Today’s spotlight is on Chocolate Chip Cookies #yum

If you have been living under a rock somewhere, a chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that features chocolate chips or chocolate morsels as its distinguishing ingredient. Chocolate chip cookies originated in the United States in 1938, when Ruth Graves Wakefield chopped up a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar and added the chopped chocolate to a cookie recipe.

The original name of the chocolate chip cookie was “Toll House Crunch Cookie”. The recipe was created by Ruth Wakefield, who ran the Toll House restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts. Wakefield included the cookie in her 1938 cookbook, Toll House “Tried and True” Recipes. The cookie was intended to accompany ice cream.

The “chocolate chip” name wasn’t associated with the cookies until sometime in 1940. The recipe was published in a Boston newspaper and quickly became one of America’s favorites. The name “chocolate chip” comes from the fact that the chocolate bar had to be manually chipped up into small pieces for the recipe. As the recipe spread, Nestle began seeing sales of their semi-sweet chocolate bar skyrocket. The recipe became known by its current moniker, chocolate chip cookies.

 

Here’s some information about the history of chocolate chip cookies:

• The recipe was published in a Boston newspaper
• Legend has it that Wakefield was trying a variation on a butterscotch dessert when she decided to let the chocolate chips fall where they may
• The chocolate chip cookie was invented before the chocolate chip, which wasn’t invented until 1941
• Chocolate chip cookies were big during World War II

 

Chocolate chip cookies have become a symbol of home and comfort, often associated with childhood memories and home-baked treats. They are also a symbol of the housewife, as they were portrayed as the perfect item for housewives to send abroad and bake at home. This portrayal added pressure on women to stay in the home.

Chocolate chip cookies’ fame was boosted by wartime soldier consumption. Before the war, they were a largely East Coast-based fad. After the war, they rivaled apple pie as the most popular dessert recipe in the country.

The chocolate chip cookie is an American classic that is now enjoyed all over the globe.

 

 

Here are some interesting facts about chocolate chip cookies:

• The chocolate chip cookie is the official state cookie of both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania
• Half of the cookies baked in American homes each year are chocolate chip.
• The average American eats 35,000 cookies in a lifetime
• Americans consume over 2 billion cookies a year.
• It’s estimated that 7 billion chocolate chip cookies are eaten in the United States each year. About half of those cookies are homemade.

 

With that in mind, here is a chocolate chip cookie recipe for you to try:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup salted butter softened
• 1 cup white (granulated) sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar packed
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips (or chunks, or chopped chocolate)

 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder. Set aside.
3. Cream together butter and sugars until combined.
4. Beat in eggs and vanilla until fluffy.
5. Mix in the dry ingredients until combined.
6. Add 12 oz package of chocolate chips and mix well.
7. Roll 2-3 TBS (depending on how large you like your cookies) of dough at a time into balls and place them evenly spaced on your prepared cookie sheets. (alternately, use a small cookie scoop to make your cookies).
8. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 8-10 minutes. Take them out when they are just BARELY starting to turn brown.
9. Let them cool 2 minutes before removing to cooling rack.
10. Enjoy!

 

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day is celebrated annually on August 4. It’s a chance to enjoy a chocolate chip cookie, whether it’s homemade, from a bakery, or store-bought. You can celebrate by eating cookies, whether they’re crunchy or chewy, with dark or milk chocolate chips.

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day is primarily an American holiday that celebrates one of the most popular cookies in American history. Some people also celebrate National Chocolate Chip Day on May 15. Personally I celebrate chocolate chip cookies a couple of times a week. To each their own!

 

Let us know in the comments about your favorite chocolate chip cookies.