Chocolate Chip Cookie Image Used Under Creative Commons License From bigoven.com
Citizens – today is National Cookie Day, and what recipe is more apropos to share with you on this day of days but the classic chocolate chip cookie? 🙂
Now – let’s get one thing clear. TFD *LOVES* soft and chewy cookies – crisp does NOT make an appearance in my lexicon when it comes to my favorite cookie of all time!
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’s cookbook, Toll House Tried and True Recipes, was first published in 1936 by M. Barrows & Company, New York. The 1938 edition of the cookbook was the first to include the recipe “Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie” which rapidly became a favorite cookie in American homes.
During WWII, soldiers from Massachusetts who were stationed overseas shared the cookies they received in care packages from back home with soldiers from other parts of the United States. Soon, hundreds of soldiers were writing home asking their families to send them some Toll House cookies, and Wakefield was soon inundated with letters from around the world requesting her recipe. Thus began the nationwide craze for the chocolate chip cookie. The recipe for chocolate chip cookies was brought to the UK in 1956, with Maryland Cookies one of the UK’s best selling chocolate chip cookies.
Every bag of Nestlé chocolate chips sold in North America has a variation (butter vs. margarine is now a stated option) of her original recipe printed on the back. The original recipe was passed down to Sue Brides’ daughter, Peg.
Since this is TFD, I have of course made this recipe my own in subtle but unique ways. I start by replacing some of the butter with coconut oil, which is not only good for you but adds the merest hint of coconut flavor that I find totally addictive. I also prefer to use vanilla paste as opposed to extract – you can buy my preferred brand of vanilla paste from Amazon here. When it comes to my chocolate chips, only E. Guittard brand extra dark chocolate chips will do – buy them from Amazon here!
These will prove to be the finest chocolate chip cookies you will ever enjoy, My Citizens – this I vow! 🙂
Microwave the butter for about 40 seconds to just barely melt it. It shouldn’t be hot – but it should be almost entirely in liquid form. Repeat for coconut oil. Using a stand mixer or electric beaters, beat the butter and coconut oil with the sugars until creamy.
Add the vanilla and the egg; beat on low speed until just incorporated – 10-15 seconds or so (if you beat the egg for too long, the cookies will be stiff).
Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until crumbles form. Use your hands to press the crumbles together into a dough. It should form one large ball that is easy to handle (right at the stage between “wet” dough and “dry” dough). Add the chocolate chips and incorporate with your hands.
Roll the dough into 12 large balls and place them on a large plate. Cover with plastic wrap and chill the dough balls for at least 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place balls on a cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (Or a baking sheet that has been covered with a Silpat, or greased with cooking spray.)
Bake for 9-11 minutes until the cookies look puffy and dry and just barely golden. DO NOT OVERBAKE. This advice is probably written on every cookie recipe everywhere, but this is essential for keeping the cookies soft. Take them out even if they look like they’re not done yet.
Let them cool on the pan for a good 30 minutes – they will sink down and should stay soft for many days if kept in an airtight container. They can also be frozen. Enjoy with a tall, cold glass of organic, whole milk.
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Very good. Agree that Guittard dark chocolate chips are much better than average. However, there are other high quality alternatives (e.g. Tcho), or you can chop up a bar of high quality dark chocolate if you want to experiment, run out of chocolate chips, etc. It is also nice sometimes to add lemon or orange zest.
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Very good. Agree that Guittard dark chocolate chips are much better than average. However, there are other high quality alternatives (e.g. Tcho), or you can chop up a bar of high quality dark chocolate if you want to experiment, run out of chocolate chips, etc. It is also nice sometimes to add lemon or orange zest.
O wow, will the kids love these
Soft chocolate chip cookies are so tasty and good!