On August 4th, National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day gives us an opportunity to dunk America’s #1 favorite cookie. Whether yours are homemade or store-bought, pour a glass of milk and enjoy.
- Chocolate chip cookies were invented in 1933 when Ruth Graves Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in the town of Whitman, Massachusetts added cut-up chunks of a semi-sweet Nestlé chocolate bar to a cookie recipe.
- The cookies were a huge success, and Wakefield reached an agreement with Nestlé to add her recipe to the chocolate bar’s packaging in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate.
- The 1938 edition of the Toll House Tried and True Recipes cookbook was the first to include the recipe for the chocolate chip cookie, which rapidly became a favorite in American households.
- 1933 – Ruth Wakefield, who runs the famous Toll House restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts, USA, creates the chocolate chip cookie recipe.
- 1938 – Appearing in Ruth Wakefield’s cookbook, Tried and True, the chocolate chip cookie requires chopping up the chocolate into small chunks
- 1941 – After purchasing the rights to Ruth Wakefield’s recipe to print on its chocolate bars, Nestle starts producing bags of chocolate chips
- When Ruth’s Chocolate Crunch Cookie recipe was featured on an episode of The Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air radio program, the popularity of the humble chocolate chip cookie exploded and the cookie soon became a favorite all across America.
- The first chocolate chip cookie was the size of a quarter. It was super crispy and could be devoured in just one bite.
- Initially, Nestlé included a small chopping tool with the chocolate bars, but in 1939 they started selling the chocolate in chip (or “morsel”) form.
- The Nestlé brand Toll House cookies are named for the inn.
- Originally, chocolate chips were made of semi-sweet chocolate, but today there are many flavors.
- Today, chocolate chips are very popular as a baking ingredient in the United States and the chocolate chip cookie is regarded as a quintessential American dessert.
- Chocolate chips are also available in Europe, Australia, and other parts of the world. Nestlé and The Hershey Company are among the top producers of chocolate chips.
- In 1987 Chester Soling sponsored a contest to find the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies and got over 2.600 responses for various recipes.
- Did you know you eat about 35,000 cookies in a lifetime?
- Chocolate chip cookies were originally called Chocolate Crunch Cookies.
- The Chocolate Chip Cookie is the official state cookie of both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
- Nestle first started making chocolate chips in 1941, so people no longer had to chop up their own chocolate. And instead of being chocolate chunks, the teardrop-like morsel-shaped chocolate was incorporated into the cookies.
- The recipe for chocolate chip cookies was brought to the United Kingdom in 1956.
- Maryland Cookies was one of the U.K.’s best-selling chocolate chip cookies.
- In the Middle East, chocolate chip cookies are topped with chocolate sauce and eaten with a knife and fork.
- Consumption of chocolate chip cookies increased by 10% following the introduction of detailed Nutrition Facts labels.
- One Nestlé chocolate bar = 160 chocolate chips.
- It’s America’s favorite cookie. Fifty-three percent of American adults prefer chocolate chip cookies over peanut butter cookies (16 percent), oatmeal cookies (15 percent), and any other variety.
- Your average rounded tablespoon can hold an average of 50 chocolate chips.
- There are 7 billion chocolate chip cookies eaten in the United States every year, with about 50% of those homemade cookies.
- 1963 – For busy moms, Chips Ahoy! creates this crunchy version of chocolate chip cookies. They were advertised “as good as homemade” – but obviously weren’t
- 1977 – Like a child’s dream, chocolate chip cookies are turned into breakfast cereal, marketed with the memorable jingle: “You can’t have cookies for breakfast, but you can have Cookie Crisp!”
- 1991 – Ben and Jerry’s creates waves of excitement around the globe after they release the Chocolate Chip Cookie dough ice cream.
- 1997 – The Chocolate Chip Cookie is named and recognized as the official state cookie of Massachusetts.
- The average, medium-sized (3” diameter) chocolate chip cookie contains 148 calories.
- Nothing lasts forever! Homemade chocolate chip cookies have a shelf life of about 2-3 on the counter, 2 months in the refrigerator, or 8-12months in the freezer.
- 38,000 – the weight of the world’s largest chocolate chip cookie.
- 102 feet – the diameter of the world’s largest chocolate chip cookie.
- 30,000 – the number of eggs used in the world’s largest chocolate chip cookie.
- 53% – the percentage of Americans who prefer chocolate chip cookies to other cookies.
- 13.5% – the percentage of American adults who admitted to having eaten at least 20 chocolate chip cookies in one sitting.
- 10% – the percentage increase in consumption of chocolate chip cookies after the introduction of detailed Nutrition Facts labels.
- 50 – the number of chocolate chips that can be held in a normal tablespoon of cookie dough.
- 1970s – the period in which John Kerry opened a cookie store out of boredom.
- 104–113℉ – the ideal temperature for chocolate chips to melt when baking cookies.
- 35,000 – the number of cookies the average person consumes in a lifetime.
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