Joan’s Country Kitchen

I love historic recipes and the original Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe has a very interesting history.

Over 700 delicous recipes from Ruth Wakefield

In 1930, Ruth Wakefield and her husband, Kenneth, bought a 1709, Cape Cod-style toll house situated halfway between Boston and New Bedford, Massachusetts, just outside the town of Whitman.

A toll house used to serve as an inn and eating establishment for road-weary travelers. Here passengers paid their toll, changed horses, and ate welcome home style meals. This particular toll house, purchased by the Wakefields, was turned into a lodge called The Toll House Inn, with Ruth baking for all the guests who stayed at there.

Ruth used historic and traditional Colonial recipes, for her guests and her delicious desserts began attracting people from all over New England. One favorite cookie recipe from the Colonial Days was called Butter Drop Do cookies. One day, while preparing these, she decided to cut up a Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate candy bar and add it to the cookie dough.

Ruth expected the chocolate to melt but instead, the chocolate bits held their shape and softened. This chocolate chip cookie recipe became extremely popular at the inn and it wasn’t long before Ruth’s cookie recipe was published in a Boston newspaper, then other newspapers in New England.

Ruth Wakefield’s chocolate chip cookie recipe caused the sale of Nestle Semi Sweet Chocolate Morsels to sky-rocket in the New England area. Soon, Ruth reached an agreement with the Nestle company which allowed them to print the recipe on the wrapper of the Semi-Sweet Chocolate bar and in exchange, Ruth received a life-time supply of chocolate so she could continue making delicious chocolate chip cookies, which Ruth had named Toll House Cookies, after her inn.

Nestle loved the idea so much, they even sold a special chopper with the candy bar for easier cutting. Then in 1939, the Nestle company started offering the tiny chocolate bits in ready to use packages. This best-selling chocolate chip continues to create delicious chocolate chip cookies today.

Get the original Toll house homemade chocolate cookie recipes, plus 700 more historic recipes from Ruth Wakefield in Toll House Tried and True Recipes Her book includes authentic recipes for Authentic recipes from the famous Toll House restaurant in Massachusetts, like popovers, Toll House baked beans, chocolate cake, crumb pudding, and, of course the original Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe. Many historic recipes you don’t find anywhere else.

Read more about the Nestle Company’s Toll House chocolate chips at Very Best Baking.com