I Made the 35-Year-Old DoubleTree Cookie Recipe (It’s Still Good After All This Time)

I think we can all agree that the best part of staying at a DoubleTree is the chocolate chip cookies.

I mean, sure, vacation is great. But those gooey, delightful desserts—all chocolaty and warm after a long flight or road trip—are one of the greatest joys of traveling.

Except now, you don’t even have to travel to get one (well, you might have to embark on a journey from your couch to your kitchen). DoubleTree shared its secret recipe for those iconic cookies, and I had to test them and report back.

What Do I Need to Know About This Recipe?

I tested this recipe for my family and followed every last step right down to the fussiest detail—including the extremely difficult direction to “Let the cookies cool on the baking pan for 1 hour.”

1 hour?

That timer was TORTURE as the house was filled with the smell of golden brown buttery cookies with melted chocolate.

But was it worth it?

My husband was the first taste-tester. He took a bite and I asked what he thought as he was still chewing. He could only pause and hold his hand up, motioning that I needed to wait. He required a moment of silence while he ate that first cookie.

His verdict: “These are the best cookies I’ve had in a very long time.”

One bite and I heartily agreed. They may be the only chocolate chip cookies we bake from now on. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, with the perfect ratio of walnuts and chocolate chips, these cookies checked every box on our scorecard.

The Famous DoubleTree Cookie Recipe

Ingredients For Doubletree Cookies on kitchen counter

This recipe makes 26 vacation-worthy cookies.

Ingredients

2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2-1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch cinnamon
2-2/3 cups Nestle Toll House semisweet chocolate chips
1-3/4 cups chopped walnuts

Tools You’ll Need

Instructions

Step 1: Cream the butter and sugars

creaming together butter and sugars for doubletree chocolate chip cookies

Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl so everything is incorporated.

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.

You may be tempted to skip the 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice—but don’t! Lemon juice in cookies gives a tiny hit of acidic balance to the buttery richness and also helps the cookies to rise perfectly.

Step 2: Add the dry ingredients

adding dry ingredients to mixing bowl for doubletree chocolate chip cookies

With mixer on low speed, add flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, blending for just about 45 seconds and then STOP as soon as the dough is just blended.

Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and let the mixer start the incorporation, but finish stirring by hand to ensure the cookies aren’t overmixed.

Step 3: Portion out the dough

Doubletree Chocolate Chip Cookie dough on cookie sheet

Preheat oven to 300°F. Portion dough with a scoop (about 3 tablespoons) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart. In a pinch, I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the cookie dough and just filled it about 3/4 full for each cookie.

Step 4: Bake!

Doubletree Chocolate Chip Cookies Baked

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.

We cheated and tried to test a cookie before the hour timer went off just to see what would happen. The cookies are so delicate when they first come out of the oven, it fell apart in our hands. But after they had a chance to cool, the cookie texture was flawless.

However, truly impatient cookie bakers might get away with a taste test somewhere after 30 minutes and still have a cookie hold together enough to pick up.

Editor’s Tip: You can freeze the unbaked cookies. To bake, preheat oven to 300°F and place frozen cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden brown and center is still soft.