Cooking Lesson #1106: The Chocolate Doctor's Loaded Cherry-Chocolate Chip Cookies

…from the Perspectives’ Kitchen

How you doin’? These cookies are the pinnacle of perfection! At the Choclatique Test Kitchen this was one recipe that our team continued to test. Not because they needed to but to make sure we never had a
“Cookie Famine.” If you want a great tasting chewy cookie like the kind you see at bakeries and specialty shops, then these are the cookies for you!
 
The most notable chocolate chip cookie  recipe was invented by American chef Ruth Graves Wakefield in 1938. She invented the recipe during the period when she owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts. In this era, the Toll House Inn was a popular restaurant that featured home cooking.
 
A myth holds that she accidentally developed the cookie, and that she expected the chocolate chunks would melt, making chocolate cookies. That is not the case. Wakefield stated that she deliberately invented the cookie. They had been serving a thin butterscotch nut cookie with ice cream. Everybody seemed to love it, but she was trying to give them something different. So, she came up with Toll House cookie. She added chopped up bits from a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar into a cookie. The original recipe in Toll House Tried and True Recipes is called, "Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies". Wakefield gave Nestle the recipe for her cookies and was paid with a lifetime supply of chocolate from their company. And that’s the true story.
 
Prep time:  12 minutes
Bake time:  15 to 17 minutes
Cool time:  5 to 10 minutes
Yield:  30 cookies
 
Ingredients 
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 cups milk chocolate Chips (I actually prefer Guittard Chocolate Chips)
3/4 cup chopped glacéed red and/or green cherries for the holidays
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 325°F.
2. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
3. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well whipped.
5. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.
6. Mix in the sifted ingredients until they are just blended.
7. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips and glacéed fruit by hand.  
8. Using a #30 scoop (approximately 1/8 cup) drop the cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
9. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted.
10. Cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

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ChefSecret:  This is a basic cookie recipe. Feel free to add nuts (walnuts or pecans), dark or white chocolate or a combination of all three. I like the glacéed fruit which help adds a holiday touch to an already wonderful cookie.
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Quip of the Day:  Q. What do you call Chewbacca when he has chocolate stuck in  his hair?  A. Chocolate Chip Wookiee.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/perspectives-on-food
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.
 
#Baking #ChocolateChipCookies #CherryChocolateChipCookies #Nestle #Guittard #Recipes2025 #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #SamaritansPurse #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                                                                 ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2025

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