The Best Neiman Marcus Urban Legend Cookies

 

Even though the story behind the recipe
for these cookies turned out to be a
hoax, the cookies are quite good!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 ounces Dove milk chocolate**

1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Method:

Add the oatmeal to a blender or food processor container. Blend or process to make a fine "flour". Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer for 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. 

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir in the oatmeal flour. Add to the creamed ingredients and mix well. 

Grate the Dove chocolate over the bowl. Add the chocolate chips and pecans. Stir to combine. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.

Preheat oven to 350*. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop or form about 2 tablespoons of dough into balls and place 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Makes 6 dozen cookies.

**The original recipe called for a Hershey Bar, but I use Dove chocolate because it is higher quality and I like the ingredients better.

Useful Tip: No need to bake all 6 dozen cookies at once, unless you want to. I line a small baking sheet with waxed paper. I place scooped balls of dough on the lined pan and freeze for 30 minutes. Once frozen, I transfer the the frozen balls to an airtight container with a sheet of waxed paper between layers of dough balls. (They keep for up to 6 months in the freezer.) When I want to bake a dozen cookies, I place the frozen balls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for 15 minutes and then bake according to the instructions above.

Recipe History: The Neiman Marcus cookie rumor began circulating in the 1980's. There are many versions of the rumor, but the basic story is this: 

A woman and her daughter stopped for lunch in the Neiman Marcus Cafe after shopping. The woman loved a cookie that was served so much, that she asked the sever if she could have the recipe. When the server declined to give her the recipe, the woman asked if she could purchase the recipe. The server checked and said the recipe could be purchased for two fifty. A month later, when the woman received her VISA statement, she discoved that she had been charged $250.00 for the recipe. She was so upset by the charge that she sought revenge by sharing the recipe. In the 1990's, the story and recipe were widely spread in a viral email and printed in newspapers.

The recipe had the basic ingredients of a chocolate chip cookie with the addition of a grated Hershey bar. Over the years, the recipe has been modified. Some recipes iclude finely ground oatmeal and others don't.

In reality, Neiman Marcus didn't begin serving chocolate chip cookies until after the myth was created. After the story went viral, Neiman Marcus began to receive emails such as, "How dare you charge this woman!" and "I’m going to send this email to all of my friends and make sure they know about this.” The store debunked the rumor, explaining, "Up until 1999, Neiman Marcus only accepted American Express, which would make it impossible for the woman in the story to have paid for the recipe with her VISA card." They  also denied ever charging customers for any of their recipes.

After the hoax became an online phenomenon, the retailer created its own chocolate chip cookie recipe and posted it on their website.