Happy National Chocolate Chip Day!
Thank you, Ruth Wakefield!
Ms. Wakefield is the person responsible for inventing the chocolate chip in the early 1930s when she was trying a variation on a butterscotch dessert to serve in her Inn.
She was raised in Easton, Mass., and attended the Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts (known now as Framingham State University). She taught home economics at Brockton High School, lectured on food and worked as a hospital dietitian and a customer service director for a utility company. She went on to publish a cookbook, “Ruth Wakefield’s Tried and True Recipes” in 1931 and she was featured on “Famous Foods From Famous Eating Places,” a radio program hosted by Marjorie Husted (aka Betty Crocker).
In 1939, Wakefield sold Nestlé the rights to reproduce her recipe on its packages (supposedly for only $1) and was hired to consult on recipes for the company. Free chocolate for life was also a part of the deal, though it is said that she never did receive that $1.
"We had been serving a thin butterscotch nut cookie with ice cream," Wakefield recalled in a 1970's interview. "Everybody seemed to love it, but I was trying to give them something different."
As legend has it, Ruth’s original plan was said to have involved melting squares of Baker’s chocolate (unsweetened, with no milk or flavoring) and adding it to the blond batter. But, supposedly, the only chocolate she had available was a Nestlé semisweet bar, and she was too rushed to melt it.
Wielding an ice pick, she chopped the bar into pea-size bits and dribbled them into the brown sugar dough with nuts. (Susan Brides, a pastry chef, assisted.) Instead of melting into the dough to produce an all-chocolate cookie, the bits remained chunky as they baked. — New York Times
Though the classic Toll House myth is a fun story, many doubt that the invention of the chocolate chip cookie actually happened out of happenstance. Ruth Wakefield was an experienced and trained cook, one not likely to simply run out of ingredients or have accidental happenings in her kitchen. Still, there is magic in the myth.
May 15th is National Chocolate Chip Day
- Chocolate chips can be used in pancakes, waffles, pudding, crépes, cakes, ice cream, pies, hot chocolate, various types of pastry and of course, muffins and cookies.
- Chocolate Chip Cookies were originally known as Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies, after the popular restaurant that Ruth Wakefield and her husband, Kenneth Wakefield, ran in Massachusetts.
- Nestlé and The Hershey Company are among the top producers of chocolate chips.
- Massachusetts’s official state cookie is the chocolate chip cookie, and in 2001 the common wealth of Pennsylvania declared it their official cookie as well.
- In 1983, a federal judge ruled that Nestlé, which now sells about 90 billion individual morsels annually, was no longer entitled to exclusive rights to the Toll House trademark.
- Wakefield’s recipe graced the back of semi-sweet bars, which all included an individual cutter to chunk up the bar for cookie-making.
- By 1941, “Chocolate Chip Cookies” was considered the standard name for the originally known “Toll House Cookies”.
- In 1940, Nestlé unveiled morsels for sale. (Other brands, like Hershey’s and Ghirardelli call them “chips”)
- The 8 best brands of Vegan Chocolate Chips are: Enjoy Life, Equal Exchange, Gerbs Jumbo Chips, Pascha Organic, Chatfield’s, Carvalho Naturals, California Gourmet, and Lily’s Dark Chocolate
- America’s top 5 favorite ways to eat chocolate chips and top 5 favorite kinds of chips are
- In chocolate chip cookies (44%)
- In raw cookie dough (15%)
- Out of the bag (11%)
- In ice cream (10%)
- In granola bars (6%)
- Milk Chocolate (51%)
- White Chocolate (17%)
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate (16%)
- Dark Chocolate (15%)
- Bittersweet Chocolate (1%)
Peanut Butter Cup S'mores Popcorn
Equipment
- Air-popper (optional)
Ingredients
- ½ cup unpopped popcorn kernels
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
- 2 cups mini peanut butter cups
- 2 cups graham cereal
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paperPop popcorn according to package directionsIn a large bowl, combine popped popcorn, marshmallows, peanut butter cups, graham cereal and salt.Place chocolate chips in a wide, shallow bowl and put in the microwave. Heat it on medium high for about 1 minute to start with. Remove from the microwave and stir. Repeat heating at shorter intervals, (15 seconds), stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted and has a smooth consistency. Whisk coconut oil into chocolate and stir until melted.Drizzle melted chocolate over the popcorn and toss to combine.Spread popcorn mix on prepared baking sheet. Allow to cool until chocolate hardens, about 10 mintues. If the chocolate is still soft, place in the refrigerator until hardened.Break into pieces and serve
Hello Dolly Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter
- 1½ cup graham cracker crumbs
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1⅓ cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
- 1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. (325° F if you are using a glass baking dish).Melt butter in a small bowl in the microwave on high for 30 seconds.Combine graham crackers with the melted butter and place in a 9"x12" baking dish or pan, patting the crumb mixture down evenly with your hands.Layer the chocolate chips, coconut, and nuts on top of the graham cracker mix.Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the entire mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is light brown.Let cool completely before cutting into bars.
(Almost) Fat Free Chocolate Chip-Banana Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin tins and liners
Ingredients
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 large bananas very ripe
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ½-¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line twelve regular sized muffin cups with cupcake liners and set aside.
- Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a medium size bowl. Place banana pieces into the bowl of a food processor and run until they are a smooth purée. Add egg, milk and applesauce and process until well blended.
- Pour banana mixture into flour mixture gently stir in chocolate chips, mix until just combined. Do not over-mix or muffins will be tough.
- Divide batter between the muffin cups, filling to about ¾ full. Bake until tops are golden and muffins spring back when touched in the center, about 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm with a nice cup of tea.
Scotcheroos
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup white karo corn syrup
- 1½ cups peanut butter creamy or crunchy
- 6 cups rice krispies
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
Instructions
- Measure rice krispies into a large bowl and set aside.In a heavy saucepan, add the sugar and karo syrup together. Cook until it comes to a boil, stirring constantly.Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until it has melted and blended in well.Pour the warm peanut butter mixture over the cereal. Stir well, until all of the rice krispies are covered.Press into a 9x13-inch pan that has been sprayed lightly with non-stick cooking spray.In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips together. (Microwave for about 30 seconds, stir and then microwave for another 30 seconds). Stir until well blended and smooth. Spread over the rice krispie mixture. Let set up for approximately an hour before cutting into bars.
Tony Tiger Cookies
Ingredients
- 1¾ cup flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup margarine
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups frosted flakes crush 1½ cups
- 1 12 oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips melted
Instructions
- Stir together soda, salt and flour. Set aside.Beat margarine and sugar til light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla.Beat. Add flour mixture. Mix.Stir in frosted flakes. Drizzle melted chocolate over dough. With a knife, make swirls. Drop by Tbsp on ungreased baking sheet.Bake at 350°F 12 minutes
