The History Of The Chocolate Chip

You know it makes cookies and bars taste great, but did you ever wonder about the history of the chocolate chip? What would the toll house cookie be without it? Or the congo bar for that matter. And who hasn't snuck a few from the package when baking?

The history of the chocolate chip dates back to 1930 when it was "invented" for use in toll house cookies by Ruth Wakefield. Wakefield was the owner of The Toll House Inn in Whitman Massachusetts and baked the meals for the guests herself. She was quite renowned for her cookies and one day while she was baking, a missing ingredient forced her to substitute broken up semi sweet chocolate bars for bakers chocolate. The result was chocolate chip cookies!

Once the cookies were invented, they became so popular that it was only a matter of time before the history of the chocolate chip as a product was born. You see, the bar that Wakefield used as a substitute was given to her by Andrew Nestle and he struck a deal with her to print the recipe on the back of the package in return for a lifetime supply of Nestle chocolate!

But it wasn't until 1939 that the chips were packaged as we know them. Prior to that Nestles printed the recipe on the package of the bars and even included a little chopper so that people could use them to make the cookies easily!

Today the history of the chocolate chip continues with all kinds of chips in different flavors. It's a versatile ingredient whose key trait is that it does not melt when baked. It can be made from semi sweet, white or milk chocolate and contains less cocoa butter than other chocolate. They add great taste, texture and appeal to muffins, bars and cookies.