The chocolate chip cookie was supposedly invented in 1938 by Ruth Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts, and since then, it has become a staple of buttered recipe cards, countless cookbooks, and most famously, the rear of Nestlé Toll House. Chocolate bag.
But get this! The first chocolate chip cookie didn't actually contain chocolate chips. To make her iconic cookies, Ruth instead chopped a bar of chocolate into chunks, then stirred those chunks into the cookie dough. And it turns out, Ruth was onto something: Chocolate chips, not chocolate chips, make the best cookies. We said it there.
Nowhere is this more evident than in our newest recipe of the year, Super soft super soft chocolate chip cookies. We had some philosophical musings on the name: Can you call something a chocolate chip cookie if it doesn't actually have chocolate chips in it? But the developer of the recipe Molly Marzalek-Kellyhis goal was that make the best version of this classic cookieand test after test proved that chopped chocolate produced a superior cookie.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
“I wasn't on the chopped chocolate team at first, because chopping chocolate can be annoying,” admits Molly. “But after testing these cookies, it quickly became clear that chopped chocolate results in a better overall dining experience.” This starts with how the cookies are baked. “Small chocolate chips like pebbles don't mix easily into the batter like chopped chocolate, leaving more room for the cookie dough to spread or puff up during baking,” Molly theorizes. “This can lead to cookies that are cakey and not chewy.”
I can testify: When I first made this recipe, I used chocolate chips. (Don't tell Molly!) The resulting cookies weren't as good as the version I made with chopped chocolate – they were a little softer and more spreadable, plus the chocolate flavor was flat and boring. If using chocolate chips, Molly recommends cutting them roughly. “Ideally you want to cut the chips down the middle so they're not such a gooey pocket of chocolate. Changing the size of the chips results in better and more even distribution in the batter.” (Molly even found a way to make chopping chocolate less irritating – use a serrated knife. And to make things even simpler, use chocolate waferswhich are easier to break than chocolate.)
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
Cutting back on chocolate doesn't just help you avoid cookies; it also makes the experience of eating them much more enjoyable. Molly found that chopped chocolate, which melts better, blends better into the batter, and stays soft after baking, created the perfect cookie that was smooth all over—no chocolate chip size interruptions here.
A major benefit of using chopped chocolate is that you also have more control over the type of chocolate you can use. You can choose high quality options like Semi-sweet guitar wafers, our Test Kitchen's favorite pick. And you can use a mix: For a more complex, less sweet flavor, our Test Kitchen recommends substituting up to 1 cup (170 g) of semisweet chocolate with sweet chocolate (between 70% and 75% cocoa content).
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
our Super soft super soft chocolate chip cookies have many thoughtful innovations that push the chocolate chip cookie to new heights, ranging from a starter tangzhong in dough to a bread flour base for chewy texture. But ultimately, it may be Ruth Wakefield's age-old technique that makes the biggest difference of all.
Cover photo by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.
