The Cookie Chronicles

We're not alone. America's connection to these cookies started in the 1930s with Ruth Wakefield. She was the woman who invented the first chocolate chip cookie at the Toll House Inn, which was created with her husband in Whitman, Massachusetts (Tucker). Turns out, the creation of these cookies was a happy accident. While Ruth Wakefield was running the inn, she decided to add pieces of the Nestlé chocolate bar to her batch of cookies. To her surprise, the chocolate did not melt while the cookies were in the oven. Instead, it created a gentle and smooth consistency. Ruth called these cookies the “Toll House Crunch Cookie” as the crunch of the outside, mixed with the soft, gooey middle stood out to her. Soon after, her recipe was published in a Boston newspaper (“A Timeless Discovery”). Her invention of the chocolate chip cookie quickly became a fan favorite to countless people, and the news about Wakefield’s invention grew fast. Because of this, her recipe was added to her cookbook, Ruth Wakefield’s Tried and True Recipes in one of her 1930s editions (Roberts). Furthermore, Sam Roberts, from The New York Times, writes, “The cookies grew so popular — they became known beyond New England during World War II when soldiers from Massachusetts shared their care packages from home — that the name became legally generic” (Roberts). 

To this day, it isn’t just my family who cherish chocolate chip cookies. The taste of a soft, chewy cookie filled with calculated amounts of bittersweet chocolate chips is loved by many, far beyond the walls of my home. Decades after its invention, the chocolate chip cookie continues to account for more than half of the cookies made at home, and over six million packaged cookies are sold annually at supermarkets (Wyman). The continued popularity of these cookies is a testament to the comprehensive love for these simple, yet tasty cookies. 

Fast forward a few, long years later, I am now 19-years-old, living in an apartment with my friends, away from my family. Still, the one food item that you will always find in our fridge is the Tollhouse cookies. One of us had a bad exam? The cookies are already in the oven. Having a roommate movie night? The cookies are being broken apart, thrown on a pan, and in ten minutes, will be enjoyed by all of us. Although the cookies are enjoyed in different ways, by different people, Tollhouse cookies will forever hold a special place in my heart and will remind me of home.