C is for cookie - chocolate chip cookie detail

Plate of chocolate chip cookies, ready to munch

A chocolate chip cookie is a

drop cookie A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, nuts ...

that features

chocolate chip Chocolate chips or chocolate morsels are small chunks of sweetened chocolate, used as an ingredient in a number of desserts (notably chocolate chip cookies and muffins), in trail mix and less commonly in some breakfast foods such as pancakes. ...

s or chocolate morsels as its distinguishing ingredient. Chocolate chip cookies originated in the United States around 1938, when Ruth Graves Wakefield chopped up a

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, sin ...

semi-sweet

chocolate bar A chocolate bar (Commonwealth English) or candy bar (some dialects of American English) is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily b ...

and added the chopped chocolate to a cookie recipe. Generally, the recipe starts with a dough composed of flour, butter, both

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model use ...

and

white sugar White sugar, also called table sugar, granulated sugar, or regular sugar, is a commonly used type of sugar, made either of beet sugar or cane sugar, which has undergone a refining process. Description The refining process completely remove ...

, semi-sweet chocolate chips,

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

, and

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

. Variations on the recipe may add other

types of chocolate Chocolate is a food product made from roasted and ground cocoa pods mixed with fat (e.g. cocoa butter) and powdered sugar to produce a solid confectionery. There are several types of chocolate, classified primarily according to the proportion o ...

, as well as additional ingredients such as

nuts Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...

oatmeal Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been de-husked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains ( groats) that have either been milled (ground) or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel-cut oats ...

. There are also

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

versions with the necessary ingredient substitutions, such as vegan chocolate chips, vegan margarine, and egg substitutes. A ''chocolate chocolate chip cookie'' uses a dough flavored with chocolate or

cocoa powder Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

, before chocolate chips are mixed in. These variations of the recipe are also referred to as ‘''double''’ or ‘''triple''’ chocolate chip cookies, depending on the combination of dough and chocolate types.

History

Invention

The chocolate chip cookie was invented by American chefs Ruth Graves Wakefield and Sue Brides in 1938. They invented the recipe during the period when she owned the

Toll House Inn The Toll House Inn was an inn located in Whitman, Massachusetts, established in 1930 by Kenneth and Ruth Graves Wakefield. The ''Toll House'' chocolate chip cookies are named after the inn.Whitman, Massachusetts Whitman is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,121 at the 2020 census. It is notable as being the place where the chocolate chip cookie was invented. History Whitman was first settled by Europeans i ...

. In this era, the Toll House Inn was a popular restaurant that featured home cooking. A myth holds that she accidentally developed the cookie, and that she expected the chocolate chunks would melt, making chocolate cookies. That is not the case; Wakefield stated that she deliberately invented the cookie. She said, "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." She added chopped up bits from a

semi-sweet chocolate bar into a cookie. The original recipe in ''Toll House Tried and True Recipes'' is called "Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies". Wakefield gave Nestle the recipe for her cookies and was paid with a lifetime supply of chocolate from the company.

Later history

Wakefield's cookbook, ''Toll House Tried and True Recipes'', was first published in 1936 by M. Barrows & Company, New York. The 1938 edition of the cookbook was the first to include the recipe "Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie" which rapidly became a favorite cookie in American homes. During World War II, soldiers from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

who were stationed overseas shared the cookies they received in care packages from home with soldiers from other parts of the United States. Hundreds of soldiers wrote home asking their families to send them Toll House cookies, and Wakefield received letters from around the world requesting her recipe, helping spread their popularity beyond the east coast. Chocolate chip cookies were first sold in the UK in 1956 by

Maryland Cookies Maryland Cookies are a brand name of cookie produced by Burton's Biscuit Company in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, ...

Original recipe

The original recipe was passed down to Sue Brides' daughter, Peg, who shared it in a 2017 interview: * cups (350 mL) shortening * cups (265 mL) sugar * cups (265 mL) brown sugar * 3 eggs * teaspoon (7.5 g) salt * cups (750 mL) of flour * teaspoon (7.5 g) hot water * teaspoon (7.5 g) baking soda * teaspoon (7.5 g) vanilla * chocolate chips (The ''Tried and True Recipes'' cookbook specifies "2 bars (7 oz.) Nestlé's yellow label chocolate, semi-sweet, which has been cut in pieces the size of a pea.").

Marketing

There are at least three national (U.S./ North America) chains that sell freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

s and standalone retail locations. Several businesses—including

Doubletree DoubleTree by Hilton is an American hotel chain managed by Hilton Worldwide. DoubleTree has been the fastest growing Hilton brand by number of properties since 2007, and by number of rooms from 2007 to 2015. As of December 31, 2019, it has 587 p ...

hotels—offer freshly baked cookies to their patrons to differentiate themselves from their competition. To honor the cookie's creation in the state, on July 9, 1997, Massachusetts designated the chocolate chip cookie as the Official State Cookie, after it was proposed by a third-grade class from

Somerset, Massachusetts Somerset is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,303 at the 2020 census. It is the birthplace and hometown of Clifford Milburn Holland (1883–1924), the chief engineer and namesake of the Holland Tunnel ...

Composition and variants

Chocolate chip cookies are commonly made with

;

brown sugar Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar. Brown Sugar may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul * ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...

;

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many c ...

;

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...

;

; a

leavening agent In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An altern ...

such as

baking soda Sodium bicarbonate ( IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cation ( Na+) and a bicarbonate anion ( HCO3� ...

; a fat, typically butter or

shortening Shortening is any fat that is a solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry and other food products. Although butter is solid at room temperature and is frequently used in making pastry, the term ''shortening'' seldom refers to ...

