Chocolate Chip Cookies: The Patriotic Cookies

What is there to say about chocolate chip cookies that hasn't already been said? The origin is a little disputed, but it is clear that the cookies were invented in 1934 by Ruth Wakefield at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. Apparently, she had run out of baking cocoa powder to make chocolate cookies, so instead used broken up chunks of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate bars. During WWII, soldiers from Massachusetts shared the cookies in their care packages with soldiers from all over the country and soon the cookies were a nation wide craze. One story claims that Mrs. Wakefield traded the recipe to Nestle for a lifetime supply of chocolate chips.

These cookies are a tasty and quintessential American treat that Europeans had absolutely nothing to do with (well, except for starting the war). These cookies are as red, white and blue as cookies can get, without actually being red, white or blue.

I won't repeat the recipe here, because it is literally on the back of every package of Toll House chocolate chips in the world, but I will add a couple of interesting tips and techniques that might help you on your way.

• The first tip is the most important and useful. There is no need to cook off the entire batch all at once. Fresh cookies warm from the oven are the best. This is an undisputed fact. So, cook only the necessary number of cookies. Wrap the remaining dough in cellophane and keep it in the refrigerator. The dough will stay perfectly good for a week or two (it's highly unlikely that the dough will be around that long, anyway). Anytime you are in the mood for warm cookies, just preheat the oven and cook a few.

• Experiment with flour. The proper amount of flour to use varies slightly due to scientific variables such as altitude, settling and density. Without going into the chemistry debates, I'll just say this. Be prepared to use (approximately) an extra 1/2 cup of flour. You'll want a nice thick, not runny, dough.

• Also for chemistry reasons, it is best to allow the butter to soften at room temperature, rather than melt it in a microwave or pan. Once butter has melted, its chemical properties forever change, resulting in runnier cookies.

• Chill your dough before cooking. You'll want the butter to resolidify before baking. Great bakers even advise a chilled cookie sheet.

• Use unsalted butter, since salt is already called for in the recipe.

• My only other piece of advice is to serve these cookies with a glass of milk.