Toll House cookie

The Toll House Cookie was developed by Ruth Graves Wakefield, owner of The Toll House Restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts, in 1930. She invented the cookie by accident. She was making chocolate cookies but ran out of regular baker's chocolate and substituted broken pieces of semi-sweet chocolate, assuming it would melt. It did not, and the cookie with chips of chocolate was born. (The restaurant, housed in a former toll house built in 1709, burned down in 1984.)

The standard version of the recipe can be found at Nestle Toll House Cookie Recipe (http://www.well.com/user/vard/cookierecipe).

A variant on this recipe is:

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 stick margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated [white] sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 extra large eggs
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12-ounce package) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

BEAT butter, margarine, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and beat in.

COMBINE flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Add to the semi-liquid mixture in two parts and fold until combined. (If you beat this too long, you may get some gluten formation which will change the cookie texture).

STIR in chocolate morsels. Some recipes suggest stirring in a cup of chopped nuts; please be considerate of people with nut allergies, by mentioning the nuts if you use them.

DROP by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets. The sheets do not need to be greased. Using parchment paper will reduce problems with the cookies sticking.

BAKE in the preheated 375 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for about 1 minute and remove from hot baking sheet to cool on a wire rack.

ENJOY with a cold glass of milk, or a bowl of ice cream.

Suggestion: Use really good vanilla extract.