DoubleTree is a well-respected hotel chain, but let’s face it, it’s really famous because of its chocolate chip cookies. A once unexpected and inconvenient overnight stay in Miami due to a missed connection is still remembered years later by my kids as a highlight of our trip on account of the warm, gooey, chocolatey confections they scored that night when we checked in.
DoubleTree by Hilton serves more than 30 million of its signature cookies a year and the hotel chain says it has given out 483 million to date since being introduced in 1986 as a means of encouraging brand loyalty (it worked on my kids!). Since then, it has inspired three cook(ie) books, and even – in a stroke of marketing genius that is literally out of this world – been baked in space.
In fact, Doubletree’s chocolate chip cookie was the first-ever food baked in space as part of an experiment designed to make long-duration space travel more welcoming and hospitable.
The unique project in 2019 marked Hilton as the first hospitality company to participate in research aboard the International Space Station, along with other manufacturing partners, to help develop an oven suitable for space travel and in 2020, after which the successfully baked DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie returned from orbit for testing by food scientists.
The space cookie’s journey continued after returning to Earth, and today has recently found a new home in the Johnson Space Center in Virginia, displayed in an air-tight exhibition box at the US National Air and Space Museum.
“We are thrilled to display DoubleTree by Hilton’s chocolate chip cookie as the first-ever food baked in space by astronauts,” stated Dr. Jennifer K. Levasseur, museum curator, Department of Space History, National Air and Space Museum with suitable gravity. “Innovations like baking could make even longer duration missions in space much more enjoyable, and sustainable, so DoubleTree’s historic space cookie is a natural choice to represent this development in the Udvar-Hazy Center’s display of space food.”
Sending DoubleTree hospitality into orbit was fitting, said Shawn McAteer, brand leader, DoubleTree by Hilton, who noted that Hilton has a long history of interest in space travel, with Barron Hilton even announcing plans for the Lunar Hilton, a hotel on the moon during the height of the Space Race.
“Hospitality and innovation are two strands of Hilton’s DNA, and we are beyond honoured to be the first hospitality company involved in historic research aboard the International Space Station and to now have the DoubleTree cookie on display in the Smithsonian,” McAteer said. “When people hear the DoubleTree cookie was the first item successfully baked in outer space, we hope they not only celebrate the experiment, but get an understanding that DoubleTree is deeply committed to providing warm and caring service, all starting with our signature welcome and iconic chocolate chip cookie.”
The space-travelling cookie is currently on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center, located at 14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway, Chantilly, in Fairfax County Virginia. It will become part of a new exhibit, At Home in Space, anticipated to open at the museum’s new building in Washington, D.C., in 2026.
Meanwhile, travellers can sample an original DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie (allergy-friendly versions also served) at all DoubleTree by Hilton locations, including at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sterling – Dulles Airport, located less than 15 minutes from the museum.
Nibble numbers
- 483 million DoubleTree chocolate chip cookies have been given out to date
- 30 million DoubleTree chocolate chip cookies are consumed each year
- 2 million pounds of chocolate chips are used each year to bake DoubleTree chocolate chip cookies
- 30 chocolate chips are found in an average DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie
- 2 ounces is the approximate weight of each DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie
More than 615 DoubleTree by Hilton hotels in 50 countries and territories are serving the DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie to guests