mitzireddy

During our family holiday to the States in October last year we stayed at the Doubletree hotel in Key West. Doubletree, besides being a fab chain of hotels, is famous for their chocolate chip cookie which is given to each guest as they check in. This tradition was introduced in the 1980s and is used to suggest Doubletree hospitality and to differentiate the brand from its competition. This marketing strategy obviously works as I have no hesitation recalling the name of the hotel.

The cookies are referred to as “warmers” by the staff and are baked several times a day in the hotels kitchens and are kept warm in the ovens built into the hotels’ front desks. These cookies are also sold online and the cookies obviously have to be excellent to be associated as part of the hotel brand.

The original recipe is brand protected for more than 2 decades – the recipe below is the copycat version

Not another chocolate chip cookie recipe – I know (it’s the reason why I delayed doing this post) – but these are really yummy and not sickly sweet – and well worth trying. These cookies are very moreish – I made daily trips to the receptionist, during our stay, for the cookies to munch with our nightcap of coffee.

DoubleTreeHotel

Chocolate Chip Cookies  

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup rolled oats

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

2 eggs

3 cups semi-sweet, chocolate chips

1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 180 C degrees.

Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth.

Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well-incorporated.

Spoon rounded 1/4-cup portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 5 cms apart. You don’t need to press the dough flat. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. Store in a sealed container when cool to keep soft.

For the best results in warm weather is to chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before

baking the cookies.

Makes 20 cookies.