Have you ever been strolling through the grocery store and spotted a recipe on the back of something you pulled off a shelf?
- A recipe for cookies on the back of a bag of chocolate chips?
- Back of a soup can casserole recipe?
- A dinner idea on the back of a cereal box?
Nick and I always wondered aloud to each other if some of these recipes were any good. We’ve been talking about trying different back of the box/bag/can/container/etc. recipes and reviewing them for years(!)
So we decided to start a series here on SweetPhi.com called Back of the Box Reviews. It will be a place to catalog our journey through the grocery aisles and kitchen to answer the question above. We’ll share our own thoughts, but the final judgement will of course come from our 3 kids, the taste testers. Our eldest Ben and his younger twin brother and sister, Freddie and Frankie.
Whenever I share Back of the Box Reviews, it will be a collaboration between Nick and I. A different photography style, a different voice. Nick will be the one doing the cooking <-WHOA! The rest of the post are his words, so here goes!
“Phi knows what she’s doing in the kitchen and will often improvise, while I, on the other hand, am more of a “by the numbers” or “by the recipe, exactly” kind of cook. She has definitely rescued me from some mis-prints, but I can also be a bit slow as I methodically cook something step-by-step, much to her frustration.
We want to review the recipes as written, so I’ll be the one cooking and taking notes here, but Phi will share her thoughts on how she would tweak a given recipe or provide alternatives to various ingredients or methods.
We hope you enjoy this series, and if you have any recipes you’d like us to try from the back of a box, bottle, can, jar or bag, just let us know!
When we started this series, we immediately knew what the first recipe had to be. I don’t know if the Original NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe was the first “Back of the Box” Recipe, but it’s almost certainly the most popular. Though I’ve definitely eaten and baked this recipe dozens* of times there were still a few pleasant surprises when we approached it with a more critical eye. (*pun intended).
The Recipe
For the most part this is an extremely straightforward chocolate chip cookie recipe. Preheat your oven, beat your sugar and butter, add eggs, add the dry stuff, drop on a sheet and bake. Boom! You’ve got some pretty tasty cookies! However, I do really appreciate the language NESTLÉ® uses here. Most experienced bakers would understand terminology like, “cream butter,” but the recipe instead uses more layman’s style language like, “beat [sic] until creamy.” I think this is a nice touch, and really recognizes that the author knows their audience. Additionally, for whatever reason, I never noticed that NESTLÉ® offers two variations of the recipe on the bag with slight tweaks to make the cookies with and without nuts. We really appreciated these options.
The Bake
The preparation and baking process proved to be as simple as expected, in fact it was easy enough for our three year old to help. We ended up making not only versions with and without nuts from the bag (we used walnuts), but additional M&M® and Pecan Turtle variants (included in the recipe section below). The recipe showed itself to be easily adaptable to any filling substitutions you might want to make.
The Results
I thought the cookies were great in all the ways you would expect. They land somewhere between crispy and chewy and hit all the expected nostalgia notes; with hints of butter, nuttiness and salt bouncing off the rich chocolate. Fresh out of the oven the original no nut version was as gooey and delicious as you want a classic chocolate chip cookie to be. However, after cooling I was surprised to find myself enjoying the walnut version most, especially as growing up we were a straight chocolate chips only house. The nuts add a nice depth to the flavor of the cookie that’s more prominent once cooled, with nuts adding a bit of textural variation. Furthermore, the nut versions we made seemed to hold up better the next day maintaining a fluffier, softer quality, while the no nut versions seemed to harden up a bit.
What did SweetPhi think?
My mother always taught me to line a cookie sheet or grease it so that cookies don’t stick. I can honestly say that I have never baked a cookie on an un-greased baking sheet. When the back of the bag recipe said “drop onto un-greased baking sheets” I was skeptical, to say the least. My style of baking is to go with what I know. But Nick said we had to follow the instructions exactly, and so we did. We did not end up having to throw out any of our baking sheets, lol. Worked like a charm, and now I’m left wondering why I’ve been lining baking sheets. The cookies themselves were a decent chocolate chip cookie as one would expect (I happened to like the turtle variation and chocolate chip cookie with walnuts the best.) Also, I’m a firm believer that there’s no such thing as a bad chocolate chip cookie, so grab yourself a bag of Nestle Tollhouse semi-sweet chocolate chips and you’re a quick bake away from some cookies of your own.
Did the kids eat it?
Unsurprisingly all three kids loved these cookies, and you’d probably be even less surprised to hear that their favorite version was the M&M® version. We even caught Ben climbing our pantry shelves to snitch a couple more cookies after they had been put away.

Nestle Toll House Original Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup butter softened (2 sticks)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels (1 12-oz package)
- 1 cup chopped nuts if omitting add 1 to 2 Tbs. of all-purpose flour. OR if making variations, omit this ingredient because you'll be adding in toppings in the variation step
Variation 1: walnuts
- 1/4 cup walnuts chopped, 1/4 cup per 1/4 batch, if making full batch with walnuts, use 1 cup
Variation 2: M&Ms
- 1/4 cup M&Ms 1/4 cup per 1/4 batch, if making full batch with M&Ms, use 1 cup
Variation 3: Turtle
- 1/4 cup pecans chopped, 1/4 cup per 1/4 batch, if making full batch with turtle style, use 1/2 cup pecans
- 1/4 cup caramel sauce we prefer a Dulce de leche, 1/4 cup per 1/4 batch, if making full batch turtle style, use 1/2 cup caramel
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition
- Beat in flour mixture gradually
- Stir in morels
- At this step, divide the dough into 4 bowls if making variations and add toppings to each bowl, OR add in 1 cup chopped nuts as in the original recipe
- Drop onto ungreased baking sheets by rounded tablespoon
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely
Jenn says
I recently bought Toll House Chocolate Chips as they were on one-day sale at my grocery. Legend has it that the Toll House recipe is the original chocolate chip cookie. I’ll definitely have to try it.
