There's something so sinfully delicious about a hotel handing out cookies to guests upon arrival that I simply cannot resist. If you know me, or have even had a five-minute conversation with me, this comes as no surprise. I swear, instead of formula, my mother must have fed me ice cream because I have always been and will forever be ruled by my enormous sweet tooth (or mouthful of sweet teeth). Even after gorging on a three-course meal, I will turn to my husband and enthusiastically ask whether he's ready for dessert. For there is always dessert. Even if said dessert is nothing more than a piece of candy, there is always dessert. And I could be stuffed to the gills, nauseated by the thought of even another bite of dinner, but let somebody present the possibility of dessert, and I'm the first with a fork in hand ready for my massive helping. So you can imagine my overwhelming glee the first time I checked into a hotel and was offered a fresh-from-the-oven, "homemade" chocolate chip cookie. Even as I accepted the cookie, the skeptical part of my brain knew it (a) wasn't really free or (b) wasn't that good of a cookie if they were just giving them away. Okay, so the cost was probably made up in the price of our room. And the cookie? Oh my, was that a good cookie. Arguably the best chocolate chip cookie I've ever had in my entire life. I'm not exaggerating. And, as you can imagine, I've sampled many a cookie. So that's saying something. The idea was pure genius. It was as if somebody had tapped into my id and had come away with the most sinfully indulgent idea: keep people coming back by giving them free cookies seemingly laced with crack.
Of course, the first hotel I went to that did this only offered cookies at check-in...not whenever you just happened to be circling the lobby, hoping for a fresh batch of cookies to magically appear on the front desk. The second time I found myself staying in a hotel using the crack-laced-cookie method for keeping customers loyal, I was on vacation in Atlantic City with three of the best girlfriends a woman could ask for, and we were offered not only one cookie, but an entire sack of warm-from-the-microwave chocolate chip cookies whenever we wandered through the lobby, which happened every time we found ourselves meandering toward the beach.
These cookies were so good, I found myself, once home, trying to recreate their flavor. But every batch came up short. I could tell I was missing a key ingredient but couldn't put my finger on what it was exactly. And then, my friend forwarded me a link to a website known for providing insider recipes from the country's best restaurants, and, wonder of wonders, the recipe for this particular hotel chain's chocolate chip cookies was included in the site's vast repertoire. From the first batch, I could tell these were the real deal. A perfect replica of my first hotel-chain cookie. But you know me, I got to tweaking a few things and eventually came away with a recipe that is uniquely my own, and if I do say so myself, produces cookies even better than those prepared by the hotel kitchen staff.
And so, I give you...
The Id's Crack-free, Chocolate Chip Cookie
1 cup shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon juice
3 cups chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, finely ground
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Process oats in food processor or blender until finely ground.
- Add flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and process until well mixed/sifted.
- Cream shortening and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add vanilla and lemon juice and mix thoroughly.
- Add eggs and mix thoroughly.
- Slowly add flour while mixing. Mix thoroughly.
- Add finely ground walnuts and mix.
- Remove bowl from stand mixer and stir in chocolate chips by hand.
- Shape into 1 1/2" balls and place onto ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake approx. 20 minutes, until golden.
- Cool completely on wire racks.
- Enjoy!
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