Making Mealtime Meaningful: Discover how we're giving back with the 12T Cares program →

Nearly all of us have grown up with the iconic Nestlé Toll House chocolate chip recipe that comes on the back of the bag. It’s a brilliant marketing strategy since the shopping list is right there, ensuring that customers have an easy time of making the recipe ad therefore staying loyal. But, there is another reason why this recipe is the most popular (and some would say the best) and it has to do with the recipe itself. Even if you buy the store brand chocolate chips, their recipes often closely copy the name brand. If you’ve ever tried a different recipe at not been pleased with the results, here are a few reasons why the Toll House recipe turns out so perfectly most of the time.

plate of chocolate chip cookies
Via/ Unsplash

Brown Sugar

The brown sugar activates the baking soda for more rise to the cookie than a recipe with only white sugar. Brown sugar also has more flavor. If you’re out of brown sugar, here’s how to make it at home.

three types of brown sugar
Via/ Wiki Commons

Softened Butter

Softened butter incorporates more air into the cookies than a recipe with melted butter does. The step of creaming together the butter and sugars together with softened butter is where much of the air and lightness in the cookie comes from.

stick of room temperature butter on glass plate
Via/ Flickr

Salt

The salt in the recipe offsets the sweetness of the sugar and the chocolate chips, but not every cookie recipe calls for it.

top of a salt shaker
Via/ Flickr

Chopped Nuts

The Nestlé recipe calls for chopped nuts, which adds texture and depth of flavor to the cookies. However, many recipes leave this out and if you or loved have allergies to nuts then they have to go. But, for the rest of us this aspect of the recipe adds dimension to the all-American chocolate chip cookie.

pecans
Via/ Unsplash

Large Eggs

The recipe calls for 2 large eggs and the more eggs (or the bigger the eggs) are in a cookie recipe the more structure and moisture they will have. Some folks even recommend adding an extra egg to create even better cookies.

plate of brown eggs
Via/ Flickr

So there you have it- the science behind why the Nestlé Toll House chocolate chip recipe remains the go-to recipe for bakers across the world. If you want to experiment with how to change the texture of this classic, then adjusting the amount of flour can change how these cookies come out. Happy baking!