| Category: | | Baking | | Style: | | American |
Description:
Ruth Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts, is credited with inventing the chocolate chip cookie. The story goes that one day in 1930 she cut a Nestle Semisweet Yellow Label Chocolate bar into small chunks and added it to her butter cookie dough. The cookies were an instant hit with her customers and word of their popularity reached the Nestle company. Nestle have realized that adding small chunks of their chocolate bar to cookie dough would appeal to the mass market because by 1939 Nestle had come out with chocolate morsels (or chips). What a brilliant marketing plan it turned out to be when Nestle packaged the chips in a Yellow bag and then bought the rights to the Toll House name and Ruth Wakefield's recipe. They called her recipe "The Famous Toll House Cookie" and printed it on the back of the Yellow bag. This recipe is still to this day, although in a slightly altered form, on the back the Nestle chocolate chip bags.
Reported to be the favorite cookie of Americans, Ruth Wakefield's recipe has been the springboard for numerous adaptations. As a testament to how many recipes for this cookie exist, back in 1987 Chester Soling, owner of an Inn in Massachusetts, decided to sponsor a nationwide contest to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. Over 2,600 entries were received and the 100 best recipes were compiled in a book called "The Search for the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie" by Gwen Steege.
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
1 cup (215 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (350 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup - 1 1/2 cups (180 - 270 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
Note: Can add 1 cup of toasted and chopped nuts.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) with rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
In bowl of electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add the white and brown sugars and beat until fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat well after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and beat until incorporated, adding the chocolate chips about half way through mixing. If you find the dough very soft, cover and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes).
For large cookies, use a 2 tablespoon ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop about 2 tablespoons of dough (38 grams) onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake about 12 - 14 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool completely on wire rack.
Note: You can freeze this dough. Form the dough into balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze and then place the balls of dough in a plastic bag, seal, and freeze. When baking, simply place the frozen balls of dough on a baking sheet and bake as directed - may have to increase baking time a few minutes.
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