll enjoy one of the world's beloved cookie recipes, chocolate chip cookies from the old Toll House Inn. You'll be biting into a piece of chocolate chip cookies history.

Beloved Recipes - Chocolate Chip Cookies As Baked At The Legendary Toll House Inn

Toll House cookies are just one of a number of delicious chocolate chip cookies. Click here for more great recipes - chocolate chip cookies galore! Try out all the delicious variations at: http://recipeschocolatechipcookies.blogspot.com

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