Celebrate the Iconic Chocolate Chip

What’s more American than apple pie (except perhaps pumpkin pie—thanks, Pilgrims!)? Why, chocolate chips, of course! These ubiquitous little bits of melt-in-your-mouth goodness are about as iconic as you can get, and with National Chocolate Chip Day coming up on May 15, there’s no time like the present to pop some in your mouth and get baking.

A Little History

First, from whence do chocolate chips come? Sources indicate that British tea time played a role. A nineteenth century English tea biscuit recipe called for chocolate chips, though the term referenced the biscuits’ shape versus the traditional chips we know today.

Supposedly, Ruth Graves Wakefield, who was the owner of the Toll House Inn, accidentally created the first chocolate chip cookie recipe in 1930 when she chopped up a Nestlé chocolate bar and added it to her cookie batter, expecting the bits to fully melt. Instead, they remained semi-solid and a new cookie was born.

A Little Controversy

Some question the Toll House story, pointing to the fact that Wakefield was a trained baker who likely knew exactly what she was doing when she sprinkled those chocolate bits—which Nestlé unfailingly refers to as “morsels”—into her batter.

A Lot of Reasons to Celebrate

Nevertheless, the chocolate chip cookie took off, and soon there was an entire grocery store cookie aisle, with many shelves strictly devoted to chocolate chip cookies.

But why limit yourself? Our bakeware is good for much more than cookie baking. Add chocolate chips (or morsels, if you will) to cupcakes, muffins or loaf cakes. And choose from dark or white chocolate, butterscotch, mini chips, or the ever iconic-in-its-own-right semi-sweet. Yum!