A Copycat Recipe for DoubleTree Hotel's Legendary Chocolate Chip Cookies (2024)

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Be ‘in the know’ with this copycat recipe for the popular DoubleTree Hotel’s Signature Chocolate Chip Cookie!

This recipe adapted from HiltonSuggests.hilton.com with express permission; yields 26 REALLY BIG cookies!

If you’ve ever been offered a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie upon arriving at a Hilton DoubleTree Hotel, you absolutely know the famous story of the DoubleTree chocolate chip cookies recipe.

The DoubleTree Hotel Cookie Recipe

I don’t know why I don’t post more cookie recipes to Not Entirely Average. When I began sharing my recipes with the planet two years ago, I suppose I figured most everybody had their favorite cookie recipes.

That adding to this splendidly sweet category would be for naught. I focused instead on jumping in with both feet hard and fast right to the big stuff.

Along the way, I did manage to force myself to add ‘favorites,’ though just a few. Pecan Tassies, Brownie Mix Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Southern Tea Cakes.

ALL AMAZING. Yet, this copycat DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe may just be the most popular of all time.

Having the opportunity to travel, even if only day or weekend trips, is a privilege. And travel not only affords us the chance at a little R&R, but also the chance to experience the unique histories that states, cities, and even the tiniest of towns were built on.

Charleston, South Carolina is a jewel along the eastern seaboard with just such a history. And living here has enabled me to learn so much.

It’s also taught me that I truly LOVE travel and history. Combine those two fervencies with my biggest passion, food, and I instantly make a great tour guide for friends and family who come to town!

A Necessary Evacuation

Living in Charleston also makes a great starting point for day tripping away from the Palmetto State. In just about 4 hours, I can be to Chapel Hill, NC, Macon, GA, or Jacksonville, FL.

Not too long ago, and due to a big named hurricane moving in on the east coast, I began following the weather models to see if there were even vague predictions on where this gal was expected to make landfall. I sure was NOT going to be wherever ‘there’ was.

I also began to book hotels in several different directions. I’d cancel the rooms for the directions we did not travel in as the days and the storm forecast edged closer.

The DoubleTree Hotel chocolate chip cookie is THE SECRET COOKIE RECIPE among cookie recipes. Well, WAS SECRET…

48 hours ahead of landfall, it was clear that the spaghetti models (that’s what I call them anyway) were showing a northern South Carolina/southern North Carolina hit.

I immediately knew me and mine would then be headed south and away from the winds and the rain that were still certainly going to affect Charleston.

I cancelled the reservations I’d made in Atlanta and Hickory, but confirmed the ones I’d made for Saint Augustine, Florida.

It’s hard enough to board up your home and pack everything important to you in the cars to then leave, let alone try to get comfortable elsewhere while all hell is breaking loose at home.

This ‘trip’ was not one I was looking forward to because of the circ*mstances, but I was glad I’d thought enough ahead to secure a beautiful hotel and in a vibrant ancient city to boot. If you’ve ever visited Saint Augustine, you already know EXACTLY what I’m talking about…

We rolled into Saint Augustine, cars packed with pets, people, and important property just before dinner the day of the storm. Guest services was handling A LOT of North and South Carolina evacuees who’d made the trek and were clearly in a stressed state of mind.

That was, until four or five guest services staff stepped into the lobby with large plates of chocolate chip cookies, the legendary DoubleTree cookies…

The DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie recipe is a big deal. The cookies have been nagging recipe developers and the copycat cookie recipes community for decades, trying to recreate this fabled flavor profile, but even more so, it’s texture.

This is where the science and hospitality industries comingle without really knowing it! The DoubleTree iconic chocolate chip cookie recipe is well received when it’s first introduced in 1986, so much so that this now famous Hilton DoubleTree cookies recipe is deemed secret and not to be shared.

But what the heck is it about this dough that makes better cookies than other chocolate chip cookie recipes??

Why Put Lemon Juice in Chocolate Chip Cookies?

So, on one hand you’ve got the good folks at Hilton/DoubleTree passing out these comforting and soft cookies upon guests’ arrivals. A small nicety which turns out not to be small at all.

The feedback is fantastic, and the payback is big. The DoubleTree cookie recipe is being requested…a whole lot.

And the method, which specifies the addition of the tiniest amount of LEMON JUICE, is altering the outcome of the bake as it reacts with the agent baking soda…and that science is what built the better cookie.

When the pandemic hit, and after what I understand were “many meetings,” the secret recipe for DoubleTree cookies was officially released by Hilton’s execs in corporate.

Stay-at-home orders forced millions to postpone travel. And as talks about company survival across so many affected industries was had, the hotel chain decided to break some good news despite the pending financial blows hospitality and restaurants were about to endure. The DoubleTree cookie recipe 2020…

See Also

Hotel Saravana Bhavan Vegetable Kurma Recipe – Kannamma Cooks

Ingredients for Copycat DoubleTree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies

• butter
• granulated sugar
• light brown sugar
• eggs
• vanilla
• lemon juice
• flour
• rolled oats
• baking soda
• salt
• cinnamon
• Nestle Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips
• walnuts

All images and text ©Jenny DeRemer for Not Entirely Average, LLC

A Copycat Recipe for DoubleTree Hotel’s Legendary Chocolate Chip Cookies

Jenny DeRemer

This recipe adapted from HiltonSuggests.hilton.com with express permission for the Hilton DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookie

Be 'in the know' with this copycat recipe for the popular DoubleTree Hotel's signature chocolate chip cookie!

5 from 4 votes

Servings: 26 REALLY BIG cookies

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Cool Directly On Cookie Sheet 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 26 REALLY BIG cookies

Calories 325 kcal

Equipment

• ▢

  cookie sheets

• ▢

  parchment paper

Ingredients

• ▢ ½ pound unsalted butter softened to room temperature
• ▢ ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ▢ ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
• ▢ 2 large eggs
• ▢ 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice ** NOT OPTIONAL – DO NOT SKIP THIS INGREDIENT
• ▢ 2 ¼ cups flour
• ▢ ½ cup rolled oats
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda ** NOT OPTIONAL – DO NOT SKIP THIS INGREDIENT
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ pinch cinnamon
• ▢ 2 ⅔ cup Nestle Tollhouse semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ▢ 1 ¾ cups walnuts chopped

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300°F.

• Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes.

• Add eggs, vanilla and lemon juice, blending with mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, then medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy, scraping down bowl.

• Add flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, and stir using the tines of a fork. Don’t overmix. Dough will appear dense and slightly dry. This is correct. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts, again using a fork.

• Portion dough with a scoop (about 3 tablespoons) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart.

• Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and center is still soft.

• Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet for about 1 hour.

Notes

You can freeze the unbaked cookies, and there’s no need to thaw. Preheat oven to 300°F and place frozen cookies on parchment paper-lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden brown and center is still soft.

The nutrition value can vary depending on what product(s) you use. The information below is an estimate. Always use a calorie counter you are familiar with.

Please note that table salt and iodized salt are NOT substitutions for Kosher salt. Do not deviate unless otherwise specified.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookieCalories: 325kcalCarbohydrates: 34gProtein: 4gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 34mgSodium: 142mgPotassium: 173mgFiber: 2gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 250IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 31mgIron: 2mg

Did you love this recipe?Leave a comment and Let me know how it was!