Original Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Difficulty: Easy

The short history

In 1930, in the outskirts of Whitman Massachusetts, Ruth and her husband Kenneth purchased a 1709 old cape-cod styled house. The made it a guest house and called it the Toll House Inn. The guest always enjoyed eating delicious house made meals prepared by Ruth Wakefield. Her meals and deserts became very popular and renowned in the region.

One day, Ruth added some chocolate morsels, Nestle semi-sweet to be more precise, into some butter cookie dough since she ran out of baker's chocolate. She was expecting the chocolate to melt and become an homogeneous part of the dough, but instead the chips only softened. Guests were delighted by these and her recipe even ended in some New England newspaper.

The popularity of the Nestle chocolate semi-sweet bar then exploded and the company got an agreement with Ruth to put her recipe on the bar packages in exchange for a life time supply of chocolate for her cookies. They called it "The Famous Toll House Cookie".

A few years later, in order to make it easier on cooks to create these cookies, Nestle started to pre-chop the chocolate bars into chips.

So this was the history and now many variations of this original recipe were made and experienced like the ones you can find on this website.

The recipe

Ok, let's now move on with the actual Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe...

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt then set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until the texture is creamy and well mixed.
4. Add the eggs one at a time and beating well after each one.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing until you get a well blended dough. Be careful not to overmix.
6. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts (if desired) until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
7. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. Space the balls about 2 inches from one another.
8. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the cookie edges are lightly golden. Their centers may appear slightly undercooked but they will be fine as the cookies cool.
9. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing them.
10. Enjoy your homemade Toll House chocolate chip cookies! Store any leftovers in an airtight container for better freshness.

You can feel free to adjust the recipe based on your personal preferences. For example, you can use different types of chocolate chips (milk, dark, or a combination) or add additional mix-ins like shredded coconut and/or dried fruit.