On August 4th, National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day allows us to dunk America’s #1 favorite cookie. Whether yours are homemade or store-bought, pour a glass of milk and enjoy.
- 1933 – Chocolate chips are a required ingredient in chocolate chip cookies, which 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.
- 1938 – 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.
- 1938 – Appearing in Ruth Wakefield’s cookbook, Tried and True, the chocolate chip cookie requires chopping up the chocolate into small chunks
- 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.
- 1939 – Initially, Nestlé included a small chopping tool with the chocolate bars, but in 1939 they started selling the chocolate in chip (or “morsel”) form.
- 1941 – After purchasing the rights to Ruth Wakefield’s recipe to print on its chocolate bars, Nestle starts producing bags of chocolate chips
- 1956 – The recipe for chocolate chip cookies was brought to the United Kingdom in 1956.
- 1963 – Chips Ahoy! debuts in U.S. supermarkets.
- 1963 – For busy moms, Chips Ahoy! creates this crunchy version of chocolate chip cookies. They were advertised “as good as homemade” – but weren’t
- 1970s – the period in which John Kerry opened a cookie store out of boredom.
- 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!”
- 1987 – Chester Soling sponsored a contest to find the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies and got over 2.600 responses for various recipes.
- 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.
- 2001 – The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania declared it their official cookie as well.
- The first chocolate chip cookie was the size of a quarter. It was super crispy and could be devoured in just one bite.
- At first they called the chocolate crunch cookie
- 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.
- Chocolate chip cookies were originally called Chocolate Crunch Cookies.
- The Chocolate Chip Cookie is the official state cookie of both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
- Maryland Cookies are 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.
- There are 7 billion chocolate chip cookies eaten in the United States every year, with about 50% of those homemade cookies.
- 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 weeks on the counter, 2 months in the refrigerator, or 8-12months in the freezer.
- There are 7 billion Chocolate Chip Cookies eaten in the United States every year, with about 50% of those homemade cookies.
- 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.
- 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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