Chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip cookie dough pops…the possibilities are endless for tasty, irresistible treats on National Chocolate Chip Day, May 15.

Is there anything that makes everything better like chocolate? Obviously not, that’s why the ultimate in chocolate portability was designed, the chocolate chip.

Chocolate chips are not only easy to transport around, they’re also completely versatile! Want to make any cookie better? Add chocolate chips! (Oatmeal, Macadamia, Peanut Butter?

All cookies that are better with chocolate chips!) National Chocolate Chip Day celebrates these amazing little culinary inventions, and all that they can do.

History of National Chocolate Chip Day

It all started back in the 1930s at a little place you may recognize the name of, the Toll House Inn. Located in Whitman, Massachusetts, it just happens to be the home of that most favorite of cookies, the chocolate chip cookie.

Ruth Graves Wakefield had originally planned on making a chocolate cookie, and decided to do so by throwing in chunks of a chocolate bar into it. In a happy accident, it turned out that the chocolate did not melt and mix with the rest of the cookie, but maintained its shape, filling the cookie with delicious little chocolate bits.

Thus was born the chocolate chip cookie, and the Toll House Cookie Company. From that day forward there have been new forms of chocolate chip added, white chocolate chip, mint chocolate, milk chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, even dark chocolate.

All of these varieties being added to delicious new recipes to create fantastic new treats for you to enjoy.

But it didn’t immediately go from chocolate bar to chocolate chip, there was a little innovation that happened in between first. Based off of the success of the cookies she made, Nestle agreed to add Ms. Wakefield’s recipe to their wrapper.

What did they pay her for this honor? A lifetime supply of chocolate!

Nestle (and at least one other company) went on to include a chopping tool to help prepare the bars for use in cookies. That is, right up until 1941 when they started selling them as ‘chocolate chips’ or ‘chocolate morsels’.

Originally, the flavor of chocolate chips was semi-sweet. Today, there are so many different variations.

Celebrate by making fun foods with chocolate chips, not just cookies. Why not try pancakes or muffins. Maybe ice cream or pies. Or how about eating a handful of them right out of the bag!

Ruth Graves Wakefield’s Original Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped nuts

2 (7-ounce) bars Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into pea-sized pieces

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together in a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer on low speed. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until combined. Mix in vanilla extract.

Sift flour and baking soda over a medium bowl, stir in salt. Add to butter mixture and mix until combined. Add nuts and chocolate.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Note: for best results, refrigerate balls of dough overnight before baking.

Recipe adapted from “Toll House Tried and True Recipes.”

Source: daysoftheyear.com

---