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The famous DoubleTree Hotel chocolate chip cookie recipe is officially out — and it’s even better homemade. These oversized, chewy, warm cookies are loaded with mini chocolate chips, ground oats for the most incredible texture, and a surprise ingredient. These Doubletree Hotel copycat chocolate chip cookies are the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Chocolate Chip Cookies may be the most perfect food on the planet. If you’ve ever checked into a DoubleTree Hotel after a long day of travel and felt genuine happiness when they handed you a warm chocolate chip cookie — this post is for you. That cookie? It’s legendary. Over 30 million of them are eaten every year, one was even baked in space, and for decades the recipe was a closely guarded secret. Then Hilton released it. And I’ve been making it on repeat ever since. But there’s a lot more to this cookie than meets the eye — and once you understand what every single ingredient is doing, you’ll never bake a mediocre chocolate chip cookie again.
I finally made the official recipe at home and it is as good as I remember. The secret is in the ground oats — they create the most impossibly chewy, thick texture without making it taste like an oatmeal cookie.
Since I was a little girl, it has been my quest to try out every single chocolate chip cookie recipe out there and then get in the kitchen and create my own chocolate chip cookie recipes. As many of you know, as a teenager, I would request cookie cookbooks as my presents and would study them for hours at a time. My Mom wished that I felt as much passion about Algebra as I did about cookies! I would finish my chores at lightning speed just so I could get out the big yellow plastic bowl and create another cookie recipe.
Since it is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, I must debut a brand new cookie recipe. This one is a keeper! Here is a recipe for the Famous Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies. Oh my word, if you haven’t tried these you better get busy in the kitchen making some cookies! As a kid, I would try to convince my Dad to book a Doubletree Hotel just so I could eat their cookies. Tad obsessed? Maybe. You are going to LOVE these famous Doubletree Hotel chocolate chip cookies!
What makes the copycat Doubletree cookie so special?
Let me count the ways.
There’s something almost magical about checking into a hotel after a long day of travel and being handed a warm, oversized chocolate chip cookie. That’s exactly what DoubleTree by Hilton has been doing for decades, and it’s turned a simple baked good into one of the most iconic hospitality traditions in the world.
The cookie is so beloved that it even made history as the first food ever baked in orbit aboard the International Space Station. When Hilton finally released the official recipe — something they had kept secret since the cookie’s debut — the internet went absolutely wild. Bakers everywhere rushed to recreate it, and the results? Just as legendary as the original.
What makes this recipe different? First of all, you start with melted butter. That is a great start already! Since the butter is melted, once the sugars are added, they melt into a smooth velvety mixture. This isn’t an oatmeal cookie but there is a surprise. You ground up 1/2 cup of rolled oats in a food processor until a fine powder and you add it into the cookie. It adds such a nice, chewy texture. A touch of lemon juice adds the perfect amount of acidity when paired with baking soda creates tiny little air bubbles to give the cookie some rise and volume.
What makes DoubleTree cookies different from every other chocolate chip cookie:
If you look at the ingredient list, a few things stand out immediately:
- Rolled oats — but wait, these aren’t oatmeal cookies
- Lemon juice — in a chocolate chip cookie?
- Cinnamon — a subtle but game-changing addition
- Low baking temperature (300°F) — much lower than the standard 350°F
- Mini chocolate chips — not regular-sized
- Walnuts — optional, but traditional
DoubleTree Cookie Recipe Ingredients:
- Butter (melted)
- Brown Sugar — always pack the brown sugar into the measuring cup
- Sugar
- Eggs — use large eggs
- Vanilla — use pure vanilla extract
- Lemon Juice — optional but adds a subtle acid
- Rolled Oats (ground in food processor)
- Flour — use all-purpose flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Mini Chocolate Chips — my suggestion is Ghirardelli or Nestle
- Walnuts (coarsely chopped)
These Doubletree copycat chocolate chip cookies are uniquely amazing already but we add one more extra special step that sets them apart. Mini chocolate chips! The beauty of using mini chocolate chips is that you get a little chocolate in every single bite. The smaller size of mini chips means they spread throughout the dough more evenly. With every single bite of cookie, you get chocolate. With regular chips, you might get a big chocolate pocket here and a dry bite there. Mini chips solve that entirely. A little walnuts give it a little crunch and cuts the sweetness of the cookie.
How to make homemade Hilton DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Place butter in a microwave-safe bowl and cook in the microwave until melted, approximately 45-60 seconds.
- Stir in brown sugar and sugar and keep stirring until the mixture is smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in vanilla, lemon juice, and eggs.
- In a food processor, pulse rolled oats until a fine powder. Add to the mixture. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt until all are combined.
