Today would have been the 105th birthday of Ruth Graves Wakefield, the inventor of the chocolate chip cookie.
Ruth was born on June 17, 1903 in Whitman, Massachusetts and later died on January 10, 1997. She originally worked as a dietitian. She and her husband eventually bought a historical tourist lodge in Whitman. The lodge had been built in 1709 and had a rich history. They named the lodge The Toll house. Ruth did all of the cooking and was especially famed for her desserts.
She invented the chocolate cookie there in 1933. One of her favorite recipes was for Butter Drop Do cookies. One day, in 1933, she found that she had run out of baker's chocolate. As a substitute, she used a semi-sweet chocolate bar, cutting the bar into tiny pieces. Once the cookies were done baking, she found that the chocolate had not melted, but rather was soft and creamy. And people love these new cookies.
Interestingly, the person who gave Ruth the semi-sweet chocolate bar was Andrew Nestle of the famed Nestle Chocolate Company. Sales of these chocolate bars then began to skyrocket. Nestle eventually decided to offer the chocolate as the now familiar "chips" rather than make their customers have to chop up the bars on their own. In 1939, Nestle also made a deal with Ruth to place her recipe on their chocolate packages. As part of the deal, Nestle agreed to supply Ruth with chocolate for the rest of her life.
Sadly, The Toll House burned down in 1984. But Ruth's memory lives on. Chocolate chip cookies are one of the most popular cookies, especially for those who bake their own cookies.
Happy Birthday Ruth!
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