For another “back-of-the-box” recipe, my grandmother always made her meatloaf with oatmeal. As an adult I could not find her recipe anywhere. A lengthy Google search turned up that her recipe used to be on the back of a Quaker Oats can! It was such a fun discover!
Sweetphi says
My mother-in-law made meatloaf with oatmeal in it, and I LOVED it, and ever since I always put oats in mine, I’ll have to share a recipe soon!
The Sudden Cook says
Just baked a batch of CC Cookies but have heard much about this recipe – tnx for sharing and hope to try it soon!
Kristy says
There’s a recipe for Southwestern Barley Chili on the back of the Quaker barley box. I’ve made it like once a month for YEARS 🙂 So easy, so good. If I don’t have cooked chicken on hand, I’ll brown ground turkey and throw that in instead. Here’s the recipe if you don’t have a box of barley handy: http://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/southwestern-chicken-chili-with-barley
Sweetphi says
Oh yum, that recipe sounds amazing!
Kim Sedlachek says
When I am in a hurry I know that I can grab a box of flavored noodles or rice (always on hand) check the back of the box and am able to add in chicken/beef and vegies to make a quick meal without thinking about it.
Sweetphi says
Oh I love that idea, so smart!!
Kate says
Grew up on this recipe! I still think it’s the best 🙂
Sweetphi says
It’s just such a classic, isn’t it?
Edie says
I love Toll House Cookie recipe! I have make it so much I have it memorized. All of the recipes mentioned above sound amazing. And the Libby’s pumpkin is another favorite of our family.
Along the same line as Toll House cookies, the Oatmeal Scotchie is another favorite of mine.
Sweetphi says
Oh my goodness, that’s so great you have it memorized! There’s like 2 baking recipes I have memorized, this one might need to be made more so I can commit it to memory! I’ve added those other two recipe ideas to my list, thank you!
Monica M says
I have used the Quaker Oatmeal box recipe for Oatmeal Cookies many times. Though the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies has to be my most used – back of the bag) recipe that I have used.
Sweetphi says
I need to make the Quaker Oatmeal one now (I just bought the oats to make it) – thank you for the idea!
Rose W says
#backofbox/bag
In my case, it’s the back of the can. When I got married, we spent Thanksgiving and Christmas (Dec 25) With my in-laws. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas, my mother-in-law served a delicious pumpkin pie. Growing up, we never had pumpkin pie, we had pumpkin Pita. (Strudel) When my mother-in-law was getting older and things were getting more difficult for her I asked if I could help out. She was the type of woman who would prepare for two or three days for holidays and wanted to do everything on her own. But one year, I talk to her about giving her a hand and she finally let me make the pumpkin pie. I’ve never made one and since hers was the best I ever ate, I asked her for her recipe. She pulled out a can of Libbys solid pumpkin, took me in the corner and whispering, told me this is her recipe, the recipe on the back of Libby‘s solid pumpkin. Im still the pumpkin pie queen years after and still use the recipe on the back of the Libby’s can and everyone still loves it!
Sweetphi says
Oh my goodness Rose, thank you for sharing this lovely comment. It gave me goosebumps, how special and cute is that memory? I am going to add this to my ‘to make and share’ list asap because that’s so great! We recently made the pecan pie recipe on the back of the corn syrup bottle and oh my goodness was it good. It was different than the pecan pies I’d had before and just so perfect, so I’ll have to share that and then do the Libbys pumpkin one. Thank you again for sharing that story.
Linda Bick says
I hope I’m commenting in the right place for the giveaway this month! We also love the original toll house cookie recipe! It’s a winner! Have you tried the chicken chili recipe that comes with the Costco chicken in a can? It’s good and easy!
Sweetphi says
Hi Linda, you’re in the right spot, thank you for commenting for the giveaway!! I’m so glad to hear you like the Toll House cookies to! I’m going to write down the chili recipe to check out because it sounds so interesting, thank you for sharing!
Mary W says
During cold weather months, one of our favorite meals is the soup recipe from the back of the Quaker Quick Pearled Barley box called the Quick ‘N Hearty Vegetable Barley Soup.
I love barley and this recipe is a family friendly meal that is easy and tasty. Sometimes I change up the meat and instead of using beef,
I use ground turkey, ground chicken or even lamb.
Sweetphi says
Ooooh yum, that sounds so good. I’m going to have to check that out! This will be a soup just for me and the kids (I love barley, but my husband is allergic to barley – it’s adult onset allergy!) I absolutely love barley so more for me 🙂
Amy Cooley says
I’m not ashamed to say that I love the classic Green Bean Casserole recipe on the container of French’s Crispy Fried Onions!
Sweetphi says
Oh this is such a good one!!! I’m going to add it to my list to make/share. No shame in that game, that’s such a classic delicious recipe!!