Ways to celebrate National Chocolate Chip Day

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Sunday is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day and that means you can get a free cookie at some local businesses.

According to the National Day Calendar, the holiday celebrates Ruth Graves Wakefield, who baked the first batch of chocolate chip cookies by mistake in 1937.

The Henry Ford Museum says Wakefield was a dietitian and food lecturer until she and her husband, Kenneth, opened the Toll House Inn restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts, in 1930. 

“The cookie recipe she was preparing called for baker’s chocolate and would have blended smoothly into the dough. However, she was out,” the calendar said. “And what if Mrs. Wakefield hadn’t considered using semi-sweet chocolate instead? She figured it would just melt into the dough and work much like the baker’s chocolate.”

History does not tell the finer details of the day the chocolate chip cookie came to be, however, they do know Wakefield made it happen.

Now, what’s extra sweet for all of us is that the day is celebrated with free cookies around central Indiana.

The DoubleTree hotel chain always gives guests free cookies, but on Sunday, anyone can claim a free chocolate chip cookie. The hotel posted on Instagram, “Mark your calendars to claim a complimentary original chocolate chip cookie or allergy-friendly cookie at any U.S. DoubleTree location.”

Potbelly is serving up free cookies with a purchase. The company website says “Who needs an excuse to eat cookies? Not us. But just in case, Chocolate Chip Cookie Day is August 4th, so we’re giving you a free cookie with the purchase of an entrée this weekend. You’re welcome.”

Fazoli’s is in on the fun too. The restaurant posted on Facebook “It’s National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! Add one of our cookies to your meal when you eat at Fazoli’s to celebrate .”