;

vanilla extract Vanilla extract is a solution made by macerating and percolating vanilla pods in a solution of ethanol and water. It is considered an essential ingredient in many Western desserts, especially baked goods like cakes, cookies, brownies, and cupca ...

; and

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civil ...

pieces. Some recipes also include milk or

(such as chopped

walnuts A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true b ...

) in the dough. Depending on the ratio of ingredients and mixing and cooking times, some recipes produce a soft, chewy cookie while others will produce a crunchy, crispy cookie. Regardless of ingredients, the procedure for making the cookie is fairly consistent in all recipes: First, the sugars and fat are

creamed Creaming may refer to: * Creaming (chemistry), a process of separation of an emulsion * Creaming (food), several different culinary processes See also *Cream (disambiguation) Cream is a dairy product. Cream may also refer to: Art, entertai ...

, usually with a wooden spoon or

electric mixer A mixer, depending on the type, also called a hand mixer or stand mixer, is a kitchen device that uses a gear-driven mechanism to rotate a set of "beaters" in a bowl containing the food or liquids to be prepared by mixing them. Mixers help a ...

. Next, the eggs and vanilla extract are added followed by the flour and leavening agent. Depending on the additional flavoring, its addition to the mix will be determined by the type used:

peanut butter Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Peanut butter is consumed in many countri ...

will be added with the wet ingredients while cocoa powder would be added with the dry ingredients. The titular ingredient, chocolate chips, as well as nuts are typically mixed in towards the end of the process to minimize breakage, just before the cookies are scooped and positioned on a cookie sheet. Most

cookie dough Cookie dough is an un-cooked blend of cookie ingredients. Cookie dough is normally intended to be baked into individual cookies before eating, however edible cookie dough is made to be eaten as is, and usually is made without eggs to make it safer ...

is baked, although some eat the dough as is, or use it as an addition to vanilla

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

to make chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. The texture of a chocolate chip cookie is largely dependent on its fat composition and the type of fat used. A study done by Kansas State University showed that carbohydrate-based fat substitutes tend to bind more water, leaving less water available to aid in the spread of the cookie while baking and resulting in softer, cakelike cookies with less spread.

Common variants

* The ''M&M party cookie'' is baked with

M&M's M&M's (stylized as m&m's) are multi-colored button-shaped chocolates, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case in white on one side, consisting of a candy shell surrounding a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M ...

instead of chocolate chips. * The ''chocolate chocolate chip'' or ''double chocolate'' cookie uses a dough that is chocolate flavored by the addition of

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

or melted chocolate. Variations on this cookie include replacing chocolate chips with

white chocolate White chocolate is a confectionery typically made of sugar, milk, and cocoa butter. It is pale ivory colored, and lacks many of the compounds found in milk and dark chocolates. It is solid at room temperature because the melting point of cocoa ...

or peanut butter chips. * The ''macadamia chip cookie'' has

macadamia nuts ''Macadamia'' is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia, native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Two species of the genus ...

and white chocolate chips. * The ''chocolate chip peanut butter cookie'' replaces the vanilla flavored dough with a peanut butter flavored one. * Chocolate chip cookie dough baked in a baking dish instead of a cookie sheet results in a ''chocolate chip bar cookie'', also known as ''congo bars'' or ''blondies''.Congo Bars (Blondies) recipe
on chewoutloud.com * Other variations include different sizes and shapes of chocolate chips, as well as dark or milk chocolate chips. These changes lead to differences in both flavor and texture. File:Chocolate chip cookie ingredients.jpg, alt=An arrangement consisting bags of brown sugar, white sugar, flour and chocolate chips; boxes of baking soda and salt; a carton of eggs, wrapped sticks of butter and a bottle of vanilla extract on a kitchen counter, Standard chocolate chip cookie ingredients File:Cookies2.webmhd.webm, Preparing chocolate chip cookies File:Chocolate chip bar.jpg, alt=A foil-lined tray with a solid light brown sheet with dark brown spots. A section has been cut away and most of a knife is lying in that portion., Chocolate chip bar cookies

Popular brands

* Blue Chip Cookies *

Chips Ahoy! Chips Ahoy! is an American chocolate chip cookie brand, baked and marketed by Nabisco, a subsidiary of Mondelez International, that debuted in 1963. Chips Ahoy! cookies are available in different variations such as, original, reduced-fat, chunky, ...

(

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco ...

) * Chips Deluxe (

Keebler The Keebler Company is an American cookie and former cracker manufacturer. Founded in 1853, it has produced numerous baked snacks, advertised with the Keebler Elves. Keebler had marketed its brands such as Cheez-It (which have the Sunshine Bis ...

) * Cookie Time *

Famous Amos Famous Amos is a brand of cookies founded in Los Angeles in 1975 by Wally Amos, a former talent agent with William Morris Agency. History Wallace "Wally" Amos was born in Tallahassee, Florida, United States, on July 1, 1936. In 1948 he move ...

Mrs. Fields Mrs. Fields' Original Cookies Inc. is an American franchisor in the snack food industry, with Mrs. Fields and TCBY as its core brands. Through its franchisees' retail stores, it is one of the largest retailers of freshly baked, on-premises specia ...

* Otis Spunkmeyer *

Pepperidge Farm Pepperidge Farm is an American commercial bakery founded in 1937 by Margaret Rudkin, who named the brand after her family's 123-acre farm property in Fairfield, Connecticut, which had been named for the pepperidge tree. A subsidiary of the Cam ...

References

External links

Nestle Toll House Cookie recipe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chocolate Chip Cookie American desserts Articles containing video clips Chocolate desserts Cookies 1938 establishments in the United States Food and drink introduced in 1938 Massachusetts cuisine New England cuisine American inventions fr:Cookie (cuisine)