Fun Facts About America's Favorite Cookie (2024)

If you love cookies, you are not alone. In the United States, 7 billion coolies are eaten each year. That means most people eat over 1,000 cookies each and every year. More than half of these cookies are homemade. Nearly 93% of all American households serve and enjoy cookies as treats or after meals. However, it's the chocolate chip cookie that's the most popular in the U.S. and around the world. How much do youknow about chocolate chip cookies?

Fun Facts about Chocolate Chip Cookies:

• They were created by accident Much like the discovery of penicillin, the chocolate chip cookie was created by a happy accident. Ruth Wakefied was an in keeper in Whitman, Massachusetts. One evening in the early 1930s, she added chocolate bits to her cookie batter because she assumed the chocolate would melt. The chocolate bits did not, and the iconic cookie was born. The owners of the Toll House Inn, where Wakefield worked later, claimed that they created the cookie. There is also an urban legend that Neiman Marcus was the true originator of the treat.

• Their first name was "Butterdrop Do Cookies" Cookies are named by the way they are made, The different methods for making cookies are drop, molded, refrigerated, rolled, pressed and in bars. While Wakefield first ran her recipe for the cookies in a newspaper in the Boston area, she also published a cookbook in 1936. Named after the inn that she ran, "Toll House Tried and True Recipes" ran her recipe for chocolate chip cookies under her second name for the treat,"Chocolate Crunch Cookies."

• Nestle gave Wakefield a lifetime supply of chocolate for her creation The chocolate company bought the cookie recipe from Wakeful in the late 1930s, and paid her with a lifetime supply of chocolate. In 1939, they introduced their version of the cookie, which is the now well known tear drop version.

• The early chocolate chip cookies were small and very crispy Early chocolate chip cookies were the size of a quarter and eaten in one bite.

• The world's largest chocolate chip cookie was HUGE It was weighed in at more than 40,000 pounds! The heavy cookie was 102-feet-wide. It was made and baked by the Immaculate Baking Company in Flat Rock, North Carolina in 2003. The previous record was 80-feet-wide. That is a lot bigger than a quarter! The company built a special oven to make the larger than life cookie.

• World War II was good to the chocolate chip cookie People in Massachusetts began sending their family who were serving in the war these cookies in their care packages, The soldiers would share the cookies with their friends and colleagues, and soon, military from all over the country were requesting their families include the treats in their packages as well. This started a chocolate chip cookie craze throughout the nation.

• The chocolate chip cookie is far and away America's favorite cookie This should come as no surprise to anyone who enjoys the tasty treat. More than 53% of American adults prefer the cookies over the next most popular kind, peanut butter. Peanut butter cookies are the preferred cookie for about 16% of then nation, while about 15% of people like oatmeal cookies the best.

• The chocolate chip cookie is the official cookie of Massachusetts After a third grade class proposed the idea, the legislature voted to honor the cookie in 1997.

The typical chocolate chip cookie recipe has flour, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, eggs, a dash of salt, butter or shortening, vanilla extract and chocolate chips. Other variations include nuts, milk, peanut butter and other fun additions. The chips that are used can be milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate or peanut butter. There really is no limit what can be done with this recipe. For softer and chewier cookies, people can melt the butter that is used in the batter rather than use it at room temperature. In recent years, companies have developed chocolate chip cookie recipes for flour free cookies and gluten free cookies. The chocolate chip cookie is an American classic that is now enjoyed all over the globe. These simple, yet delicious cookies can be made and enjoyed easily by people of all ages.