Ruth Wakefield’s Original Chocolate Chip Cookie
This recipe is from the 24th printing of Ruth Wakefield’s Toll House, Tried and True Recipes (M. Barrows & Company, Inc. NY 1947). Ruth Wakefield was the inventor of the classic Toll House chocolate chip cookie but the title above was what she called them and the recipe presented here is as she published it. Note that she says you should get 100 cookies! Take your time dolling out the half-teaspoon sized portions of dough. In the image above the small cookies are the originals as Ruth intended. I show them side-by-side with the more typical sizes of chocolate chip cookies that we are used to seeing these days. Read more about how we discovered the “original” chocolate chip cookie.
In the beginning of her book she refers to herself as a “dietitian and lecturer” and our favorite quote is: “…I know there are no substitutes for butter, cream, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables in preparing a fine meal”. Italics are hers. We love her. The recipe below is written as Ruth wrote it, formatting and all.
Cream
1 cup butter, add
¾ cup brown sugar and
¾ cup granulated sugar and
2 eggs beaten whole. Dissolve 1 tsp. soda in
1 tsp. hot water, and mix alternately with
2 ¼ cups flour sifted with 1 tsp. salt.
Lastly add1 cup chopped nuts and 2 bars (7-oz.) Nestlés yellow label chocolate, semisweet, which has been cut in pieces the size of a pea.
Flavor with 1 tsp. vanilla and drop half teaspoons on a greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in 375°oven. Makes 100 cookies.
Bakepedia Tips
We think every baker should try making this recipe, as written, at least once. It’s a way to connect with our baking heritage. Think about it; especially for Americans, the first recipe that many children learn to make is the chocolate chip cookie recipe from the back of the bag. Why not stick even closer to history and try this one.
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