It’s National Chocolate Chip Day and we’re excited to celebrate!
Chocolate chips themselves may appear small, but there is nothing minuscule about the impact they have had on the sweets game. They’re included in a number of classic recipes, including the chocolate chip cookie, a treat that has warmed our hearts with tasty satisfaction for decades. But whose idea was it to first implement this essential ingredient in baking? We did some research to find out.
Interestingly, it is said that chocolate chips were first introduced here in the Northeast in Massachusetts, at the Toll House Inn. The story tells that owner Ruth Wakefield was baking her signature Butter Drop Do cookies when she ran out of baker’s chocolate. Acting quickly, she substituted in chopped up semi-sweet chocolate in its place. The cookie became known as a chocolate chip cookie, and the chopped up chocolate pieces became known as chocolate chips. Most fascinatingly, the chopped up chocolate actually came from a Nestle chocolate bar, gifted to Wakefield from Andrew Nestle himself.
Wakefield landed a deal with Nestle. Wakefield’s chocolate chip cookie recipe would be placed on the back of every bar of semi-sweet chocolate sold by Nestle, and in return she would be given a lifetime supply of their chocolate. To this day you can find the “Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie” recipe on the back of their morsel packages. And yes, at Nestle chocolate chips are known as morsels. Nestle first started selling their morsel packages in 1940 and the signature ingredient did not use the term “chips” until other brands like Ghirardelli and Hershey’s came about.
Luckily, your chocolate chip celebration can start right here with us! Pick up a package of Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels at your local Price Chopper/Market 32. Make the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of your package, add them to your favorite ice cream, or simply eat them right out of the package…it’s totally acceptable, don’t listen to the naysayers.
Happy National Chocolate Chip Day!
Source: http://mentalfloss.com/article/56739/brief-history-chocolate-chip