Not Your Usual Chocolate Chip Cookies

Helga Glaesel de BlandingMarch 29, 2012

This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

The classic cookie, chocolate chip. After they are baked, I like to put mine in the microwave for a few seconds so the chocolate chips get soft and creamy, washing them down with a tall glass of cold milk is quite an indulgent snack.

I always learn new things when I am cooking, and for this recipe I found out that the type of sugar you use makes a difference in the texture of the cookie. Using regular sugar results in a crispier, crunchier cookie and brown sugar results in a chewy, softer cookie. Personally, I prefer the crispier type, so I changed the recipe. You can try ¾ cups regular sugar and ¾ cups brown sugar for a softer cookie, or try all brown sugar for a really chewy version.

Did you know that chocolate chip cookies came to be, by accident? In 1930, dietician Ruth Graves Wakefield (1905-1977) and her husband, Kenneth, purchased a Cape-Cod style house halfway between Boston and New Bedford, Massachusetts, just outside the town of Whitman. The house, built in 1709, had once been a “truck stop” of sorts, where travelers could rest, change horses, have a nice meal, and pay any necessary tolls for using the road. Ruth and Kenneth soon turned their new home into a lodge, “The Toll House Inn.”

Ruth’s skill in the kitchen, particularly at baking and making mouthwatering desserts, drew in visitors from all over the northeast. One of her favorite recipes, which dated back to Colonial days, was for Butter Drop Cookies.

One version of the recipe called for Baker’s chocolate, and, finding herself without, Ruth chopped up a bar of Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate and added the tiny bits to her dough. The chocolate was supposed to melt and spread through the dough. It didn’t. That day in 1937, the history of chocolate chip cookies began.

Source: Facts About Chocolate

Helga

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from The Nestlé Original Recipe
Yield: A lot of cookies! Depending on the size you make them, 40 approx.

Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 375° F.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, 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 drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.