Ok, we admit it. Our secret recipe for chocolate chip cookies? It's pretty much made verbatim from the back of the package of chocolate chips. Nestle Toll House chocolate chips to be exact. Sure, we cut out the nuts and we like the texture better when we mix by hand instead of with a mixer, but let's call a spade a spade.
And you know what? These cookies are good! They're darn good! We make them for birthdays and potlucks and when friends need cheering up. And we love them a little more every time. Lately, we've realized that there are lots of recipes from the backs of ingredient packages and boxes that have definite merit. What gives?
Here's one theory: These recipes--the good ones--come from the days when companies like Nestle and Domino Sugar ran contests and printed the winning recipe on their packaging. They're time-honored recipes that came from a real person's kitchen, a recipe that someone made and ate themselves for years. A recipe like that is bound to be interesting and delicious.
It could just be that these recipes are so simple and basic. And sometimes simple and basic is just plain delicious.
Or maybe it's really just good marketing. They want you to love this ingredient you're buying. They want you to come back and buy it again and again. What better way to get you to do this than to spotlight their product in a really great recipe so that every time you make that recipe, you'll use their product? Whether it's a big commercial business or a small artisan producer, they spent a lot of time and money developing this ingredient, so they know better than anyone else how to make it work in a recipe!
Please tell us we're not alone! What recipes do you love that you first discovered on the back of the box?
(Images: Amazon and Emma Christensen for The Kitchn)
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Oh my gosh, we found a recipe on the back of some peanut butter and chocolate chips (late at night...we needed a snack). They require so much of everything bad for you--butter, peanuts, etc.--and they're totally addictive. Unfortunately, I think they discontinued the specific chips with the recipe on the package. I've searched high and low.
I don't know if it's available outside of New Mexico but I always use the recipe on the container of frozen red chili to make my red chili, it's on the outside of the bag of dried chili's also the name on the bag is Barker's but it comes from mesilla valley chili in Hatch. I tweak it a little bit but it is basically the same recipe.
the best oatmeal cookies are from the underside of the top of the container of Quaker Oatmeal. i add raisins and walnuts. SO good. and easy.
I was just coming in to say... Quaker Oatmeal cookies!! They're the best.
The Toll House cookie recipe is the original chocolate chip cookie unchanged since the 1930's which I think truly rules.
http://www.verybestbaking.com/products/tollhouse/history.aspx
My family's famous, secret recipe for chocolate fudge comes from the jar of Kraft jet-puffed marshmallow creme. They changed the recipe a couple of years ago for some unknown reason, but luckily my mother kept an old jar & we use the recipe from it every Christmas.
Most of my favorite pumpkin recipes come from the can of Libby's packed pumpkin. That pie recipe can't be beat!
I remember reading a story somewhere about a family trying to recreate a deceased grandmother's glorious chocolate chip cookies. She had never written the recipe down, and various family members did everything but hold a séance to contact her spirit to figure it out. Then someone baked the recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chips package. Bingo.
I made the pork chops with mushroom 'gravy' from the back of the Campbell's soup can and both hubby and son raved.
I actually had a cookbook that was a collection of recipes from the backs of bottles, boxes and cans, but I can't remember if I packed it or donated it when I moved.
(http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=384180)
When my husband and I were first dating, he made a fantastic cherry cheesecake for my birthday. He told me it was his grandfather's recipe.
After we got married and I was combining our cookbooks, I found the recipe -- a photocopy of a Philadelphia Cream Cheese box.
The recipes I get from the back of boxes are also the ones I receive the most compliments on. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Not only do companies want to promote their products w/ successful and yet simple recipes, like you say, they also know their products better than consumers. My favorites: cornbread from the Quaker cornmeal container, fudge from the Domino powdered sugar box and, a new one my friends raved about, glazed pearl onions from a bag of frozen Birds Eye pearl onions. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve become jaded by celebrity chefs taking over the food industry. I don’t want (insert celebrity chef of your choice)’s take on Mexican, cheesy, jalapeno, confetti cornbread. I just want classic cornbread. I also appreciate leaving my big, cumbersome cookbooks on the shelf. There was a day, after all, when we didn’t use cookbooks.