- Stir in mini chocolate chips and walnuts.
- Place the cookie dough in plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Place in the refrigerator to chill.
- The minimum chilling time is 1-2 hours. The ideal chilling time is at least overnight or 24-48 hours.
- Preheat oven to 360 degrees.
- Remove from refrigerator and shape into balls on a cookie sheet. If the dough is cold and tightly formed together, use a knife to cut the dough sections. It is usually easier to shape into balls once it is in smaller pieces.
- Bake for 11-14 minutes or until golden brown. May sprinkle with a touch of sea salt.
You have to make me a deal. Okay? The key to this cookie dough is that it must have time to chill in the refrigerator. Chilling is a very important step as it solidifies the dough and marries the ingredients together. It also keeps the cookies from spreading too much. The ideal chilling time is overnight….if you can wait that long. I prefer to chill my cookie dough for 24-48 hours. I promise the cookies just keep getting better and better! The minimum chill time for this recipe is 1-2 hours.
Once the dough is chilled, bake until golden brown. Then start eating straight out of the oven. These Copycat Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies will melt in your mouth and may be your new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe!
I suggest eating them warm since the chocolate will be perfectly melted and the cookies with melt in your mouth.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I make these without walnuts? Absolutely. The nuts are traditional in the DoubleTree recipe but completely optional. Some people replace them with more chocolate chips, pecans, or macadamia nuts. The cookie is equally delicious without any nuts at all.
Can I skip the lemon juice? Technically yes, but the cookies won’t be quite the same. The lemon juice contributes to the tender, chewy texture by activating the baking soda.
Can I use quick oats instead of rolled oats? Yes. Quick oats are finer than old-fashioned rolled oats and will grind down even more easily. The end result is very similar. Do not use steel-cut oats — they are too coarse and won’t work properly in this recipe.
Why are my cookies spreading too much? The most common culprits are the dough wasn’t chilled or oven temperature was too high.
Why are my cookies too dry? You likely overbaked them or overmixed the dough. Pull them out of the oven when the centers still look soft — they firm up as they cool. Also, make sure you’re measuring flour correctly: spoon flour into the measuring cup and level it off, rather than scooping directly from the bag (which packs in extra flour).
Can I make the dough ahead? Yes! The dough can be made and refrigerated for up to 72 hours before baking. You can also scoop the dough into balls and freeze them. Bake frozen dough balls directly from the freezer — just add 2–3 minutes to the baking time.
Can I double the recipe? Absolutely. This recipe doubles beautifully. Use a large stand mixer bowl to accommodate the extra volume.
Are these cookies the same as what they serve in the hotel? Yes — this is the official recipe released by Hilton. The hotel-baked versions are made in large commercial quantities, so there may be slight differences in consistency, but the flavor and ingredient profile are identical.
Popular Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:
If you love homemade chocolate chip cookie recipes, I have the best chocolate chip cookie recipes just for you…
Another classic chocolate chip cookie recipe is the famous Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
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Copycat Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- kitchenaid mixer
- baking sheet
- parchment paper baking sheets
- measuring cups and spoons
- turner
- spatula set
- cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter melted (in microwave)
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1/2 cup Rolled Oats ground in food processor
- 2 1/4 cup Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups Mini Chocolate Chips
- 1 1/2 cups Walnuts coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Place butter in microwave-safe bowl and cook in microwave until melted, approximately 45-60 seconds.
- Stir in brown sugar and sugar and keep stirring until the mixture is smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in vanilla, lemon juice, and eggs.
- In food processor, pulse rolled oats until a fine powder. Add to mixture. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt until all combined.
- Stir in mini chocolate chips and walnuts.
- Place cookie dough in plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Place in refrigerator to chill.
- The minimum chilling time is 1-2 hours. The ideal chilling time is at least overnight or 24-48 hours.
- Preheat oven to 360 degrees.
- Remove from refrigerator and shape into balls on cookie sheet. If the dough is cold and tightly formed together, use a knife to cut dough sections. It is usually easier to shape into balls once it is in smaller pieces.
- Bake for 11-14 minutes or until golden brown. May sprinkle with a touch of sea salt.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Happy Baking, my friends!
should we be using unsalted butter because of the 1 tsp. salt? TYIA
Hi Tonia! Yes, you can use unsalted butter! If using salted butter you can add about 1/4-1/2 tsp of salt instead of the 1 tsp.
The best! My go to always. Sometimes I will try different recipes and they never turn out good. I swear by the lemon and oats!
Could I make chocolate chip cookies with a liquid type sugar? Would I need to adjust the dry?
Lovvved these cookies
Made a lot of dozens not just 2