Who Made The First Chocolate Chip Cookie?

While there are several stories making the rounds that tell the story of how the first chocolate chip cookie was made, one thing is not up for debate and that is, who made the first chocolate chip cookie. Who made the first chocolate chip cookie? Ruth Graves Wakefield. It was Ruth Graves Wakefield who made the first chocolate chip cookie in the late 1930s at the Toll House Inn.

Ruth Graves Wakefield was a graduate of the Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts, class of 1924. Before buying a tourist lodge with her husband in 1930, Ruth spent six years working as a doctor and giving lectures about food. 1930 is when Ruth and her husband bought a tourist lodge in Plymouth County, Massachusetts and named it the Toll House Lodge.

Ruth and her husband were determined to maintain the traditions of the lodge, which was located halfway between New Bedford and Boston. The lodge had traditionally been a place for weary travelers to stop, switch horses, enjoy a home cooked meal and possibly stay the night—all paid for with a toll. It was not long before the desserts created by Ruth gained her local fame.

The first chocolate chip cookie was made in 1937, but the story of how it happened varies.

One story says that while she was making a large batch of her butter drop cookies, a large chocolate bar fell into the mixer and got broken up into tiny pieces by the mixer blades. Ruth thought the chocolate would probably melt and left the dough alone—continuing on with the rest of her planned recipe. In this story, the chocolate that fell into the batter was a Nestle bar of semi-sweet chocolate which is why it was Nestle that was given rights to the recipe in later years, after the cookies had become popular.

Another story follows the idea of the chocolate falling into the batter, but in this version Ruth was going to throw out the dough but a member of her kitchen staff convinced her to keep the dough and see what it produced.

Another story says that she was going to make some chocolate cookies for her guests when she realized that she was out of baker's chocolate so she substituted pieces of a Nestlé's bar and expected it to melt in the same fashion that the baker's chocolate would. Of course it didn't, but the cookies were still incredibly popular.

Another story associated with the woman who made the first chocolate chip cookie is that, in exchange for letting the Nestle company print the recipe on the backs of the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Morsel package, she would be given a lifetime's supply of Nestle chocolate as part of her payment.

Whatever actually happened that night, Ruth Wakefield is the woman who made the first chocolate chip cookie and she is responsible for most of the last seventy years' worth of America's after school snacks.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Tip #1

You can save cookie making time by mixing your ingredients while your oven preheats. That way your dough can go right into the oven when you finish mixing your ingredients. You can also save time by cleaning up as you go along. Rinse off the measuring spoons and the bowls as you finish using them. Wash the rest of the dishes as the cookies are baking and cooling.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Tip #2

Shortening is one of the single worst things you can put into your body. If a recipe calls for shortening you should substitute butter or margarine for it. Butter and margarine can be used interchangeably unless a recipe specifically says to use one or the others. Don't worry about the calories and talk yourself into using low calorie or whipped butter. These substitutes will ruin the taste of the cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Tip #3

Rotate your cookie sheets. Cookies form best on ungreased and cooled cookie sheets. After you transfer cookies from the sheet to the cooling rack, you should rinse off the used sheet and get it prepped for another batch of cookies. Using a warmed sheet can overcook the cookies.