I'd love to have the Rice Krispie bar recipe from the early 1960's that used the chocolate and butterscotch chips and done in layers (as opposed to mixing them all in together).
My other back of the box staple is the original Chex party mix.
The cornbread on the label of Clabber Girl Baking Powder - very slightly altered in my family's traditional way (I'd tell ya but it grosses people out). Fantastic souther-style cornbread - not sweet at all and perfect with a pot of beans.
My favorite brownies are on the back of the King Arthur Flour Bag - I've made some slight modifications and additions, but the brownies also turn out great just as is. Highly, highly recommend!
Terry B - wasn't that the plot from an episode of Friends? :)
I really, really love the muffin recipe on the back of the Malt-O-Meal box. Add blueberries, and they will be eaten before they cool.
Another vote for the Quaker cookies.
Also one vote for the Hershey's cocoa box recipe of chocolate cake - didn't you guys post it up here a while back? It really is an awesome cake!
raspberry eggplant
I'm with Nougat--the pie filling from the back of the Libby's pumpkin can! I thought my mom had some magic special recipe and the first time I needed to make on myself I asked her for it. Her reply "back of the Libby's can is the only way," and she's a hardcore baker and cook!
Toll house cookies are the only chocolate chip cookies I make! They are super good when I roll them out into my 15x20 jelly roll pan and make cookie "blondies". :)
Not a baking recipe, but one for cranberry-orange chutney. Being an immigrant, my mom had no idea what cranberry sauce ought to look like, so followed a recipe from the back of the package. It's a little unconventional for Christmas (and Thanksgiving), but our family tradition.
I love all of these great tips. I've never tried the cookie recipe from Quaker oats. I think I'll give it a try this weekend. Thanks!
Not that I'd kick them out of bed, but Tollhouse cookies just don't do it for me like other chocolate chip cookies, I find them a bit too salty and greasy (maybe I need to use unsalted butter, I just realized). I like a chewy cookie with more texture, so I love the Quaker oatmeal recipe with chocolate chips thrown in.
On the back of the Heath Crunch bag there's a recipe for Fudgy Toffee-Topped Brownies, or something like that. It's really bad for you, and really sweet, and everyone likes it.
My favorite chocolate cake recipe used to be on the back of the Hershey's Baking Cocoa box. They've replaced it with something else, but the recipe is still on their website as Deep Dark Chocolate Cake or something like that. It's a very very moist cake, not the greatest for a layer cake, but a very very good sheet cake.
I use the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of Guittard chocolate chip bag; it's the exact same recipe--I just like Guittard chips better. ;D
The S'mores recipe on the back of the Golden Grahams box - yum!
here's a savory contribution: though i've only made it once (for a thanksgiving dinner that included non-turkey eating friends) it was *delicious* and simple - salt baked fish. the recipe is on the back of diamond crystal kosher salt and the resulting dish is moist and flavorful and not at all salty (the salt, which gets moistened before cooking, hardens into a shell that seals in moisture).
1.) I have tried countless chocolate chip cookie recipes, and Tollhouse is the absoloute winner. There have been times when I've thought "hey maybe I'll get the Trader Joe's chocolate chips!" or something but then I get the Nestle because I realize I need the recipe.
2) Baker's Unsweetened baking chocolate squares has the BEST brownie recipe on the back. (or actually, on the inside of the box maybe?)
3) This might be lame, but Rice Crispies Treats!
I vote for the chocolate cookie recipe that used to be on the back of Hershey's Cocoa Powder.
I also adore the praline pecan crunch that used to (still does?) come on the box of the Quaker Oat Squares cereal.
This reminds me of the Friends episode where Monica wants Phoebe's grandmother's chocolate chip cookie recipe from their French ancestor "Neslay Toolhousah". ")
I don't know if it's still there or not (I'm too lazy to get up) but there's this wonderful chocolate lava cake recipe that I'm almost positive came from a package of King Arthur flour.
