Copycat Double Tree "Chocolate Chip Cookies"

I discovered this recipe for Double Tree Hotels "Chocolate Chip Cookies" at Iowa Girl Eats blog.  

I have never experienced the hospitality of a Double Tree Hotel or their notable cookies.  So it wasn’t a stroll down memory lane that got me mixing up a batch of these cookies.  

It was the 3 not-so-ordinary chocolate chip cookie ingredients that caught my attention, especially grinding the oats into flour.  Oatmeal is always a plus and sneaking them in your cookies unnoticed was a good idea to me.

So here’s the skinny on the three mystery ingredients and why you should add them to your cookies;

1.       Old Fashioned Oats - get ground into flour in a food processor or blender to give the cookies a soft chewy center.

2.       Cinnamon - to give the cookies a hint of spice without really being there.

3.       Fresh Lemon Juice - just a squeeze will mellow out the sweetness in a discrete but important way.

Amazingly these three ingredients did exactly what they claimed they would do.  These were excellent cookies!

Hot cookies right out of the oven, yeah!  Don't do it, even though you are tempted to, be patient and “Wait” for about 10 – 15 minutes for them to completely cool down.  These cookies get better as they cool rendering a crispy edged cookie with a soft chewy center.  Trust me, they will be worth the wait.

I also recommend that you refrigerate the dough for at least an hour before baking so the cookies won’t get too thin when baking.

Tip ~ As with most of my cookies I like to use a small (1 oz.) ice cream scoop to shape and measure my cookies.  I place the dough balls on a cookie sheet and freeze them.  When they are frozen I place the dough balls into a zip bag (marked with baking temp and time) and toss them in my freezer so I can have fresh cookies any time.

·         Bake Frozen large cookies for15 minutes,small cookies for13 minutes.

·         This recipe makes 30 large (about 1 ½ Tbsp.) cookies, to make small (3 inch) cookies; cut the dough balls in half.

Copycat Double Tree Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted by Iowa Girl Eats) 

½             cup         old fashioned oats

2 ¼          cups        flour

1 ½          tsp.         baking soda

1              tsp.         salt

¼             tsp.         cinnamon

1              cup         butter, softened (2 sticks)

¾             cup         packed brown sugar

¾             cup         granulated sugar

1 ½          tsp.         vanilla extract

½             tsp.        lemon juice

2              large      eggs

12            oz.          semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

1              cup         chopped pecans or walnuts

·         Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

·         Place oats in a food processor or blender and process until fine like flour.

·         Combine oats with flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a med sized bowl; mix to blend; set aside.

·         Beat together butter, sugars, vanilla and lemon juice until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time and beat to combine.

·         Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 2 batches, mixing well between each batch.

·         Add chocolate chips and nuts, mix until just combined.

·         BAKE chilled cookie dough for;

·         For small cookie: drop 1 Tbsp. dough on parchment paper lined baking sheets, bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.

·         For large cookies: drop 2 Tbsp. dough and bake for 12 – 14 min.