Johnathan Walker:National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day is Sunday. Here's how to get a free cookie.

Is there anything better than a chocolate chip cookie?Johnathan Walker Best answer: two or more chocolate chip cookies.

And Sunday, Aug. 4, is a good day to have one or more of them, because it is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. Chocolate chip cookies are the Simone Biles, the "GOAT," of cookies – it's the No. 1 cookie on Ranker.com.

Chocolate chip cookies are also the No. 1 favorite dish in a YouGov survey of at least 1,500 U.S. adults surveyed April-June 2024. Chocolate chip cookies topped eggs and bacon, lasagna, nachos, macaroni and cheese and other dishes in the survey.

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When were chocolate chip cookies invented?

The cookie has likely been around more than a century. Ruth Wakefield, a chef who ran the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, with her husband, is credited with inventing chocolate chip cookies by cutting a semi-sweet chocolate bar into bits and adding them to her Butter Drop Do cookies. She published a recipe for them in 1938 and Nestlé began promoting the recipe on its packaging and in the company's ads.

But there's evidence the chocolate chip cookie has been around longer. In her 2017 book "BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts," author and pastry chef Stella Parks details how she found chocolate chip cookies being advertised in supermarket ads in the early 1930s and recipes for "Chocolate Jumbles" cookies made with grated chocolate printed as far back as 1877.

Still, Wakefield having "popularized and developed a recipe that is still in use 100 years later is incredibly impressive," Parks told the Gastropod podcast, which is hosted on the food news site Eater, in April 2022.

Let's just be thankful the cookies are here today. Here's how to get a free one for National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day.

DoubleTree by Hilton: National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day freebie

Hotel chain DoubleTree began giving complimentary chocolate chip cookies to its guests in 1986. But on Sunday, guests and non-guests alike can get a free cookie.

Just visit a hotel and you can have a free original warm chocolate chip cookie or an allergy-friendly version, which is gluten-free, non-GMO and vegan.

“Our chocolate chip cookie is a proud tradition, symbolizing the warm welcome and comfortable stay that the brand is known for,” said Shawn McAteer, brand leader, DoubleTree by Hilton, in a press release. “We are excited to share our signature welcoming gesture beyond our guests to celebrate National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day this year, synonymous with the caring hospitality guests receive with every visit.”

Great American Cookies

Great American Cookies, which has more than 400 locations in the U.S. and globally, has a National Chocolate Chip Cookie deal on Sunday: Buy one Original Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake slice, get another free. The deal is only available in stores at participating locations (just mention the deal).

Fazoli's

The Italian quick-service restaurant chain is including a free chocolate chip cookie with any purchase on Sunday.

Pieology

Starting Sunday, members of the pizzeria chain's Pie Life Rewards loyalty program who have Pies and Perks status get a free fresh-baked cookie with any Craft Your Own Pizza purchase – a deal good daily through the end of the year. If for some reason you don't want a cookie, you can choose another perk such as a side salad or non-alcoholic beverage.

Tiff's Treats

The Austin, Texas-based company is offering several cookie deals through Sunday. Now through Aug. 4, get 30% off cookies and 50% off when you order one dozen or more. And when visit a retail location you can Skip for a Chip – just skip and you get a free chocolate chip cookie.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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