Ruth Wakefield

After Ruth Wakefield graduated from a Household Arts school in 1924, she and her husband bought a tourist lodge named the Toll House Inn, where Ruth cooked meals for the guests.

In 1930, Ruth was mixing a batch of cookies when she discovered that she was out of baker's chocolate. She substituted broken pieces of Nestle's semi-sweet chocolate, expecting it to melt and absorb into the dough to create chocolate cookies. When she removed the pan from the oven, Ruth realized that she had accidentally invented “chocolate chip cookies.”

The treat became extremely popular locally and gained national renown after the recipe was published in a Boston newspaper. Ruth Wakefield's invention soon became the most popular variety of cookie in America, a distinction it still holds today.