Hershey's Cocoa gives the perfect brownie recipe for me, hitting the right combination of fudgy-cakey for my tastes. I've tried so many other fancy recipes, but I always come back to that one.
Also, the cheat-fudge on the Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk can is super easy (chocolate chips can of milk in a pot, till melted, then a little vanilla extract (or peppermint for a nice christmas change)) and people rave about it when they try it.
On the Hershey's Cocoa package is my favorite "One-Bowl Chocolate Frosting" recipe. I often bake Nestle Tollhouse Cookies (I adjust the recipe for a much chewier cookie by replacing half of the white sugar with brown sugar, and using shortening (non-hydrogenated) for half of the butter. I must also confess I use Bisquik mix and the recipe on the box for biscuits and dumplings.
The perfect recipe for fudgy brownies is the One Bowl recipe from the Baker's unsweetened chocolate package. YUM.
My mom also uses shortening in place of half the butter in the Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe (same as amylou61). She also usually doubles the recipe but only puts in one batch worth of chips... so they're less chunky and you get more cookie flavor with less overwhelming chocolate.
Norma - I think what you are looking for is a variation of Rice Krispie Bars called 'Choco-Scotch Bars'. Unexciting name, delicious bar. And it's simple. Make Rice Krispie bars as usual, except mix 1/4 cup of peanut butter into the marshmallow - butter mixture before you add the Rice Krispies. Then, after spreading the mixture in a pan to cool, melt together 1 cup (or 1 x 6 ounce package) of semi-sweet chocolate and 1 cup (or 1 x 6 ounce package) of butterscotch morsel and spread that on top of the Rice Krispie bar mixture in the pan. When cool, cut into pieces. This recipe was copied from the box, probably sometime in the 1960's.
I drove myself nuts for years, experimenting with pie crust recipes from gourmet magazines and cookbooks. Then my mom, who is the greatest baker in the world, told me to just go with the one on the box of Tenderflake shortening. And she was right. As usual.
My sister makes those Baker's Unsweetened brownies - they're awesome! I used to rely on a Black Bean soup recipe from a package of Premium Saltine crackers when I was first learning to cook. My recipe's more complicated now (i.e. less canned goods), but heck - it got me started!
This isn't a baking recipe, it's a cooking one...
On the back of my Healthy Harvest whole wheat thin spaghetti, I saw a recipe that I LOOOOVE. It's basically garlic, basil (I think, but maybe not), Italian seasoning, grape tomatoes, and most importantly balsamic vinegar. You cook the spaghetti, saute the other ingredients then add the spaghetti in and toss. It's simple, fresh, almost sweet even. I change it up by marinating chicken in balsamic vinegar and cooking it first, then adding it back in after the tomatoes are cooked, before the spaghetti. That, along with a romaine salad & Ken's Balsamic Vinaigrette..... Mmmmmm... So good. For some reason though, Healthy Harvest doesn't have it as a recipe on their website though. Luckily I tore off the back of the box and saved the recipe!
Magic cookie bars from the back of Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk. Delish!
Haha, this reminds of something my mother told me. "See, cooking is not that hard. All you have to do is follow the directions on the box." She's no Martha Stewart, but she does have a point.
I use the Toll House recipe too for chocolate chip cookies but add more vanilla.
I have had great luck with all of the recipes on the ghirardelli packages--the cakes, cookies, brownies, etc. they have an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that is perfect and I love their brownies. and you can always get the recipes on their website.
my mom swears by the recipe that comes on the eagle brand sweetened condensed milk for pumpkin pies. it is good and really simple.
Oatmeal cookies from the package and add cinnamon, raisins and nutmeg. Addictive--my college roommate called them Oatmeal Yums.
on the inside of cascade organic's frozen spinach package is a yummy recipe for rosemary-spinach cakes. they're really tasty!
