The chocolate chip cookie is the world’s most beloved and popular cookie.  It is mystifyingly delicious and emotionally comforting for all who encounter it. A woman named Mrs. Wakefield invented the chocolate chip cookie by mistake in 1930. Mrs. Wakefield, attempting to make her favorite Butter Drop Do cookies realized (mid-recipe) that she had run out of bakers chocolate. She decided, instead, to chop up a chocolate bar into little pieces and sprinkle then into the dough. So when they baked, the chocolate chips melted and the chocolate chip cookie was born. As you can see, the story of the chocolate chip cookie, is one of innovation at the risk of making a mistake. For that reason, the chocolate chip cookie is my favorite thing in the entire world.

The chocolate chip cookie reminds me of myself. No, it is not because I am also brown, small, and loved by all. It is because the chocolate chip cookie and I have many shared qualities. Like me, chocolate chip cookie is unique, inclusive, and adaptable.

No two chocolate chip cookies are alike. That is the beauty of baking a chocolate chip cookie. I will never be able to exactly replicate the distinct soft middle of an Otis Spunkmeyer cookie or the petite oval of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie from Wegmans. But the chocolate chip cookie is aware that I am my own unique baker and it respects my individual style and approach to baking. The dough is pliable in my hands and accepting of whatever form I choose to give it.

That leads me to my next point: chocolate chip cookies are inclusive. Have ever thought about all the possibilities of chocolate chips that are out there? There are semi-sweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, caramel swirl chocolate chips. I think you catch my drift. The chocolate chip cookie is the picture of dessert diversity. It is inclusive of all flavors and has yet to reject any topping combination. The other day, I saw a recipe for a bacon chocolate chip cookie. Clearly, flavor discrimination is not an issue for the chocolate chip cookie. It is accepting of all.

And finally, chocolate chip cookies are adaptable. May times when I have found myself attempting to create a cookie from scratch, I have realized that I am missing an ingredient or two. I have been able to substitute ingredients and still end up with a delicious cookie. The chocolate chip cookie has taught me to be as adaptable in my own life. I have learned to utilize and maximize what I already have. I have learned to improvise and think quickly on my feet.  And I have learned to make a masterpiece out of a mess.

Some would say that the chocolate chip cookie is simply overexposed and is just like any other cookie. I’d counter that by saying that the chocolate chip cookie is a metaphor for how we should be in our lives:  we should unique, inclusive, and always adaptable. Just like the chocolate chip cookie.