Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies! Here’s the $250 chocolate chip cookie recipe you have to try! I seriously think blending the rolled oats and grating the chocolate make all the difference! So good!

Last week, Madeline attended a cooking camp at Sur La Table in the mall. She wanted to do a cooking camp and that was the only one I could find that wasn’t already filled up when I was looking back in early June. The class set up was actually really great and fun and she had a blast. While she was in class for 2 hours each day, I walked around the mall, did a little shopping and ate lunch at a new spot every day. Many of you suggested I eat at the Nordstrom cafe, which I did and it was fabulous. One day, as I was walking around, I stopped into Neiman Marcus. 

While I was there, I immediately thought of the Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies! Do you know the story? “Almost everybody has heard the one about the woman lunching at the Neiman Marcus Cafe in Dallas, who enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies so much that she asked for the recipe. For “only two-fifty,” the waitress said, it was hers. But when the credit card bill arrived, the woman found the total near $300. Turns out the recipe cost $250, the story goes. In 1997, after years of enduring the myth, Neiman Marcus came up with a recipe – and gave it out for free. It’s a delicious variation on chocolate chip cookies, using ground oatmeal, nuts and adding extra chocolate with a grated Hershey bar (you can use any brand you love).”

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you look online, there are several recipes posted. I followed the one published by NY Times Cooking. I did add modifications and notes and variations so be sure to check out the recipe below. And bake these cookies!! They are delicious! 

Why I Like To Freeze My Cookie Dough

Why I freeze my cookie dough? Whenever I have friends over, I love to bake some chocolate chip cookies. There’s nothing better, in my opinion, than walking into someone’s house and smelling freshly baked cookies, am I right?! So, it’s important to always have cookie dough in your freezer.

Using high-quality ingredients and a reliable recipe are two ways to ensure a delicious cookie, but there’s something else that you should do to take your cookies to the next level: refrigerate or freeze the dough. 

“Flour contains naturally-occurring enzymes, which break down as the dough chills, leading to increased browning. The sugar in the dough absorbs the moisture from the flour, causing the cookie to brown and caramelize. Refrigerating the dough allows the flour to fully hydrate, which (in addition to chilling the butter) helps to make the cookie dough firmer. This will prevent the cookies from spreading too much, which is why chilling the dough is a crucial step for cut-out and rolled cookies. In terms of flavor, you’ll notice more depth of flavor from the vanilla and the sugar will taste sweeter. In terms of texture, chilled cookie dough produces a more evenly golden-brown cookie with a crisper edge and chewier center.” Source Martha Stewart

Print Recipe

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe yields about 33-34 cookies. Pro tip: I only bake about 6 or 8 cookies and freeze the rest. To do this, simply form and shape all of your cookie dough balls and place into a gallon sized ziploc bag (with some parchment or wax paper on the bottom) and freeze laying flat. To bake, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and add on about 3-4 minutes to the baking time. No need to defrost!

Also, I think the "bake from frozen" cookies taste better! You'll notice more depth of flavor from the vanilla and the sugar will taste sweeter. In terms of texture, chilled cookie dough produces a more evenly golden-brown cookie with a crisper edge and chewier center. Read more about this in my blog post above.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Cookies/Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate chip cookies, Neiman Marcus cookie recipe

Equipment

• stand mixer or electric hand mixer

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter * cubed, read notes below*
• 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups rolled oats blended fine in a food processor
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 12 ounces chocolate chips** I highly recommend a blend of semi-sweet + bittersweet
• 1 (4 oz.) milk chocolate bar grated; optional ** (see notes below)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts walnuts or pecans; chopped (optional)

Instructions

• Preheat your oven the 375 degrees and prep a lined baking sheet.
• Using your stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars. Stir in the eggs (one at a time), mixing after each addition, and the vanilla.
• In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the finely ground oatmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and soda, and slowly add it to the wet ingredients, a little at a time, while your stand mixer is on low. Beat just until combined. Add in the chocolate chips, grated chocolate if using, and the nuts to the batter. Mix just to combine.
• Roll into balls and place two inches apart on your prepared cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes and enjoy! See my notes below re: freezing the cookie dough, which I highly recommend!

Notes

*Tip: "To bring your butter to the perfect temperature for creaming, cut the butter into tablespoons and put it in your mixing bowl. By the time you’ve assembled all your other ingredients, your butter will be ready to cream." from Barbara 

**As I stated above, if you've never tried it, you really need to try combining semi-sweet + bittersweet chocolate chips. I love the Guittard and the Ghirardelli brands for chocolate chips and baking wafers. This is what I do for any chocolate chip cookie recipe. For this recipe, I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and then chopped up (and grated) some bittersweet chocolate (the Guittard bittersweet chocolate baking wafers). Supposedly the original recipe grates a Hershey's milk chocolate bar and mixes that with some semi-sweet chocolate chips but I did not add the milk chocolate. 

Pro tip: I only bake about 6 or 8 cookies and freeze the rest. To do this, simply form and shape all of your cookie dough balls and place into a gallon sized ziploc bag (with some parchment or wax paper on the bottom) and freeze laying flat. To bake, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and add on about 3-4 minutes to the baking time. No need to defrost! I baked mine for 18 minutes from frozen and they were perfection!

Also, I think the "bake from frozen" cookies taste better! You'll notice more depth of flavor from the vanilla and the sugar will taste sweeter. In terms of texture, chilled cookie dough produces a more evenly golden-brown cookie with a crisper edge and chewier center. Read more about this in my blog post above.

Adapted from the NY Times Cooking recipe, with notes from Barbara Bakes