Ravenous Recipes: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Back in 1930, Kenneth and Ruth Wakefield purchased a Cape Cod-style TOLL HOUSE located halfway between Boston and New Bedford, on the outskirts of Whitman, Massachusetts. Originally constructed in 1709, the house served as a haven for road-weary travelers. Here, passengers paid toll, changed horses and ate much-welcomed home-cooked meals. It was also here, over 200 years later, that the Wakefields decided to open a lodge, calling it the TOLL HOUSE Inn.

In keeping with the tradition of creating delicious homemade meals, Ruth baked for guests who stayed at the TOLL HOUSE Inn. As she improved upon traditional Colonial recipes, Ruth's incredible desserts began attracting people from all over New England.

One day, while preparing a batch of Butter Drop Do cookies, a favorite recipe dating back to Colonial days, Ruth cut a bar of our NESTLÉ Semi-Sweet Chocolate into tiny bits and added them to her dough, expecting them to melt.

Instead, the chocolate held its shape and softened to a delicately creamy texture. The resulting creation became very popular at the Inn. Soon, Ruth's recipe was published in a Boston newspaper, as well as other papers in the New England area. Regional sales of NESTLÉ Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar skyrocketed.

Ruth eventually approached NESTLÉ and together, they reached an agreement that allowed NESTLÉ to print what would become the TOLL HOUSE Cookie recipe on the wrapper of our Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar. Part of this agreement included supplying Ruth with all of the chocolate she could use to make her delicious cookies for the rest of her life.

* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 large eggs
* 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
* 1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

1. COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

2. BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes

In Maider Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts she recounts the story of Ruth Wakefield and Nestle (above) but then goes on to write:

Ruth Wakefield wrote a wonderful cookbook of all the recipes used at the Toll House, Toll House Cookbook (Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1930). Unfortunately, the book is out of print now. But I have a copy. And although the recipe that is printed on each package of of Nestle's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels is very close to Mrs. Wakefield's (which incidently is called Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies in the book), it is not exactly the same. Here is my version of the recipe in the book, and I, too, claim that this is The Absolute Best, positively.

* 8oz. (2 sticks) Sweet Butter
* 1 tsp Salt
* 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
* 3/4 Cup granulated Sugar
* 3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed
* 2 Eggs
* 2 1/4 Cups UNsifted AP Flour
* 1 tsp Baking Soda
* 1 tsp Hot Water
* 8 oz Walnuts, cut or broken into medium pieces
* 12 oz (2 cups) Semi Sweet Chocolate Morsels

1. Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat to 375. Cut aluminum foil to fit cookie sheets.

2. In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter. Add salt, vanilla, both sugars and beat well. Add the eggs and beat well. On low speed add about half of the flour and, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula, beat only until incorporated. In a small cup stir the baing soda into hot water to dissolve it, then mix it into the dough. Add the remaining flour and beat only to mix. Stir in walnuts and morsels by hand.

3. Although the cookies are usually dropped from a teaspoon, they will be better if you roll the dough between your hands into a ball. Mrs. Wakefield refrigerated the dough over night before rolling them. This is how Maida Heatter made them: Spread out a large piece of wax paper on the counter next to the sink. Use a rounded teaspoon of the dough for each cookie. Place the dough balls on the wax paper. Wet your hands with cold water. Pick up a mound of dough and roll it into a smooth, round shape, flatten it to about 1/2 inch thick and place it on the foil about 2 inches apart.

Bake two cookie sheets at a time, reversing the sheets, top to bottom for even cooking. Bake for about 12 minutes. or a little longer until the cookies are browned all over.

They must be crisp. Ruth Wakeman says, "They should be brown through, and crispy, not wite and hard as I have sometimes seen."

In Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts she writes:

These California cookies are 6 inches in diameter --they are the largest homemade chocolate chip cookie I know (nothing succeeds like success.) They are crisp, crunchy, buttery, delicious. too. Irresistible. But because of their size, don't make them for a fancy tea party. Do make them for a barbecue or a picnic, or any casual affair.

* 1 1/2 Cups sifted AP Flour
* 1/2 tsp Salt
* 1 tsp Baking Soda
* 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
* 6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) Unsalted Butter
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
* 1 tsp Lemon Juice
* 2/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed
* 1/3 Cup granulated Sugar
* 2 Eggs
* 1/4 Cup quick cooking (not instant) Rolled Oats
* 6 oz. (1 1/2 cups) Walnuts, cut or broken into medium sized pieces
* 6 oz. (1 Cup) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cut aluminum foil to fit cookie sheets.

2. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon, - set aside.

3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the vanilla and lemon juice and then both of the sugars and beat to mix. Beat in the eggs one at a time. On low spedd, add the sifted dry ingredients and then the rolled oats, scraping the bowl as nessary with a rubber spatula and beating only until mixed.

4. Remove from the mixer and stir in the nuts and morsels.

5. Now work next to the sink or have a large bowl of water handy so you can wet your hands while shaping the cookies, Spread out a piece of wax paper or foil. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure the amount of dough for each cookie. form 12 - 15 mounds of the dough , and place them any which way on the foil or wax paper. Wet your hands with cold water, shake off the water but don't dry your hands , pick up a mound of dough, roll it into a ball, flatten it to about 1/2 inch thickness, and place it on the foil. Do not place more than 4 cookies on a 12 x 15 1/2 inch piece of foil or cookie sheet. These spread to gigantic proportions.

6. Bake two sheets at a time for 16 to 18 minutes, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to back as necessary to ensure even browning. Bake unitl the cookies are well colored; they must not be too pale. Watch these carefully; they might become too dark before you know it.

From the classic cookbook: "Charleston Receipts" published by the Charleston Junior League in 1950.

* 1/2 Cup Butter
* 1/2 Cup Honey
* 1 Egg
* 1 Cup sifted Flour
* 1/4 Cup Nut Meats, chopped
* 1 tsp Baking Powder
* 1/4 tsp Salt
* 1/2 tsp Vanilla
* 1/2 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter and honey until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well.

2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt twice.

3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; then vanilla and blend well. Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts.

4. Chill and drop by teaspoons on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 12 min.

Yield 3 dozen

If you ask me, the best way to get better results in your baking is to perfect your technique. And the best way to perfect your technique is to buy Maida Heatter cookbooks, read the introductory chapters and then follow a few of her meticulously written recipes.

While you are working on your technique you can also use better, fresher ingredients. Better chocolate, better butter, better flour, better vanilla, better eggs.

Don't skimp on chocolate. If you can get artisanal butter, get it. Don't use imitation vanilla. If you can find bourbon vanilla rather than extract, all the better.

If you aren't in the practice of buying organic, free range eggs, get some and take one and take a mass produced egg and crack them side by side. Notice how sturdy the natural eggshell is and how flimsy the mass produced eggshell is. Notice how watery the whites of the mass produced eggs are and how viscous the whites from the natural eggs are. Notice how rich the golden brown of the natural eggs are and how lame the mass produced eggs are.

Don't however pay extra for the Omega 3 eggs. They have a slight fishy flavor. Maybe good for your health. Not so great for baking.

For nationally available supermarket flour, go with King Arthur Brand. It's generally the freshest. Buy in small enough portions that you will definitely use it all inside of three months.

For granulated sugar, I substitute turbinado or pure cane sugar.

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