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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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.
These look amazing! I like the idea of having the oat flavor without seeing them in the cookie!
These look incredibly delish!
I love these cookies! I’ve made them several times over the past 15 years or so, but not for awhile. Thanks for reminding me to resurrect them!
Hi Michelle, these look lovely and I would dearly love to try them. Could you (or anyone out there!) give me recipe by weight rather than by cup? I’m from the UK and I find using cups a bit hit and miss! I’d really appreciate it :)
I like baking by weight too and usually convert using any one of the numerous sites on the internet that have equivalent weights. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/master-weight-chart.html has a comprehensive one that includes everything you need (plus it has both ounces and grams). I love that company!
Excellent recipe. Never thought about processing the oats but it does make a significant difference. Two of my kids wanted chocolate chips and the other two wanted raisins so I opted to use the raisinets chocolate raisins – yummy! This recipe is definitely a keeper!
These cookies are amazing! I’ve always had a problem with cookies getting hard after only an hour of sitting on the counter. But these were so chewy and soft even after leaving them out on the counter 5 hours later! I believe i have found my new favorite recipe. Thank you!! :)
Just made these- SO GOOD. If you take them out of the oven when they look just a little underdone, they’ll stay moist and chewy! Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for finally writing about >The Famed Neiman Marcus Cookie | Brown Eyed Baker <Liked it!
loved this cookie recipe! I didn’t have that much chocolate on hand so I just used 8 oz of mini bittersweet chips and they still tasted delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe!
I’ve been using the dough of this recipes for years as a base for “add-in” flavour combinations.
White chocolate chip, dried berry (blueberry, cranberry or raspberry) and macadamia
Candied ginger and orange zest
Heath Toffee chip and pecan
Butterscotch chip and toffee peanut
Peanut butter chip and raisins
Sky’s the limit with this one, folks! :)
My husband’s grandma gave me this recipe so I could attempt to replicate the cookies that she made for him since he was little. There are only a few differences between the recipe she gave me and the one you have posted here.
Instead of two kinds of chocolate chips, the recipe I have says to use 12 oz. of chocolate chips and 4 oz. of a grated Hershey bar.
I either use a vegetable peeler or a cheese grater and I grate the 4 oz. of Hershey bar and fold it in to the dough after I have folded the chips and nuts in.
Also, they bake for 6 minutes, not 10.
I love the way your recipe is worded though. It’s much easier to understand! I actually just made a batch of these (the last pan is still in the oven), and I looked back and forth from grandma’s to yours, and I like your wording much better.
Kudos! I think I’ll be checking out your site more often. :-]
What a delicious recipe, regardless of its source. Thanks for sharing!
thaks for the tip I MADE this cookies and I SALE IT in a great price
I made these cookies today and discovered on the 3rd batch that if I didn’t make them into a ball they browned better at 10 minutes and looked better. The ones I made into balls needed 12 minutes and they weren’t brown.
This is the only chocolate chip cookie recipe I make anymore. It’s always so good, but I do experiment with the “chips.” The last time I made them, I used those tiny peanut butter cups from Trader Joe’s as the chips (along with a few milk chocolate chips). They were phenomenal. I’ve also used the regular sized plain M &M’s. The tiny M&M’s don’t taste as good since they’re dark chocolate inside. I’m making them for Thanksgiving and using milk chocolate chips and dried cranberries (I only use milk chocolate chips — they’re so much better and creamier). I’m thinking of trying chocolate covered raisins or chocolate covered peanuts. Those sound good, too.
Oooh love all of the combos you have tried!
Wow, this is the best chocolate chip cookie ever! Very soft and chewy, really nice. I’m not a big fan of mixing chocolate and cookies but this is a very nice one. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi, just following up. I made these cookies for friends for Christmas using your recipe. Everyone loved them. The recipe was right on. I really appreciate when they are. Just wanted to let you know. Since I am here in Texas, I had to use pecans :)
I have been making these cookies a number of years. My daughter, son-in-law and three grands absolutely love them – even the neighborhood kids ring my doorbell to ask if I have or will be making some. I use a large size Hershey chocolate candy grated in my recipie.
I wish I could thank you for this cookie recipe but after having made them the first time, there have been so many demands for them that all I seem to be doing these days is grinding up quick oats!
I am making these for a bake sale on Saturday!! I am so excited I think they will sell really well. Like most they have seen the email but have not made the cookie, so this will be there chance to try them!
I haven’t made these yet but I’ve ground up the oats and it make 1 and a half cups for those asking the sub for oat flour. Anyone tried pecans instead of walnuts? I couldn’t remember which nut I needed at the store and ended up with pecans. I can’t wait until I get them baked!
Hi Jackie,
You will want to let them cool on the baking sheets for about 2-3 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. I will revise the written recipe so that it is more clear.
Hi Michelle
I have a question about cooling the cookies: When you say “Let Cool Completely” Do you mean cool completely on the baking sheet or cool on sheet for a few minutes then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Can you make it a little clearer. Thanks
We have been making these cookies for years!! They are wonderful.
Thanks everyone for the great responses and for getting to the bottom of the “myth” of the Neiman Marcus cookies!
As an aside, I did cut the recipe in half and used milk chocolate chips instead of grated chocolate. Otherwise it’s the same.
Hi Lass,
Your cookie recipe sounds great as well! Mine didn’t turn airy and not taste as good – I was actually eating them almost a week after making them! I stored them in a Tupperware container.
Hi Jackquie,
Do you have a blender? You could always use a blender to grind the oats. I’m sure you could sub oat flour, but I’m not sure what the final amount would be. The next time I make these I will measure it out!
I’ve made the Neiman Marcus cookies too and loved them but I guess there are different versions out there because mine (http://www.eatmedelicious.com/2007/11/cookie-love-ive-discovered-neiman.html) didn’t have oats! Now I want to try these ones out too. They look so good!
I have received the Neiman Marcus email many times, but have never taken the time to make the cookies. After your review, I will definitely be trying it. I’m so interested to see the effect the ground oats have on the texture.
There was never a Neiman-Marcus cookie: http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/cookie.asp
This story has been around in various forms for 50 years. Neiman Marcus never even had a cookie until they developed one in response to this rumour. Their policy is actually to give away recipes to anyone who asks, including the recipe to the cookie they eventually did create:
http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/service/nm_cookie_recipe.jhtml