Chocolate Chip Cookies are sort of like Thanksgiving Turkeys. Everyone wants to be famous for them and cooks often keep their secrets close to the chest. I was surprised to look back in my Desserts & Sweets Recipe index and see that I had not posted a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Although I am not 100% loyal this recipe, it is my standby and the one I make most often.
This recipe came to me via email, practically back when email was just invented. The print out is in my recipe binder and I just checked it to find along the bottom: America Online: Friday September 11, 1998. Funny, that was when that date didn’t mean anything out of the ordinary.
Perhaps you have seen this email chain. A woman claims that during a lunch at Neiman Marcus, she asked for the recipe to the delicious chocolate chip cookies. The server says it will be two-fifty to buy the recipe. She agrees, only to find that her bill includes a $250 charge, not the $2.50 charge she had envisioned. To get her money’s worth, she emails the recipe to anyone and everyone she knows and asks them to pass it along.
Well, I don’t know whether there is truth to it but the recipe is delicious and with the dozens of times I have made it, I have helped the angry woman get her money’s worth!!! The cookies are particularly different due to the ground oatmeal and shaved chocolate bar added in.
This recipe yields a ton of cookies. So, I would suggest cutting it in half for a normal sized batch or make it all and freeze the dough or give some away! I recently schemed up a new cookie gifting idea: Put wrapping paper around small oatmeal containers or Trader Joe’s coffee containers and stack up cookies inside. (Paper in photo is from my favorite, Snow & Graham.)
“Neiman Marcus” Cookies
2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp soda
2 cups sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal
24 oz. chocolate cips
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 8oz. dark chocolate bar, grated
4 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
Measure oatmeal and then blend in a blender or food processor to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and soda. Add chocolate chips, shaved chocolate nuts and stir until combined. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet or parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes between 50-80 cookies.
PRINT RECIPE
October 19th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Ah, yes, the Neiman Marcus cookies :). According to the NM cookbook, the whole thing is an urban legend. But who knows, right?? And I LOVE the gift box idea! Brilliant!
October 19th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
The cookie recipe IS delicious, but it is NOT from Neiman-Marcus:
http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/cookie.asp
Sorry to put an end to a perfectly enjoyable urban legend!!
Thanks for the recipe and the nice gift-giving idea!
October 19th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Hehe, you really crack me up trying the legendary email chain recipe!! The blended oatmeal sounds good in there, never tried that in a cookie.
October 19th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Thought you might like this: http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/service/nm_cookie_recipe.jhtml
;)
October 19th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
okay, i’m almost convinced to make these cookies and i love what you did with the old oatmeal canister. lovely paper!
October 20th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Oooh, I love those cookies. I remember making them back in 1998 when I first got the email. Looks like I’ll have to do it again soon! I remember them making a HUGE batch.
October 20th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I can remember my mom emailing me this recipe as if she had just stumbled upon a million dollar secret.
Regardless of where the recipe originated, it’s a keeper. In truth, I’ve rarely run across a cookie recipe I didn’t like…although there was that cookie disaster last Christmas…
October 20th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Well, bless her revengeful heart as these cookies look scrumptious!
October 21st, 2008 at 11:43 am
What a great wrapping idea!
October 22nd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I’m pretty sure that’s an urban legend, but in any event, I really want to try them. They look/sound fabulous!
October 22nd, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Pre e-mail? 1998? You’re a yung’un, dear! I first made the Neiman Marcus cookies — let’s see where is my cane? oh! and my glasses too — in, um, 1988. So there! It’s been the rounds! And they’re great — and definitely urban legend.
October 24th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
This is beautiful, and what a great idea. I’m not much for chocolate chip cookies, but I’m absolutely in love with the packaging!
November 4th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I’ve made this recipe several times! I usually blend half of the oatmeal and keep the rest whole. They’re always a huge hit.
December 12th, 2008 at 1:01 am
I made this last year. However, my batter and the cookies came out dark brown. Not normal colored like yours. Maybe because I used 1/2 semi-sweet dark chocolate chips and 1/2 regular chocolate chips? As a note, I used macadamia nuts instead of the pecan or walnuts.
I will be making it again this year. You can’t go wrong with this one folks. Urban legend and all. It is STILL an amazing recipe.
December 12th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Okay, Chocolate Lovers out there; listen up! Do I have a recipe for you! This great old recipe is from the folks at Hershey’s Chocolate. Chocolate and cherries just seem to go together and this recipe is more proof of that. When you serve these tasty squares to your friends, be sure to have a copy of the recipe handy. They are sure to ask for it. Or you can be secretive, if you want, and tell them it’s one of your vintage recipes that you just don’t share. But be warned, they will be expecting you to make them anytime you get together.
January 10th, 2009 at 8:19 am
What size do you make these cookies?… it just says roll into balls. Should it be a tsp or tbsp size? Thank you.
March 2nd, 2009 at 8:33 pm
I love these cookies. I made the Nestle recipe on the back of the bag for years, but after receiving this recipe in a chain email a few years ago, this is my chocolate chip cookie of choice. Great recipes.
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:47 am
One more chocolate chip cookies recipe added to my to do list =) I will defenitely give it a try in a couple of days – thanks!
October 10th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
[...] been halved. http://www.urbanlegends.about.com http://www.tastebook.com, http://www.recipezaar.com, http://www.family.go.com, http://www.whippedtheblog.com, [...]
December 10th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
[...] Chips, a recipe that urban legend has it was purchased for $250. It can be your for free right here. Share and [...]
December 15th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
This recipe is perfect for a cookie exchange + holiday entertaining. Big batches are great. I never seem to get the same yield as recipes call for when making cookies. Thanks for the post.
January 14th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
[...] who we will also see this weekend. The original recipe is the Neiman Marcus recipe that I found on Whipped. However, I adjusted it quite a bit. Here is what I [...]
July 5th, 2010 at 10:10 am
whew… that’s kinda creepy story about the lady who wants her money back. but never mind, I soooo love the cookie! thanks for the recipe!
August 27th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
I am a chocolate lover and definitely i will try this recipe.
September 29th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
[...] leave a comment » Because I am a terrible cook. Because an organization that I’m in is hosting a wine and cheese party tomorrow night. Because as a 1L representative on the executive board, I have to bring a dessert with me. Because as a person who never cooks I’m going to buy some Tate’s Chocolate Chip cookies to bring with me instead. Because I wish I had the skill (and the time) to make these. [...]
October 19th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Drat, I always thought these were my mother’s original recipe. That’s a shame. But they really are the best cookies I ever had.
December 7th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
[...] cookie recipe ideas? Some of my favorites: “Neiman Marcus” Oatmeal Chocolate Chip – sturdy and they ship pretty well too. Giant Ginger Snaps – These fit perfectly in the [...]
December 20th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
[...] goods if you have time in advance. Perhaps some White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies packed in paper-covered recycled canister or mini Banana Bread [...]
March 16th, 2011 at 4:02 am
Awesome cookies. Now my child can’t keep his hands off the cookie jar!
May 12th, 2011 at 9:55 am
I’ve made these cookies several times and the girl I got the recipe from also added chopped dried cranberries to it–love this addition to the recipe–they’re awesome!!
December 10th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
These are great-probably my favorite chocolate chip recipe. Ever wonder why in all these years the chef that came up with this recipe never stepped forward to claim ownership of it? It’s probably because it’s really not original-it’s the toll house recipe from the back of the chip bag, doubled in quantity, with added oatmeal and a grated candy bar….