Chocolate cookies are one of the most favorite desserts today.

Chocolate chip cookies history

These cookies are made by mixing chocolate chips or pieces of chocolate into the dough and then baked. Chocolate cookies contain either chocolate chips or chocolate morsels. The inventor of the chocolate chip cookies is Ruth Wakefield. Ruth and Kenneth Wakefield opened a restaurant in 1930, in a town called Whitman, Massachusetts. Since the restaurant was across the street from the Boston Turnpike toll gates, they decided to call their restaurant "Toll House Inn".

One day in 1938, Ruth was trying to make a Butter Drop-do cookies, which requested nuts. However, she didn't have nuts at that moment, so she took the semi-sweet chocolate. Then she broke it to pieces and threw in the cookie dough. What she expected is that the chocolate will melt and mix with the dough, but that didn't happen. The chops of chocolate stayed as chopped pieces in the dough, and that is how the chocolate chip cookie was born.

Recipe in the Boston Newspaper

Chocolate chip cookies' first name was Butter Drop-do cookies. Ruth published a cookbook "Ruth Wakefield's Tried and True Recipes" in 1931 which included the recipe. This recipe was published in The Boston Herald-Traveler under the headline "How to Make Famous Toll House Cookies". The recipe required the following ingredients: 1 cup butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 eggs beaten whole, 1 tsp soda, 1 tsp hot water, 2 1/4 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 cup chopped nuts, 1 tsp vanilla, and 2 Nestlé's Semi-Sweet Economy Bars (7 oz. ea.).

Transfer of rights

In 1939, Ruth Wakefield sold the rights to print her recipe on the packages to Nestlé. Some claim that she sold the rights for only one dollar, but they hired her as a consultant. In addition, she got free chocolate for life.

The additional explanations

Ruth published the additional editions of her cookbook in which she further explained the process of making the cookies at her restaurant. She wrote the following: "At Toll House, we chill this dough overnight. When ready for baking, we roll a teaspoon of dough between palms of hands and place balls two inches apart on the greased baking sheet. Then we press balls with fingertips to form flat rounds. This way cookies do not spread as much in the baking and they keep uniformly round."

Closing the restaurant

Ruth and Kenneth Wakefield sold the restaurant and retired. She died in 1977, but her legacy lives on. There were a lot of attempts to change or to improve the original recipe. But, according to Marian Burros, and food columnist for The New York Times, the recipe was never ever really improved. Ruth's recipe is as good as it gets.

Other interesting facts

The first chocolate chip cookie was rather small, comparing to today's size. It was the size of a quarter and could be eaten in one bite.

It is the USA's favorite cookie. Americans eat seven billion cookies annually (about half of it is homemade). Over half of Americans prefer the chocolate chip cookies. They are followed with oatmeal cookies and peanut butter cookies.

The world's record for the biggest chocolate chip cookie was 101 feet in length and weighed at 40 thousand pounds. It was made in North Carolina in 2003.

Chewy chocolate cookie

If you prefer the chewy chocolate cookie, what you can do is add one egg yolk or a couple of tablespoons of corn syrup. You can also use softened butter instead of melted.

Types of chocolate

All chocolate lovers love chocolate in any form. But, different types of chocolate are used differently.

• Baking chocolate - usually bitter or unsweetened. But it comes in different variations, semi-sweet or added flavors. But, it can be added to cakes, brownies, etc. But if it is unsweetened, you can add sugar separately. This type of chocolate is usually not used for chocolate chip cookies.
• Dark chocolate - contains a high percentage of cacao (lower the percentage, sweeter the taste, and vice versa). It usually has no milk, so it is a good choice for vegans.
• Milk chocolate - contains dry or powdered milk. It is quite sweet and it can melt easily. It can be used in batters, but it is usually used in no-bake recipes.
• White chocolate - it is made of milk, sugar, and cocoa butter. Since it has no cocoa solids, it is creamy. It can be added to baked goods.
• Chocolate Morsels - are often used in batter or dough. It is mostly used as an addition to cookies. They come in three variations - milk, dark, and white.

Raw cookie dough - edible or not

We have to admit that cookie dough often looks rather tempting. Especially, when it contains chocolate chips. However, it is not recommendable to eat raw cookie dough. The main reason is that the dough usually contains raw eggs. And raw eggs can contain salmonella bacteria. And the effects of salmonella poisoning can last up to seven days. Unpleasant effects are fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and cramps. However, eggs are usually heat-sterilized, so it is rare to catch the bacteria that way.

On the other hand, uncooked flour is not good for you, in general. Additionally, the flour is not treated, so cooking is the thing that eliminates bacteria E.Coli (Escherichia coli). That bacteria has almost the same effects as Salmonella and it lasts almost the same.

Freezing cookies

You can freeze the baked or unbaked cookies. Baked cookies can stay in the freezer for up to a month. After the cookies are baked, cool them and freeze in zip bags, one layer in one bag. If they are decorated, it might be better to freeze them separately. When you want to eat the cookies, you can leave it to defrost at the room temperature, you can warm it in the oven, or in the microwave.

Cookie dough can stay in the freezer for up to three months. Form small balls of dough (the same way when you prepare it for baking), place them on the parchment on the flat surface. Put in a freezer for about an hour. When they become solid, take them out and put them in the zip bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible out of the bag and place it in the freezer.

When you want to bake the cookies, take the balls out of the freezer, and place them on the parchment paper or baking sheet. Place in the fridge to defrost for a couple of hours. Then bake them the usual way.