Squirrely,
The reasons you give for not liking the Toll House cookies are exactly why I like them! No chewy cookies for The Kid. ;) When we were younger, my sister and I made the oatmeal cookies off the Quaker Oats box and put chocolate chips in them, too! That's all we could find in the kitchen, and I thought we were so original since I had never heard of anybody doing that before.
I've been making the mac and cheese recipe from the back of the Mueller's macaroni box for years, and it is to die for. My kids have had mac and cheese from probably dozens of restaurants (some fancy, some not), and they still love "my" mac and cheese the best. I think they changed the recipe on the box at some point, or at least it's a different recipe on their website, but luckily I cut it off a box before it changed (not to mention memorized it, since I make it about once a week).
a long time ago i bought buttermilk and there was a buttermilk chocolate cake with buttermilk chocolate frosting on the side. my husband and friend were licking the pan, but i remember it was too sweet for me! but the first fudgy bite was really really good. i need to find that again and add less sugar :)
i make the potato salad from the Hellmann's jar and always get rave reviews. i use celery seed instead of celery, but otherwise that's the only change!
I was supprised that I did not see Duncan Hines "Sock It To Me" cake here. I had an Aunt who talked about the cake when I was a child. I ran across the recipe as a teenager on the Duncan Hines - Butter Golden Recipe box and have been making them for over 15 years. I almost didn't comment here because that recipe is one of my best kept secrets. No one knows, or has even really heard of the cake before. But if you like a super moist cake with cinnamon and brown sugar, this one is a winner. You can make it with or without nuts. I always get compliments on this recipe and it is one of a very few baking recipes I make from a box. I use a heavy coat of the Pilsbury non-stick spray with flour and the cake falls right out of my decorative bundt pan. I even spent like $25 on a really good bundt pan because I make this cake so often. This is my go to recipe for all events and holidays, especially since I am picky and do not like traditional deserts.
Sock it to Me is on Duncan Hines website, or here is a link you can copy and paste.
http://www.duncanhines.com/newDuncan/pub/featured-recipes/displayDH.asp?recipeID=67
The frosting for the cake use to be just one cup powdered sugar and 2-3 tbls milk. I still use that and add milk slowly because frosting goes on better thick and gets thin easy if your not careful.
I also love the tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe, but my husband goes bananas for them when I double the salt the recipe calls for but use Kosher salt instead. It makes a HUGE difference!
This is true: famous cook in our family dies at 99. She was a caterer, a beloved college dining hall chief, made famous wedding cakes with recipes from her native Denmark, like that. So her daughter says each of us can have a recipe card to remember her by. I picked "Oatmeal cookies, the boys' favorite." You guessed it: Quaker Oats recipe, plus or minus a half teaspoon of baking soda!
And the Wesson Oil French dressing recipe from about 1948 is classic; I still use it and get compliments, except I use Dijon mustard instead of dry mustard, and poor old Wesson Oil has been replaced by light olive oil.....Also it doesn't hurt that there is more in the stores these days than iceberg lettuce.
-the butterscotch oatmeal cookies on the back of tollhouse butterscotch chips are so addictive I don't even make them anymore, because I could literally eat the whole batch myself.
-the recipe for lemon icebox pie on the condensed milk can is a family favorite (though I've also taken to making a version based on it)
-I'm allergic to chocolate, but make the recipe on the box of whichever brand of baking chocolate I get, and they always get rave reviews.
I have a recipe from back of Bisquick for Chicken pot pie that is sooo easy, slightly unhealthy (it involves Campbells soup too) - but LOVED by everyone. Easy peasy.
Speaking of bisquick, their cheddar biscuit recipe on the back of the box is incredible and super easy.
For SisterRae: Do you still have that Black Bean Soup recipe that you used from the back of the Premium cracker box? I've been looking everywhere for that recipe. :')
The book, Best Recipes From The Backs Of Boxes, Bottles, Cans And Jars, is available from Abe's Books:
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=Best Recipes From The Backs Of Boxes, Bottles, Cans And Jars&x=0&y=0