The Great Choc-Chip Cookie Comp: Tollhouse

Weee’rreee back! 

After all of the “Tasty” cookies were devoured, I decided it was time for round two of this Great Cookie Comp.

This time, I decided to go with the most classic recipe possible. The one that I made most as a kid, or bought pre-made versions of in the store. 

That’s right, this week we’re lookin at the “Nestlé Tollhouse” recipe. Ya know, the one on the back of every chocolate chip bag.

This recipe is as original as it gets…in fact, it’s the first chocolate chip cookie recipe EVER made. 

Two sticks of butter get creamed with white and brown sugar, you add some eggs and vanilla, flour, baking soda, and additional mix-ins. Everything was easy…it felt reassuring to know this recipe I’ve made hundreds of times was going to turn out good. 

My only concern…the nuts. The recipe called for chopped nuts of your choice. I know, many people LOVE nuts in their cookies. However, I don’t! Never have. I was left with a dilemma; do I include them for the sake of continuity with the recipe? Or do I follow my personal preferences?

I decided to do half and half. It wouldn’t be fair to judge the recipe with MY alterations. However, I didn’t want to give it an unfair disadvantage by including the nuts, knowing I didn’t like them. So I made half with nuts, half without.

These cookies were much smaller in size, but I particularly enjoy the fact I can have multiple of them and feel satisfied.

The final product…nuts included.

So, let’s get down to reviewing!

The look: Classic, the appropriate amount of spread. Chocolatey. Perfect. Exactly what a chocolate chip cookie SHOULD look like. 9.5/10

Crunchy Chew: Again, good work here. The outside was crisp, but they’re still soft and chewy on the inside. Not so much a GOOEY center, but still fit both ends of the definition. 9/10

Chip to Dough Ratio: 2 cups of chocolate chips AND 1 cup chopped nuts provides a NICE ratio of textures. While I do like a chocolate OVERLOAD from time to time, this was a really nice balance…almost like it’s been known as a “perfect recipe.” 9/10

Overall Taste: There’s a reason this recipe has been around for so long. And there’s a reason why it’s so popular. They taste GOOD. When you think of a chocolate chip cookie, this is what most would expect. My family definitely favored them as well…sometimes, classic is fantastic. 9.5/10

Wow Factor: This may be the ONE thing it’s lacking. It’s delicious, it checks all the boxes…but it’s classic. There’s nothing extraordinarily different about it. However, it IS the recipe that inspired ALL other recipes…and it uses both chocolate chips and nus. That’s gotta earn itself at least some brownie points. 7/10

FINAL SCORE: 8.8/10

Incredible discovery. The classic, go-to recipe truly is amazing…maybe the traditional will turn out to be the best? I always thought I needed flare, something “extra” or some “special method” to make the perfect cookie. This was an important lesson: sometimes, taking it back to basics does nothing but good.

What will happen next time? Can’t wait to find out!