Here in Massachusetts, we get to claim the chocolate chip cookie as our own: restaurateur Ruth Wakefield invented the recipe at the Toll House restaurant in the early 1930s in Whitman, Mass., and then published it in her 1936 cookbook, Ruth Wakefield’s Tried and True Toll House Recipes. (The cookbook was so popular that it eventually had 39 printings!)
The original recipe name was the Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie, because chocolate chips had yet to be invented. Ruth eventually made a deal with Nestlé, who wanted to print the recipe on the back of its chocolate baking bars: she would have as much chocolate as the Toll House restaurant needed for life in exchange for the recipe. Eventually Nestlé was able to streamline the recipe instruction that called for chopping up the chocolate – by creating chocolate morsels, or what we now call chips.
Of course, we all know what’s happened to the chocolate chip cookie since then – endless interpretations, endless variations. And controversy! Thin or thick? Crispy or chewy? Nuts or no nuts? Dark chocolate or semi-sweet? While the base ingredients of the recipe remain constant – butter, sugar, flour, eggs, baking soda, vanilla, chocolate – just the smallest ingredient swap or addition can change the cookie. Modern tweaks include swapping in whole-grain flour for white flour, using brown butter and using chocolate chunks and/or different types of chocolate instead of the traditional semi-sweet chocolate chips. Each of these things can affect the texture, appearance and flavor of this beloved cookie.
It seems there are as many versions of chocolate chip cookies as there are stars in the sky. As proof, we tracked down a wide variety of chocolate chip cookies that are made in bakeries across the Island (and available in winter) and had a look – and a taste. Yup, every single one of the 12 we tasted was different from the next, and with a personality all its own. We can’t say which was “the best,” because everyone has a different pre-conceived notion of the ideal chocolate chip cookie. (Note that our cookies are arranged in alphabetical order in three categories.) But we can encourage you to do a side-by-side taste test. It’s a lot of fun. And a good way to perk up February – or please a Valentine.
Editor’s note: We recommend reheating your bakery cookies when (if) you get them home. Just a few minutes in the toaster oven or a few seconds in the microwave will bring them back to life. If you have multiple cookies, wrap well and freeze and defrost as necessary.
Laura Holmes Haddad is a former cookbook editor and a regular contributor to the Vine.
CHEWY
Black Dog Bakery Café
A soft, chewy chocolate chip cookie awaits you at the Black Dog on State Road in Vineyard Haven. It has a light golden color and a very sweet flavor with a strong hint of vanilla. The edges are crisper than the middle. It’s just the right size for one person. ($3.50)
Mo’s Lunch
The name of this cookie says it all: Mo’s Big Choco Chip Cookie is the size of a small plate and is densely packed with melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chips. This thick, chewy cookie is the perfect size to share – with one or even two friends. ($3.50)
Morning Glory Farm (standard)
Morning Glory’s standard chocolate chip cookie (they make two kinds) is a nod to the classic — a vanilla-forward cookie speckled with chocolate chips. It’s a thick cookie (somewhat domed) and leans more towards a cakey-chewy texture, but with crisp edges. Dough is available for purchase, too. ($3.76)
Rosewater Market
Rosewater makes a wonderfully chewy chocolate chip cookie with a deep flavor that hints of toffee and cuts down on sweetness. The edges retain some crispness while the center is quite soft. It has a high dough-to-chip ratio and is a good size for one person. ($3.50)
The Scottish Bakehouse
The Bakehouse’s traditional chocolate chip cookie (they make vegan and gluten-free versions, too) is only a few degrees removed from the Toll House original – it tastes just like what your mom or grandmother made (only it’s somewhat bigger!) and has a well-balanced, classic texture. ($4)
Sweet Bites
Sweet Bites is known for its cakes and brigadeiros, so it might not surprise you to learn that their chocolate chip cookie is cakey – dome shaped and buttery-sweet, with a very pale color that belies any dark edge of brown sugar or toffee. Can be shared. ($4)
UNUSUAL FLOURS
Beetlebung Farm
Beetlebung’s dark and perfectly round chocolate chip cookie has a deep, lightly nutty flavor – not from nuts, but from two grain flours – rye and einkorn (a high-protein, low-gluten ancient grain). Generous swirls of dark chocolate. ($3.75; also available as frozen pre-portioned dough; $18 for 6)
The Grey Barn & Farm
Grey Barn’s spelt chocolate chip cookie is soft and chewy with a flavor that is almost toffee-like. Made with brown butter and plenty of Callebaut Belgian chocolate, the cookie has a Goldilocks-thickness, too – not too thick, not too thin. Flecks of sea salt to boot. ($4)
Morning Glory Farm (buckwheat, GF)
Morning Glory’s buckwheat chocolate chip cookie is large, crunchy, sweet, and gluten-free. (Buckwheat flour replaces the white flour.) It also features dark chocolate and walnuts. ($4)
CRISPY
7a Foods
7a’s chocolate chip cookie is also close to the Toll House classic, with a slightly chewy yet crispy texture, a sweet flavor, and a generous amount of chocolate chips to satisfy the chip lover. Perfect size for dessert after a 7A sandwich. ($3)
Pie Chicks
Pie Chicks’ chocolate chip cookies are for those who like a crunch in every bite. Baked to a dark golden brown, these cookies are thin, sweet, very crispy, and scattered with semi-sweet chocolate chips. ($3 each; $12 for a bag of 6)
Orange Peel Bakery
Whether you’re passing by Orange Peel on the way back from a winter hike in Aquinnah or you head up there on any old Tuesday, Juli Vanderhoop’s palm-sized, crispy, sweet chocolate chip cookie will fully satisfy your sweet tooth. ($5)
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