The Delicious History of Chocolate Chip Cookies

Written by: Anna Pafenberg

In the colder months, a lot of us want to have a gooey warm treat to get us through the fall and winter. That treat for most, is a chocolate chip cookie! But where did this iconic cookie come from? It’s been an American staple for years and one of the most influential desserts, and yet not many people know about its history. 

During the great Depression in the 1930’s, many people were looking for a sense of normalcy in trying times. Flour and sugar were actually quite affordable during the Great Depression Era, despite what most think. This made baked goods accessible and comforting for those going through a rough period the Great Depression brought. Ruth Graves Wakefield owned the Toll House Restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts during this time. Wakefield was an experienced chef and baker. Her first chocolate chip cookie recipe was given complimentary with vanilla ice cream at her restaurant. The restaurant was famous as it was a kind of ‘rest stop’ in Massachusetts near Boston and Cape Cod.

The name ‘Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie’ became so popular that it was not able to be trademarked, or bought, by anyone. Nestle, a company that sold many foods such as chocolate, noticed their sales of chocolate bars went up. They soon realized it was because people were trying to make the Toll House chocolate chip cookie at home. Nestle bought the rights to Wakefield’s cookie recipe and started to print it on bags of chocolate. However, the chocolate in the cookies might not be the kind that you're thinking of. Ruth Wakeifled had been crushing up chocolate bars into small bits to be used in her recipe. She disliked doing this, and so Nestle made “Nestles Toll House Morsels” in 1940. 

The recipe was pretty much only popular on the East Coast during this time. When World War II hit however, people started to send care packages to soldiers that included chocolate chip cookies! The cookies became more famous than they already were and were one of the most famous desserts in America! Chips Ahoy were then the first manufacturers to produce shelf stable chocolate chip cookies and then many other companies followed suit.

How chocolate chip cookies were first made is a mystery. Some people believed Ruth Wakefield accidentally spilled chocolate in cookie dough, but many others believe she was too experienced of a chef and baker to not come up with it herself. Ruth’s cookies were different from many others at the time because she used brown sugar in them and chopped up chocolate. One theory suggests she used Nestle’s chocolate expecting them to melt, and then they surprisingly held their shape in the oven!

All in all, the chocolate chip cookie is one of the most iconic recipes in American History. It competed for the spot of most popular dessert with apple pie and multiple states have it as their state cookie. This cookie made a resounding impact and an even sweeter taste.