Probably the best-loved cookies are Toll House, originated before World War II by the late Ruth Wakefield when she operated the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Mass. She chopped chocolate by hand then, because chocolate chips weren't invented until Toll House cookies become popular.

The Nestle company now owns her recipe. Their test kitchen offers these tips for baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie:

To prevent your Toll House cookies from going flat:

*Don't omit the nuts.

*When using butter, soften at room temperature just until it yields to light pressure. One stick of butter may be softened in the microwave on defrost for about 10 to 15 seconds.

*When using margarine, don't soften it. Use full-fat margarine, not diet spreads.

*Don't overbeat the butter and sugar mixture.

*Use ungreased baking sheets and allow them to cool between batches.

*Wipe baking sheets clean or wash them between batches.

*On humid days, add one or two additional tablespoons of flour to recipe.

*Allow cookies to cool for two minutes on baking sheets set on wire racks, then remove cookies to racks to cool completely.

*Use large eggs, not extra large.

*Don't sift pre-sifted all-purpose flour.

You may refrigerate cookie dough, tightly covered, for two to three days or freeze it for up to eight weeks.

Store baked cookies at room temperature after cooling. For soft cookies, store in airtight containers. Put crisp cookies in tins or non-airtight containers. Baked cookies can be wrapped in heavy foil, sealed in freezer-weight plastic bags and frozen for three or four months.

While most people swear by the Toll House recipe, the February issue of Cook's Magazine has an article about the quest for the ideal chewy gourmet-shop kind of chocolate chip cookie. They conclude that it's important to melt the butter if you want a truly chewy texture. Try both recipes - you can never have too many chocolate chip cookies.

ORIGINAL NESTLE TOLL HOUSE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups (12-ounce package) semisweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped nuts

Combine flour, soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen.

This recipe can be doubled, but don't triple it.

PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Prepare dough as above. Spread in greased 15-by-10-inch jelly-roll pan. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on rack. Makes 4 dozen bars.
PEANUT BUTTER VARIATION: Prepare dough as above except substitute 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter and 3/4 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter for the 1 cup (2 sticks) butter. Eliminate nuts. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets; press down slightly. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 4 dozen.

SLICE AND BAKE: Prepare dough as above. Divide in half; wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Chill one hour or until firm. Shape each half into 15-inch log; wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Chill 30 minutes (or store in refrigerator up to one week or in freezer up to eight weeks).

Cut into half-inch slices; place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8 to 1 1minutes in preheated 375-degree oven. Let stand 2 minutes; remove to racks to cool. Makes about 5 dozen.

For different textures, here's how to adjust the original recipe:

For thin, chewy cookies: reduce granulated sugar to 1/2 cup and increase packed brown sugar to one cup.

For thick, chewy, old-fashioned cookies: Use half the amount of butter called for and drop by well-rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 9 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Store in airtight container to prevent drying.

For puffier cookies: Reduce butter to 1/2 cup and add 1/2 cup solid shortening.

For soft, cakey cookies: Omit the granulated sugar and use 3/4 cup butter, 1 cup packed brown sugar and 3 eggs. Drop by well-rounded tablespoons on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten slightly with back of spoon dipped in water. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes. For more rounded cookie, do not flatten before baking; bake 9 to 11 minutes.

For crisper cookies: Use 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and one egg. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Flatten with bottom of glass dipped in water. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 9 to 11 minutes.

THICK AND CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
(From Cook's Magazine)

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unsifted bleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled until warm
1 cup light or dark brown sugar|
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 to 2 cups chocolate chips or chunks

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions. Mix flour, salt and soda in bowl; set aside.

By hand or with mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips.

Form scant 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball with fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged edges exposed, join together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough's uneven surface.

Place formed dough onto one of two parchment paper-lined 20-by-14-inch lipless cookie sheets, about nine dough balls per sheet.
Dough can be refrigerated up to two days or frozen up to one month.
Bake, reversing cookie sheets' positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes. Start checking at 13 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets. Store in airtight containers.

Makes 1 1/2 dozen 3-inch cookies.