Very Good, Very Inn, The DoubleTree Cookie
I LOVE my Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I have been using it for years, folks who try them have asked for the recipe to which I give the standard “if I give it to you I will have to kill you” line, jk. Although I did finally give in and post my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, which you can find here. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean I won’t try other CCC recipes, on the contrary, I can’t resist trying new ones. In fact, one of my favorites is the Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies from David Lebovitz, the Tahini paste adds both taste and texture, it’s really yummy.
During the COVID crisis, Hilton Hotels has generously released the recipe for their famous DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookies. Their signature cookies are doled out at check-in. Everyone clamors over these cookies, who doesn’t like a warm cookie with oozy melted chocolate? Yeah, I don’t see any hands going up. They are delicious-warm, gooey, crispy edges, chock full of nuts and chocolate, perfect with an ice-cold glass of milk, a cup of coffee, or by themselves.
Thank you, Hilton and DoubleTree for sharing
So, of course, I baked a batch. I noticed that the recipe is very similar to my recipe. Coincidence? I think, heck yeah. Interestingly, the recipe includes a bit of lemon juice (to help cookies rise?) and a dash of cinnamon.
I followed the recipe EXACTLY, well, except for the chocolate chips, I didn’t have any Nestle’s so I used Guittard Semi-sweet Chocolate wafers, chopped (could explain why hubby thought they were too chocolatey) and also pecans, a trade-off since I was NOT going to go to the market just for walnuts. Baking in the time of a pandemic.
This is a pretty classic how-to cookie-making directions. The recipe is explicit regarding the length of time to cream the butter and sugar. It makes a BIG difference in the final texture of your cookies. I bake a lot of cookies and I am still nervous about how they will turn out. So many variables-the temperature of the butter, how to cream the butter and sugar, kind of flour, and how much flour is added…I could go on but just thinking about it is making me anxious! Serious Eats has a fantastic primer on Cookie Science, WELL WORTH the read.
The smartest thing I can say is to FOLLOW the directions if you want the cookies to turn out like the original. Cream that butter and sugar for the two minutes the recipe calls for. Start with butter that is not too hard or soft, the scientist in me says take your butter’s temp, it should be around 60-65 degrees. Don’t bring your eggs to room temp before adding them to your batter. Creaming the butter and sugar causes heat and warms the butter. You don’t want it to melt, you worked too hard creating air pockets in the dough that translates to a “light” tender cookie. Adding the cold egg will help keep the temperature from increasing and melting the butter-it’s a good thing.
Once you add the dry ingredients, continue to stir until you don’t see any flour. Make sure to scrape down your bowl. Another note, if the author of the recipe calls for a specific brand of flour, take that into account. I use King Arthur Flour, but a lot of recipes are tested using Gold Medal due to its availability (Example-Stella Parks and her Peanut Butter Cookies ). This will affect your cookie due to the protein content of the flour. I’m guessing I could have taken a smidge of flour out of this recipe for a softer, gooier cookie. Don’t overbeat as this will develop the gluten leading to a tough cookie. You wanna be a tough cookie, not make a tough cookie.
Portion out the dough as directed into 3 tablespoons balls. Use an ice cream scoop for this (#24), you will not only get the right size and thickness cookie but nice “purdy” round cookies. The volume of dough definitely influences the cookie spread.
Like crevices in your cookies? About 3-4 minutes before the cookies are finished baking, rap the cookie sheet on the wire oven rack. This will cause the cookie to deflate and give it that craggy, uneven look. Yep, known as the pan-banging method.
I marvel at how bakeries can churn out cookies on a daily basis, not by how they are so delicious but how they are so consistently the same. I’m hoping some of these tips will help. My favorite bakery in Los Gatos (currently closed due to COVID) is Icing on the Cake they make fabulous cookies. I will be the first in line when they reopen, their cookies are so good, so consistent.
Now go bake!
DoubleTree Signature Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
The Fat & Sugar Mix
- ½ pound butter, unsalted softened (2 sticks)
- ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
The Wet Stuff
- 2 large eggs cold
- 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
The Dry Stuff
- 2 ¼ cups flour
- 1/2 cup rolled oats old-fashioned or quick, NOT instant
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pinch cinnamon about 1/8 tsp
The Finish, The Bling
- 2 2/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips Nestle Tollhouse
- 1 3/4 cups chopped walnuts sub pecans or nit of choice
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. Will be light and fluffy.
- 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 ribbon-like, scraping down bowl.
- With mixer on low speed, add flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, blending for about 45 seconds. Don’t overmix.
- Remove bowl from mixer and stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
- Portion dough with a scoop (about 3 tablespoons) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart. (#24 ice cream scoop)
- 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.