By Emily Dawson, Food Blogger, Recipe Developer, PhotographerPublished on 20 June 2026

200+ recipes developed and tested in her home kitchen before publishing on British Kitchen Hub.

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Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Jump to recipe15 mins prep11 mins cookMakes 48 cookies

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe When the chocolate chip cookie became a craze nationwide, it was based on this Toll House chocolate-chip method originally published by Ruth Wakefield for Nestlé in the 1930s. It is not a soft-style bake shop cookie from today. This is a wide, flat golden cookie with crisp edges and a soft centre that is studded throughout the dough with semi-sweet chocolate chips. The dough contains equal weights of white sugar and brown muscovado for spread and chew, two eggs as structure, and then bicarbonate of soda instead of baking powder for lift. The original back in the day was heavy on vanilla powder, so it uses twice as much of it as most recipes use today. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes at a blistering hot (by UK standards) 190°C. Take them out of the oven when you think the edges are set and the centres still look too raw. They firm up on the tray. A traditional batch (1 teaspoon measure) will yield roughly 48 cookies, fewer if you go bigger. These nuts are an option in the original, but chocolate chips can not be negotiated.

Prep

15 mins

Cook

11 mins

Servings

Makes 48 cookies

Difficulty

Easy

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Ruth Wakefield operated the Toll House Inn, located in Whitman, Massachusetts. In the 1930s, she added and chopped up a bar of Nestlé chocolate to her cookie dough, probably unintentionally, because, as you are reading now, the chocolate chip cookie had not yet been invented. The recipe was purchased by Nestlé and printed on yellow bags of chocolate chips, launching an entire baking sector.

The Toll House recipe remains the standard against which most other chocolate chip cookies are measured. Flat. Golden at the rim. Soft in the middle. So chocolaty, you can have a surprising amount of chocolate from the home recipe for one whole standard batch, 340 g, rather than what you'd expect.

This version uses only bicarbonate of soda, not baking powder. The combination of soda and brown sugar adds body and a touch of tanginess. Baking powder would puff these into domed cookies, and that is not what Toll House cookies are.

The oven temperature matters. The edges set quickly, but the centers remain pale at 190°C. If a tray is too hot and you drop your cookies on it for 12 minutes, you get disks that all snap. Nine to eleven minutes at the optimum temperature provides you a classic chew.

Make sure to cream the butter and sugars well. Under-creamed dough bakes uneven. Toll House cookies were loved but, subsequently, complained about 30 years later because they were overbaked. Baked to golden edges, soft center.

How to Make Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (Step-by-Step)

Two sugars, one job each

Sugar, in granulated form, causes the cookies to spread wide and become crisp around the edges. The syrupiness of the brown sugar retains moisture and chew in the centre. The Toll House recipe calls for equal (as in equal volume) parts of both ingredients. Omitting the brown sugar yields lighter, crisper cookies that are simply not like the original. Use dark brown sugar instead of light for a deeper note and slightly more spread from the molasses.

Bicarbonate of soda, not baking powder

Whereas the original recipe was made with baking soda because brown sugar has acid in it that activates that. Baking powder would help cookies to rise higher and make for a taller, cake-like cookie. This is where one level teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda per 280 g of flour comes in. To avoid doubling it, the rise of hope. You would get a scent, taste, and random distribution.

190°C and a short bake

They will bake at 375°F (190°C in a UK oven) for Toll House cookies. Than what a lot of British cookie recipes would have you suggest. Focus heat on the edges, and you set them rapidly while allowing the center to stay soft. Teaspoon-size cookies: Start checking around the 9-minute mark. 11 to 13 minutes for large scoops Qualifying centers should appear underdone when you swing the door wide open on them. As they laid your cold period on the tray,

Do not skimp on the chocolate

In the batch that produces roughly 48 small (add your chip-style size here), you use chips. That is quite a lot compared to modern recipes that use 50 percent less. It is intentional. Have a chocolate chip in every bite of your Toll House cookie, for crying out loud, not one effing chip once every three cookies. At the end, fold in with chipper hands so chips do not break. If it looks like overloaded dough, you're probably 99.9% right.

