Chocolate Chip Cookie: A history (2024)

A brief history

A chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that originated in the United States and features chocolate chips or chocolate morsels as its distinguishing ingredient. Circa 1938, Ruth Graves Wakefield added chopped up bits from a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar into a cookie. The chocolate chip cookie was invented by American chefs Ruth Graves Wakefield and Sue Brides in 1938. She invented the recipe during the period when she owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts.

In this era, the Toll House Inn was a popular restaurant that featured home cooking. It is often incorrectly reported that she accidentally developed the cookie, and that she expected the chocolate chunks would melt, making chocolate cookies. In fact, she 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 Nestlé 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.

Check out the full recipe here

Chocolate Chip Cookie: A history (1)
Chocolate Chip Cookie: A history (2024)

FAQs

Chocolate Chip Cookie: A history? ›

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

Ruth Wakefield
Ruth Jones Graves Wakefield (née Graves; June 17, 1903 – January 10, 1977) was an American chef, best known for her innovations in the baking field. Ruth pioneered the first chocolate chip cookie recipe, an invention many people incorrectly assume was a mistake.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Ruth_Graves_Wakefield
who famously ran the Toll House
Toll House
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. Toll House Inn. The restored sign of the Toll House Inn, with a commemorative plaque underneath.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Toll_House_Inn
restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts
.

What was the first cookie in history? ›

The first cookies are thought to date back as early as the 7th Century A.D. in present-day Iran. That's around the time that sugar became a common baking ingredient in the region.

Are chocolate chip cookies older than Oreos? ›

In 1938, the chocolate chip cookie was reportedly invented by Ruth Wakefield, who ran the Toll House restaurant with her husband in Massachusetts. Chocolate chip cookies, however, as much of a classic as they have become today, were actually pre-dated by Oreos by 26 years.

What cookie was not invented until 1938? ›

I bet you didn't know that the American classic dessert, the chocolate chip cookie, wasn't invented until 1938.

How did Ruth Wakefield invent the chocolate chip cookie? ›

Sometime in the 1930s Wakefield came up with the recipe for chocolate chip cookies. She chopped a Nestlé semisweet chocolate bar into small pieces and dropped them into a cookie batter. The chocolate remained in chunks and did not melt. She called it the Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie.

Where did chocolate chip cookies originate? ›

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.

What is the oldest known cookie? ›

Pizzelles are the oldest known cookie and originated in the mid-section of Italy. They were made many years ago for the “Festival of the Snakes” also known as the “Feast Day of San Domenico”.

What is the story behind the chocolate chip cookie? ›

The most notable chocolate chip cookie recipe was invented by American chef Ruth Graves Wakefield in 1938. She invented the recipe during the period when she owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts.

What did Oreos look like in 1912? ›

The name Oreo was trademarked on March 14, 1912. It was launched as an imitation of the original Hydrox cookie manufactured by Sunshine company, which was introduced in 1908. The original design on the face of the Oreo featured a wreath around the edge of the cookie and the name "OREO" in the center.

What is a rare cookie? ›

Rare Cookies are those of the second lowest Cookie Rarity in Cookie Run: Kingdom. The odds for obtaining them or their respective Soulstones in the Gacha are average. There are currently 14 Rare Cookies in the game.

What cookie did Oreo knock off? ›

Oreo was created in 1912 as an imitation of Hydrox. Oreo eventually surpassed Hydrox in popularity, which resulted in the Hydrox cookies being perceived by many as an Oreo off-brand, despite the opposite being the case.

What cookie was invented in 1912? ›

On this day in 1912, Oreo cookies were first developed and produced by Nabisco in New York City. It's time to celebrate the iconic crunchy chocolate sandwich cookie with the sweet vanilla cream filling that Americans have enjoyed for over one hundred years.

Why is it called Toll House? ›

Ruth Wakefield's Toll House: Tried and True Recipes

She and her husband bought “a lovely old Cape Cod home” on the outskirts of Whitman, Mass., in 1930. At one time, it was actually used as a toll house between Boston and New Bedford, thus the name.

How much did Toll House cookies cost in 1939? ›

Perhaps the more realistic story is that Wakefield created the Chocolate Chip Cookie “by dint of training, talent, and hard work”, knowing that the combination of these ingredients would live on as an American classic. In 1939, Wakefield sold Nestlé the rights to reprint her cookie recipe on their packages for $1.

Who made the first cookie? ›

Cookies appear to have their origins in 7th century AD Persia, shortly after the use of sugar became relatively common in the region. They spread to Europe through the Muslim conquest of Spain. By the 14th century, they were common in all levels of society throughout Europe, from royal cuisine to street vendors.

What is the original cookies? ›

The first cookies are thought to be test cakes bakers used to test the oven temperature. They date back as early as 7th Century A.D. Persia which is now Iran. They were one of the first countries to grow and harvest sugar cane.

What was the first type cookie? ›

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What cookie was invented in 1938? ›

The chocolate chip cookie was invented by American chefs Ruth Graves Wakefield and Sue Brides in 1938. She invented the recipe during the period when she owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts. In this era, the Toll House Inn was a popular restaurant that featured home cooking.

What was the first cookie in space? ›

– DoubleTree by Hilton made history when its signature, warm chocolate chip cookie became the first-ever food baked in space, in experiments designed to make long-duration space travel more welcoming and hospitable.

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