National Chocolate Chip Day 2016: How To Celebrate, Best Recipes To Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

Sunday is National Chocolate Chip Day, meaning it’s a perfect time to celebrate one of America’s most beloved sweet treats.

Despite its almost universal appeal, the chocolate chip was not invented until the 1930s, when Ruth Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, added broken chocolate bar pieces to her cookie batter. She expected the chocolate to melt into the batter, but, instead, she became the inventor of the chocolate chip cookie.

After Nestlé acquired Wakefield’s recipe, the company gave her a lifetime supply of chocolate and popularized what we now know as the chocolate chip. Nowadays, 53 percent of American adults prefer chocolate chip cookies over oatmeal, peanut butter and other varieties of cookie, according to Epicurious.

National Chocolate Chip Day is not exactly an official holiday, but many cities, bakeries and sweet shops around the country find ways to celebrate it. For example, a Cookie Crawl will mark National Chocolate Chip Day this year in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Even if you don’t want to spend a lot of money or visit a particular store, there are plenty of ways to observe this special day. Here are some great recipes to try out on National Chocolate Chip Day.

Brown Butter Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches: This Kevin & Amanda recipe will produce an easy-to-make but fancy-looking dessert that will take you beyond the traditional chocolate chip cookie.

Chocolate Chip Pie: If you’re looking for something more sophisticated, this recipe for chocolate chip pie from The Girl Who Ate Everything should do the trick.

Chocolate Chip Pancake Casserole: This Delish recipe is one chocolate lovers can convince themselves is breakfast-appropriate.

Chocolate Butter: A Real Simple all-chocolate, do-it-yourself version of Nutella: What could be better?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars: Of course, there has to be a recipe for peanut butter-obsessed chocolate lovers. These bars at Averie Cooks should do the trick.

Chocolate Smoothie: This comparatively light option includes bananas and coconut to give you something refreshing to go with the rest of your chocolate. Check out the recipe at Real Simple.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cake: This beautiful cake recipe from Lemon-Sugar looks like it will satisfy cravings for dark chocolate and delicious mint frosting.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownie Bombs: The description of this recipe speaks of a “ball of cookie dough surrounded by a fudgy brownie and then coated in chocolate and sprinkled with mini chips.” Enough said.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies: Another take on the classic chocolate chip cookie, this one has an Oreo hidden inside, with the recipe at Lemon-Sugar.