Ruth Wakefield and the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie By: Genevieve Holmes Have you ever wondered where the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie came from? Yes? No? Well, Ruth Wakefield invented the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie; she invented it by mixing plain dough and bitter-sweet chocolate. Did you know that she did not mean to mix the two? She decided she would put the dough in the oven and would see how it turned out. It worked! Ruth was born on June 17, 1903 and grew up in East Walpole, Massachusetts. She went to Framington State Normal School Department of Household Arts in 1924. When Ruth graduated, she married a man named Kenneth Donald Wakefield. They bought the Toll House Inn in 1930. Ruth and Kenneth had a son named Kenneth Donald Jr. and a daughter named Mary Jane. When her son was six months old in 1930, Ruth invented the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie. Ruth was in her kitchen one night and fell; she accidentally mixed the two ingredients together (bittersweet chocolate and uncooked dough). She wanted to know how it turned out, so she put it in the oven. She tried it when it was cooked‌it was delicious! Ruth and Donald advertised the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie in the newspaper. At first they only gave tiny pieces to customers, unsure if they would like it or not. They sold out immediately! John F. Kennedy visited the lodge and tried the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie. Ruth and Donald started to broadcast the Toll House chocolate chip cookie world-wide. Nestle bought it from them, but promised to put Ruth’s name on it. At this period of time The United States got its National Anthem, and Al Capone was imprisoned for tax evasion. This invention has changed a lot over time but, the recipe will always stay the same.
Ruth died at the age of 73 on January 10, 1977. Her husband died soon after that. The next time you buy or see the Toll House chocolate chip cookie, just think of Ruth Wakefield.
Works Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll_House_Inn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Graves_Wakefield http://www.nestle.com/ http://history1900s.about.com/od/timelines/tp/1930timeline.htm http://allrecipes.com/recipe/original-nestle-toll-house-chocolate-chip-cookies/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll_House_Inn