The inventor - or creator - of the chocolate chip cookie was Ruth Wakefield. In 1924, Ruth Wakefield after graduating from Framingham State Normal School's Department of Household Arts, she lectured on food and worked as a dietitian. After marrying, she and her husband bought a tourist lodge (bed and breakfast) and called it the "Toll House Inn."
Sound familiar?
Well the chocolate chip cookie actually came about by sheer accident. Ruth Wakefield was responsible for, and cooked the meals of, the guests at Toll House Inn. She had a special recipe called Butter Drop Do cookies. This recipe called for crumbled baker's chocolate - a bitter chocolate if you've ever taken a bite.
One day while baking away, Ruth realized she did not have any baker's chocolate on hand, but she did have a semi-sweet chocolate bar. So she cut that up into bits and pieces and added it to her recipe. Unlike baker's chocolate which melts down completely, the semi-sweet pieces only partially melted. Leaving those lovely bits of chocolate we all love so much. And, of course, her cookies were a big hit with her guests.
But the story doesn't end there...
The misused chocolate bar was actually a gift from Andrew Nestle - of yes, the Nestle Chocolate Company. As Ruth's cookies grew and grew in popularity so did the sale of Nestle's semi-sweet chocolate bars!
It wasn't long before Andrew Nestle and Ruth Wakefield struck a deal which was Ruth's printed recipe on the back of every package of Toll House Chocolate Chips. In return for getting the recipe, Ruth received a lifetime's supply of Nestle's chocolate.
Ruth did write her own cookbook called "Toll House Tried and True Recipes," in 1940.
In 1977 Ruth passed away, and on New Year's Eve, 1984, the Toll House Inn burned to the ground. However, to this day the agreement holds and Ruth's recipe continues on the back of each Nestlé Toll House chocolate bar package. She continues to be so honored into the 21st century.
Thirty years later, with health on everyone's minds, here's a great twist to the traditional chocolate chip recipe. Add sugarless candy chocolate bits to your cookies! Traditional chocolate chip cookie taste with less calories.
Who knows... the next cookie could be your greatest invention.
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