The $250 Neiman Marcus Cookie
This recipe for Neiman Marcus cookies hails from the popular email chain that flooded the Internet for years. The cookies are made with ground oats, chocolate chips, grated chocolate and chopped walnuts.
In the event that you have never seen the email chain regarding Neiman Marcus cookies, here’s a recap:
Supposedly, a woman ordered a cookie at the Neiman Marcus cafe and loved it so much that she asked the waitress if she could have the recipe; waitress said it would cost “two fifty”. The woman assumed it was $2.50, said okay, and the waitress gave her the recipe. When she saw her credit card bill, however, the charge was $250. She was so irate that she decided to distribute the recipe so that no one would ever pay $250 for the recipe again. The company has since debunked the rumor (and even published its own chocolate chip cookie recipe), but the recipe that accompanied that email became insanely popular.
I suspect that many of you are very familiar with this email and may have even made these cookies before. I received the email dozens of times before I actually gave the recipe a whirl. I’ve never eaten a Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookie, but I sure do love this version!
The “secret ingredient” in these cookies is the oats. Not just regular ol’ oats mixed into the batter, though; what makes these Neiman Marcus cookies so special is that the oats are blended into a coarse powder and whisked together with the flour and other dry ingredients. This is absolutely brilliant – you get all of the wonderful, nutty flavor of the oats while maintaining the texture of a traditional chocolate chip cookie.
The original Neiman Marcus cookie recipe that was circulated calls for grating a Hershey’s chocolate bar; the first time that I made these, I simply replaced that line item with milk chocolate chips. Oh, I was totally missing out! I’ve since made them the correct way and those little bits and swirls of milk chocolate make these extra-special. Definitely do not swap that out! (You can, however, use finely chopped milk chocolate in place of the Hershey’s bar, if you’d like.)
The resulting cookies are chunky, hearty and feel quite substantial when picked up. The combination of semisweet and milk chocolate along with walnuts puts these over the top. The Neiman Marcus story may have turned out to be a myth, but out there somewhere is someone who needs to be thanked for this recipe!
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One year ago: Apple, Gruyere & Sage Scones
Two years ago: Muddy Buddies (a.k.a. Puppy Chow)
Four years ago: Pumpkin Bread
Five years ago: Pancake Cupcakes with Maple-Bacon Frosting
Six years ago: Chewy, Fudgy Triple-Chocolate Brownies
Watch How to Make Neiman Marcus Cookies:
The $250 Neiman Marcus Cookie
Ingredients
- 2½ cups (202.5 g) rolled oats
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (220 g) light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12 ounces (340.2 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) milk chocolate, grated or finely chopped
- 1½ cups (175.5 g) chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Blend the oats in a food processor or blender to a fine powder. In a medium bowl, whisk together the blended oats with the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until incorporated. With a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips, grated chocolate and walnuts.
- Roll the dough into 2-ounce balls (or about 2 heaping tablespoonfuls worth) and place about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time until the edges are set but the center still looks undone, about 10 minutes. Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheets. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days (they can also be frozen for up to 2 months).
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This recipe was originally published on September 21, 2009.
I love putting oat flour into cookies! It makes them taste so good!!
I just had breakfast and now I am hungry again. Those cookies look absolutely amazing!
I love these cookies and researched this story when I was writing my cookie book (coming out next fall – Cookie: A Cultural HIstory). This isn’t NM’s recipe at all but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming hugely popular.
Hey! Just made these for the first time the other night and absolutely LOVED them. Could match up to my favorite CCC recipe too, and they are great the next day. good ideas adding oatmeal, and nuts. I’m a new blogger, would love for yo to check me out :) http://rollininthedough.wordpress.com/
I’ve made these before and they are really good!
The version that I have calls for an 8 oz. bar of Hershey’s milk chocolate to be grated and added to the batter. They really are fabulous (but it makes a huge amount!).
BEE YOO TI FUL cookies. I have the recipe somewhere but never gave it a try. You’ve convinced me to give these a shot. Your pictures are fab!
Oh yes, the neiman marcus cookie! I made this many years ago before I got my kitchen-aide and almost busted the motor on my little hand mixer!! The dough is very think with all those oats, but it does deliver! It’s actually a great cookie!
The same letter/email/story went around with supposedly Mrs. Field’s secret recipe for years. The oats, which were the secret ingredient in that recipe too, were never an ingredient in her recipe. It’s a great cookie and I’ll bet yours turn out better than most, it looks fabulous, but who knows the real origin of the recipe. I worked for Mrs. Fields in the 80’s. The secret to Mrs. Fields was high quality ingredients, bake at 300, not 375 and don’t overmix.
Here’s her recipe, love to see your take on these some day.
http://www.debbifields.com/recipe.html
This link doesn’t seem to work for the Mrs. Fields recipe.
the correct link is: http://www.debbifields.com/recipes/ (there’s an “S” missing at the end of the original URL
I have this recipe and they are delicious1
I’ve never had these, never frankly been either in an area with that store or had the money to go there when we did live in an area with the store. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
both the photos and the cookies look beautiful!
How funny…I’ve gottten that recipe at least a dozen times yet I never thought about actually trying it out.
Sounds like a recipe I have to try out!
I’m thinking one day I’ll make a batch and buy a batch to compare.
I have a recipe nearly identical to that chain mail cookie. Main differences: all brown sugar, coconut, and walnuts instead of pecans.
http://kitchentimes.blogspot.com/2006/09/chocolate-chunk-oatmeal-cookies.html
Funny that I’d never realized it until now. Did your cookie turn strangely airy and not taste as good after a day?
Wow. I am not a really a cookie person but after seeing this recipe and your photos I have to make these. These and the Doubletree cookies are the best.
do you have to grind the oats yourself? (i don’t have a food processor) couldn’t you just use oat flour? i wonder how much oat flour 2 1/2 cups of rolled oat makes??
oh and the cookies do look yummy.
You can blend the oatmeal.
These look awesome! I’ve been making a very similar recipe for 25 years. Mine has a big Hershey bar grated up in it instead of the milk chocolate chips. It adds a great flavor throughout the batter!
I was JUST telling my boyfriend about this email because my sister did something similar at a store. Got charged a crazy amount of money for a photo disc of her kids photos at a portrait studio. lol Anyway, I never felt compelled to try them either for some reason but it’s great to know that they are actually good! They sure do look lovely!
I absolutely adore these cookies… But according to Neiman Marcus, this is not their original recipe. Are they saying that just to deceive us? Or are they jealous that this recipe is actually better than the one they say is theirs???
What do you think?? Check them out!!
http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/service/nm_cookie_recipe.jhtml
Look’in Good!
grrr. i swore I would stay away from cookies this month.. now I have a dozen of these divine cookies on my counter waiting to cool. way to go. lol
These are my husband’s favorite cookies. They test great frozen too! Sometimes I think they taste better frozen but my husband would disagree. :)
SO good – i haven’t had these in awhile. pics are great too!
Love these – I thought everyone tried these already for some reason. But I’d forgotten about them, so thanks for making them again!
This is my go to chocolate chip recipe (sans nuts). I absolutely love it! Glad you tried it!
I’ve had these before! The recipe I got has some melted chocolate in the batter, even. What I like about the NM cookie is the texture you get from the ground oats, which I’ve found gives it a somewhat chewier feel.
Made these many times, and they are always good. No matter what.
I do love these!