The History of the Chocolate Chip Cookie | Sugar.org (2024)

Believe it or not, everyone’s favorite chocolate chip cookie is now over 80 years old!

The original recipe was created in the late 1930s by Ruth Wakefield who famously ran the Toll House restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts. The delicious mix of crispy cookie and melted chocolate chunks first appeared in her 1938 cookbook “Tried and True,” and was intended to accompany ice cream.

The recipe became so popular that it showed up on Betty Crocker’s influential radio program, further cementing its reputation as America’s go-to cookie. In 1939, Wakefield sold the rights to use her recipe and the Toll House name to Nestle.

While there are numerous apocryphal stories about the cookie recipe’s origins, from chocolate accidentally falling into cookie batter to a rushed last-minute replacement ingredient miracle, the truth is a bit more practical.

Ruth Wakefield was no amateur baker running out of ingredients. In fact, she had a degree in household arts and built Toll House’s reputation for outstanding desserts. The iconic chocolate chip cookie was likely the result of diligent testing and recipe development.

While she never would have imagined its eventual cultural impact, Wakefield, with a reputation as a perfectionist, most certainly knew what she was doing. Her recipe, calling for real brown sugar, can still be found on the back of every package of Nestle chocolate chips. You can also find it here.

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