5 from 1 vote

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

When the chocolate chip cookie became a craze nationwide, it was based on this Toll House chocolate-chip method originally published by Ruth Wakefield for Nestlé in the 1930s. It is not a soft-style bake shop cookie from today. This is a wide, flat golden cookie with crisp edges and a soft centre that is studded throughout the dough with semi-sweet chocolate chips. The dough contains equal weights of white sugar and brown muscovado for spread and chew, two eggs as structure, and then bicarbonate of soda instead of baking powder for lift. The original back in the day was heavy on vanilla powder, so it uses twice as much of it as most recipes use today. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes at a blistering hot (by UK standards) 190°C. Take them out of the oven when you think the edges are set and the centres still look too raw. They firm up on the tray. A traditional batch (1 teaspoon measure) will yield roughly 48 cookies, fewer if you go bigger. These nuts are an option in the original, but chocolate chips can not be negotiated.

Equipment

Large mixing bowl
Electric whisk or wooden spoon
Two baking trays lined with baking parchment
Teaspoon or cookie scoop
Wire cooling rack
Kitchen scales

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 190C (170C fan / 375F / Gas 5) Line baking trays with parchment.
In a small bowl combine the flour, bicarb of soda and salt.
In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy and light in color - about 2 to 3 minutes with an electric mixer; add granulated sugar and brown sugar. Add the eggs one at a time and then add vanilla, beating until smooth.
Slowly add in the flour mixture, either with a mixer running on low or mixing by hand until just combined. Do not overmix. Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts if using.
Place rounded teaspoons of the dough on prepared trays, allowing room for spreading (about 5cm). To make bigger cookies, use a 2-tablespoon scoop and leave 8cm between each one.
Bake 9-11 minutes until edges are golden with soft, pale centres. If your oven browns unevenly, halfway through rotate the tray.
Allow it to rest on the tray for 2 minutes, then place it onto a wire rack. Allow to cool completely for crunchy edges or eat warm from the oven for a soft centre.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the original Toll House cookie recipe?

It was made in the 1930s by Ruth Wakefield and published via Nestlé with her original Toll House recipe. This includes softened butter, granulated and brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract (I use homemade!), flour, baking soda & salt with semi-sweet chocolate chips. It is baked at 375°F (or 190°C) for anywhere between nine and eleven minutes, turning into flat cookies with crispy edges and soft centres.

Can I use baking powder instead of bicarbonate of soda?

Not if you want the Toll House original! Brown sugar is acidic, so when baking soda gets mixed in there, it creates a spread and tangy flavor. Baking powder would create cookies that were taller and more cake-like. If you have to substitute, try 2 teaspoons baking powder and omit the soda; however, your texture will be different.

Why are my Toll House cookies flat?

That is normal for this recipe. Toll House cookies are designed to spread into wide, thin rounds. If they spread excessively into grease puddles, the butter may have been too warm or the dough over-mixed after the flour went in. Chill the dough for 30 minutes before baking for slightly thicker cookies.

Can I chill the dough before baking?

Yes. Chilled dough: Spreads less for thicker cookies and chewier centres Cover the bowl and chill in a refrigerator for 30 minutes to overnight. Scoop and bake as directed. Dough at room temperature may need 1 extra minute in the oven, while cold dough will likely require an additional 2 minutes.

How long do Toll House cookies keep?

Up to 5 days in an airtight container at room temperature. They stay soft when kept with a slice of bread in the container, which sounds weird, but it works. The bread dries, and the cookies pull in all the moisture. You can freeze baked cookies for about 3 months.

What chocolate chips work best?

Semi-sweet chips are traditional. Nestlé Toll House chips are the go-to. Cookies that are accompanied by dark chips have a less sweet flavour. Milk chips have a faster melt and can result in the cookies tasting sweeter overall. If you want that original texture, use chips, not chopped bar chocolate! Bars of chocolate pooled out into greater puddles.

How many cookies does one batch make?

Approximately 48 cookies using a rounded teaspoon of dough each. A 2-tablespoon scoop gives approximately two dozen large cookies. It scales well for a crowd, though you might need to bake in more than one batch.

Notes

Spacing on the tray

Toll House dough spreads significantly. Mounds need at least 5 cm for teaspoon cookies. Large scoops need 8cm. If you crowd the trays, your cookies meld into one overall sheet. Bake in batches, instead of cramming leftover dough on one tray.