Toll House Cookies - Original 1939 Nestle' Recipe

This is where it all started. Ruth Wakefield’s 1939 original from the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, the recipe that launched a billion chocolate chip cookies.

No fancy twists, no viral hacks. Just butter creamed with two sugars, a generous pour of vanilla, and a full bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips folded into a simple dough with chopped walnuts.

They bake up with those golden, slightly crisp edges giving way to a soft, buttery center studded with puddles of melted chocolate. This is the benchmark every other recipe is measured against.

Variations

• Swap the nuts for 2 cups of raisins for a chewier, fruit-studded cookie
• Fold in 4 cups of crispy rice cereal instead of nuts for an unexpected crunch
• Add a tablespoon of grated orange rind for a citrus-chocolate twist

Chef Tips

• Let the butter soften at room temperature, not in the microwave. Properly softened butter creams better and creates a chewier texture
• Chill the dough for 30 minutes before baking if your kitchen is warm. Cold dough spreads less and stays thicker
• Pull them from the oven when they still look slightly underdone in the center. Carryover heat finishes the job on the baking sheet