Have you ever wondered who invented the chocolate chip cookie? Because chocolate chip cookies are so common, it’s easy to forget that these treats haven’t been around forever. In fact, did you know that chocolate chip cookies are not even a hundred years old? It’s true!
The answer to “who invented the chocolate chip cookie” is: Ruth Graves Wakefield.
Ruth Graves Wakefield was born on June 17, 1903 and is the person who invented the Toll House cookie, which was the world’s first chocolate chip cookie.
Ruth Wakefield was educated at the Framingham State Normal School for Development of Household Arts and graduated in 1924. After graduating from school, she worked as a doctor and lectured on food.
In 1930, Wakefield and her husband bought a tourist lodge in Whitman, Massachusetts (part of Plymouth County). The hostel was first built in 1709 and has a long and rich history of its own. Many weary travelers have stayed overnight at the lodge, as it is conveniently located midway between New Bedford and Boston. Usually this is where passersby paid a toll, changed their horses, and stopped for something much appreciated at home. When the Wakefields bought it, they called the hostel Toll House Inn and made sure to keep up with the hostel’s traditions. All of the home-cooked meals were prepared and served by Ruth and it wasn’t long before her desserts earned her some local fame. There were many visitors to the lodge, one of the most famous being John F. Kennedy (when he was still a senator).
In 1940, Ruth wrote a cookbook called Toll House Tried and True Recipes. Ruth passed away in 1977 and the Toll House Inn burned down in late 1983. While many companies now make and sell chocolate chips, the recipe printed on the back of Nestlé Toll House bags is the original Ruth Graves Wakefield recipe. . To this day, Nestlé is the only company with rights to print the recipe on its bags. All recipes that are printed on other companies’ bags are different from the original recipe.
The chocolate chip cookie was invented in the late 1930s (making it almost seventy-seven years old), although there are different stories as to how, exactly, the original recipe for the chocolate chip cookie was invented. Some stories say it was an accident, some say it was an experiment, and some say it was a recipe with a purpose. The story of how the chocolate chip cookie was invented varies depending on the person who tells it. However, one thing is for sure and that is that the answer to “who invented the chocolate chip cookie” is Ruth Graves Wakefield. Who knew that what might have started as an experiment or an accident would one day be one of the most common treats in the Western world? Who doesn’t remember having chocolate chip cookies after school?
Copyright (c) 2008 Steven Magill