Top Secret Recipes

By Algonkin in Food & Drink on Dec 2, 2007 at 8:14 am

TSR In Orange County, California in the late 80′s Todd Wilbur received a copy of the notorious Mrs. Fields Cookie Recipe Chain Letter that had been making rounds across the nation. Trying the recipe led to disappointment. This was certainly no “secret formula.” The results tasted nothing like a delicious Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookie!

“Fake! Phony!” he cried. And then he wondered, “Just who are the goofballs passing this off as an authentic secret formula and how is it that such a bad knockoff recipe becomes so crazy popular?”

Todd had an idea. Since he had way too much free time on his hands, he got to work on a recipe for a cookie that had the flavor, texture and appearance of a real Mrs. Fields cookie. How hard could it be? Batch after batch the clones came closer to the real thing, until one day, it happened. The cookies came out chewy and delicious, with crispy edges and that strong vanilla aroma. Bingo! The first Top Secret Recipe was born.

Link: Top Secret Recipes


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  1. algonkin
    Dec 2nd, 2007 at 8:16 am

    I personally tried the McDonald’s Big Mac sauce and it’s bang on!

    …and quite easy to make I might add.

  2. Alison
    Dec 2nd, 2007 at 9:33 am

    Oh, perfect! I was going to bake cookies today anyway, now I have a new recipe to try!

  3. Marco
    Dec 2nd, 2007 at 10:47 am

    This story sounds legit but it’s really just a promo for a commercial site that “sells” recipes to fast food.

    You have to agree to multi-paragraph legal agreement just to view “his” recipe” which is identical to 90% of the chocolate chip recipes available freely all over the web, or in any cookbook.

    I suspect this fellow’s real business is licensing the recipes from the original franchises and reeling in suckers who feel like they’re getting away with something.

    Boooo!

  4. ryan
    Dec 2nd, 2007 at 1:50 pm

    “I suspect this fellow’s real business is licensing the recipes from the original franchises and reeling in suckers who feel like they’re getting away with something.”

    Either that or he reverse engineers the recipes and sells them to people trying to start up their own McDowell’s.

  5. Chris
    Dec 2nd, 2007 at 1:50 pm

    If the taste is real, this guy is up for canonisation.
    Gotta go do some cookin’ !!!

  6. Chad
    Dec 2nd, 2007 at 2:29 pm

    I had to email this to my wife THANK YOU for posting this!

  7. ruby
    Dec 3rd, 2007 at 10:24 am

    I’ve been on this guys website once a week for a year now. He gives away one free recipe a week…I have a load of them! Most of them are so great and I have a recipe for Applebee’s Orange Chicken Bowl that is spot on! I love him!

  8. NeonCat
    Dec 3rd, 2007 at 2:06 pm

    I would suggest going to the library or buying William Poundstone’s Big Secrets series of books, one of which had the secret of Mrs. Fields’ cookies. Other receipes included Kentucky Fried Chicken, Grey Poupon and Coca-Cola. Plus a whole bunch of other stuff that may be somewhat obsolete since the books came out in the 80s-early 90s.

  9. Tilapia Recipes
    Mar 8th, 2009 at 5:39 pm

    I love it. Thanks! But i wonder what that top secret recipe is. Can you post it?


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