"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
...and quite easy to make I might add.
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!
Either that or he reverse engineers the recipes and sells them to people trying to start up their own McDowell's.
Gotta go do some cookin' !!!