CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Perhaps this is going to be the most popular post although every cook who takes him/herself seriously must have developed his/her own chocolate cookie recipe. I only hope there is a little room for one more version that's based on the Toll House classic. 

 

The old Boston Post Road, 1914 (with Plymouth County on the right)

 

For those (non-Americans) who know nothing about this lady, here's a bit of information: Ruth Graves was born in Massachusetts, 1903 and educated at the Dept. of Household Arts of Framingham State Normal School, which is today a university. She worked as a dietician but also lectured. She married Kenneth Donald Wakefield and moved to Plymouth County in 1930. The couple bought a tourist lodge named The Toll House Inn (because it stood on the place where carts travelling between Boston and New Bedford in Massachusetts would pay toll fees). Ruth took over the kitchen and the place soon became famous for its excellent meals and, in particular, Ruth's desserts. The recipe for chocolate chip cookies was developed almost by chance, when Ruth added some chopped Nestlé chocolate to cookie dough. In the same year, she wrote a book under the title Toll House True and Tried Recipes, which became a great success. The chocolate chip recipe was included in the 1938 edition. Like Anzac biscuits fed Australia and New Zealand's soldiers in World War I (and I will soon be posting about those as well), Toll House chocolate chip cookies were popular with US soldiers from Massachussets who fought in World War II.

All of Ruth Wakefield's recipes are beautifully written but you need to have a little experience in the kitchen to get them right because her instructions are not detailed. Perhaps they were easier for early 20th century housewives to follow but I, for one, have had to read between the lines. A remarkable thing is how small quantities they yield, which might just as well be down to a general tendency against eating too much in those days. At least, it's what I like to think. In reality, the author was a champion of quality vs. quantity, as she clearly notes in the preface of the revised eleventh printing, 1940: "I still believe in small quantity cookery as giving the best results in flavor, consistency and general quality, especially in baking, and I know there are no substitutes for butter, cream, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables in preparing a fine meal." I'm sure we could use this lesson. She was a dietician, after all.

 

 

A batch with added pink peppercorn

 

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

This is the plainest version of the classic recipe that I could come up with, after comparing ten modern adaptations of Ruth Graves Wakefield's cookie (on page 216 of her book) with her own. Of course, there's no accounting for tastes so you're free to make your own changes. This particular recipe yields a soft but dry texture, which is exactly as I like.

 

I n g r e d i e n t s

200g butter

100g soft light brown sugar

100g granulated sugar

2 eggs

280g plain flour

1/2tsp baking soda

1/4tsp salt

150g semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

M e t h o d

Set the oven to 180C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together. Beat the butter and sugars until thick. Add the eggs one by one and keep beating. Combine dry and liquid ingredients. Mix in the chocolate chips. Drop teanspoonfuls of the dough onto the prepare sheets, leaving enough space for them to expand and bake separately, for 10-12 minutes each. Let cool on a wire rack, then store in a biscuit tin.

N o t e

Butter-rich cookies of this kind tend to be moist when stored for longer than a week so it's best to put a piece of parchment paper between each layer in your tin.