I think I can make a chocolate chip cookie recipe from start to finish in 40 minutes. That includes cleaning up and eating the cookies. Hands down, making chocolate chip cookies is like coming home. They are memories of my childhood and they are memories of baking with my kids. They are the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag. They are the reason I gained 40 pounds for each of my pregnancies!!

But why are chocolate chip cookies so loved? Why are they so popular in North America? How come everybody seems to follow a similar recipe but everybody’s cookies are different? Why are these cookies on dessert menus even in the fanciest of restaurants?

I did a bit of research on the origin of chocolate chip cookies. To celebrate the cookie’s 75^th birthday, Jon Michaud of The New Yorker magazine wrote a very informative article in 2013 called Sweet Morsels: A History of the Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Basically, Ruth Wakefield, who ran the Toll House restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts, invented this cookie as an accompaniment to ice cream. The recipe first appeared in 1938, and, in 1939, Nestle was given the rights to the cookie, hence the famous Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I’ve listed some other variations to try at the end of this post.

Recently, I’ve started making cookies as gifts for hostess gifts, graduation gifts, Christmas gifts, and birthday gifts. I put in a mixture of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips and I roll the cookies in sprinkles before baking. I also use pasteurized egg whites sometimes. That’s so we can eat some of the cookie dough raw and feel okay about it!

My kids’ friends ask for these cookies at school and one friend said that all she wanted for her birthday were my cookies (thanks, Rachel, that made my year!). The original recipe is one from Cook’s Illustrated (you will have to subscribe to see the recipe) who has perfected many recipes and really does an excellent job of explaining why their directions are so precise.

Here’s my version of the recipe as inspired by Cook’s Illustrated:

Sprinkle Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

12 T. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
¾ c. dark brown sugar
½ c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg plus 1 yolk (or 5 T. pasteurized egg whites)
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
1 ¾ c. all-purpose flour
¾ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ c. butterscotch chips

Method:

Add sugars, vanilla, and egg to melted butter and mix well.
Add dry ingredients slowly and mix until combined.
Stir in chocolate and butterscotch chips.
Scoop dough by using a 1 ½ T ice cream scoop.
Shape dough into hockey puck shape and roll top and sides in sprinkles.
Place on parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake at 325 F for 6 minutes; rotate pans and bake for another 4 minutes.
Bang the sheets lightly on the countertop to achieve a flattened cookie look.
Cool on wire racks.

Check out these variations on the Chocolate Chip Cookie:

Torie’s Cherry Chip Cookies from Martha Stewart (with oatmeal, cherry chips, and toffee bits)

Jacques Torress’ Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies (with salt on top)

Nestle’s Original Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie (the classic)

Let me know which recipes you try…

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