When two people agree on a deal, it can turn out to be a sweet situation for many. Such was the case with Ruth Wakefield and Andrew Nestlé, whose business arrangement caused countless people they didn’t know to make a lot of dough.
I’m not talking about money, of course. I’m talking about cookie dough.
How that happened began to unroll in the 1930s at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Mass., south of Boston. Ruth and Kenneth Wakefield owned the inn, and one of Ruth’s tasks was preparing fine, home-cooked meals for guests. She was qualified to do so, being a graduate of the Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts, and by previously working as a dietitian and food lecturer.
At the inn, Ruth served up some great savoury dishes, but it was for her desserts that she became locally famous. One of her favourite creations was called “butter drop do” cookies, a recipe that dates back to colonial days.
The story goes that one day when Ruth set out to make those cookies, the Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar she had on hand inspired her to do something different. She chopped up the bar and added it to her cookie dough. She thought the chocolate would completely melt in the oven, tried it anyway, and, to her delight, those bits of chocolate softened, but held their shape.
She had baked up a sublime new treat and would soon begin to realize she had made cookie history. Her now-named Toll House Cookies became very popular at the inn, and word of mouth caused them to become a conversation starter around the region. With folks just needing to know how they were made, Ruth obliged and her recipe was published in several New England newspapers.
Sales of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bars soared. That became even more so when Andrew Nestlé and Ruth Wakefield struck a deal that would allow Nestlé to print the Toll House Cookie recipe on its packaging. The company looked for ways to make it easier for home cooks to prepare the chocolate for use in cookies. According to a Nestlé website, verybestbaking.com, they first started to score their bars and package them with a special chopper for easily cutting it into small morsels. Shortly after, in 1939, they began offering tiny morsels of chocolate in convenient, ready-to-use packages.
Nestlé still makes those morsels and other companies now make a similar product. Now matter who makes them or what it says on the package, these days they are commonly referred to as chocolate chips.
Today I’ve published two chocolate chip cookie recipes. The first is a Toll House-style one, which are buttery, loaded with chocolate chips and too hard to resist. The other is a more fibre-rich version that incorporates whole wheat flour into a flatter style of cookie that’s also rich with chocolate chips.
Toll House-style Chocolate Chip Cookies
These classic, buttery, chocolate chip-rich cookies go great with a glass of milk.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes per sheet of cookies
Makes: about 48 cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed golden brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Place an oven rack in the middle position. Line three large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using. In another bowl, beat the butter, sugars and vanilla until well combined and lightened, about three to four minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
Drop heaping tablespoon amounts of the dough on the baking sheets, spacing them each about three inches apart. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a rack, and then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.
Eric’s options: If 48 cookies are too many for you, turn only half the dough into cookies and roll and freeze the rest. To do so, set a 20-inch-long piece of parchment or waxed paper on a work surface. Form the half dough you want to freeze into a 16-inch, about two-inch wide, log and roll and seal inside the paper. Twist the ends of the paper to seal. Freeze the cookie dough log until needed. Will keep up to two months. When needed, let log warm at room temperature 30 minutes, and then slice into 3/4-inch pieces. Bake on parchment paper-lined baking sheets as described above.
Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe is from my book, Everyone Can Cook Everything. In it, whole-wheat flour adds fibre to this version of one of the world’s favourite cookies.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 13-15 minutes per cookie sheet
Makes: 24 cookies
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup packed golden brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Place an oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the flour and baking soda in a bowl and whisk to combine; stir in the chocolate chips. In another bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar and vanilla until well combined and lightened, about three to four minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
Drop two Tbsp amounts of the dough on the baking sheets, spacing them about three inches apart. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 13 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a rack, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.
Eric’s options: If you like nuts, replace 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips with 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans.
