Today, May 15, marks National Chocolate Chip Day. But please, don’t confuse this great holiday with its spiritual sibling, National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. Today, we’re all about the chips, man.
No one is quite sure just how and where National Chocolate Chip Day started. National Day Calendar, which has the skinny on every would-be holiday, couldn’t lock down its origins. Then again, does it really matter where the inspiration for today came when you’re busy scarfing down delicious warm chocolatey bites? I didn’t think so.
Throughout the country, countless local stores will be giving away free cookies to commemorate arguably America’s most important holiday.
If you live in Nashville, you can snag a free chocolate chip cookie at Christie Cookies in Germantown. Those in Florida can head over to Cowin’s Ice Cream and Smoothines in Bradenton, where you can get a free cookie with any purchase. AARP members get 20% off or $20 off purchases of $79.99 or more from Cheryl’s Cookies. The list goes on and on.
Fun fact: did you know chocolate chips were invented by Ruth Wakefield of Waltham, Massachusetts in 1936? Wakefield created the delectable treat in her Toll House Tried and True Recipes cookbook. Her and her husband ran a restaurant and inn side at the time and the recipe became so popular that Wakefield landed a deal with Nestle in 1939.
As The New Yorker noted in 2013, there are a handful of different stories behind Wakefield’s decision to use chocolate chips in cookies to go with ice cream. One version says she ran our of nuts, so replaced them with Nestle’s bittersweet chocolate. Another tale says vibrations from an industrial mixer caused chocolate to fall into the cookie dough. All we really know is that she made the right call and that the chocolate business today is booming.
CNBC reported last year that sales of U.S. retail chocolate hit $18 billion. Over the pat 10 to 15 years, sales have climbed around 3 percent, according to UBS analysts.
So enjoy today with some tasty chocolate chips and this collection of hilarious memes. You won’t be disappointed.
