The chocolate chip cookie had a humble beginning. It was invented by American chef Ruth Graves Wakefield, around 1938. Many seem to believe that the invention was accidental, but this is a myth; there many versions of it, such as chocolate accidentally falling into the dough, or chocolate failing to melt properly - but none of these are true. The chocolate chip cookie is an intentional - and absolutely delicious - invention.

Originally, the cookies were served as a simple novelty snack at Ruth Wakefield's restaurant, but quickly grew in popularity. Nestlè, which was at this time flourishing from the high demands caused by World War I, took notice of this. During the interwar years, Nestlè had invested in chocolate production, and so it wasn't surprising that in 1939 Nestlè bought the recipe to begin mass production.

Interestingly, World War II played a significant role in popularizing the chocolate chip cookie, or Toll House Cookie as it was called then, named after Wakefield's restaurant. Soldiers fighting overseas received the cookies in care packages, and shared them with others, leading to the chocolate chip cookies becoming popular with Americans from all 50 states. Wakefield also wrote the first cookbook to include a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. It didn't take long for the snack to reach Europe and the rest of the world; after all, the cookie was simple and inexpensive to make, and mass production was therefore quite easy. After World War II, Nestlè saw another economic surge, and the chocolate chip cookie became one of Nestlè's most popular snacks.

Ruth Graves Wakefield. She owned the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Mass. Basically she has said, she was searching for a replacement for the thin butterscotch nut cookie that was serviced with ice cream in her restaurant. The cookie part itself was already a fairly standard 'brown-sugar cookie' to which she added chunks of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate bar. The 'innovation' was using un-melted chocolate in the cookie, as chocolate had been used in baking for many years by this point.

The Great American Chocolate Chip Cookie Book By Carolyn Wyman