The $250 Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe "Myth"

Have you heard the story? A lady had lunch at Neiman Marcus, enjoyed a chocolate chip cookie for dessert, asked how much the recipe cost, and was told it cost two fifty. She purchased it, had it charged to her account, and when the bill arrived for $250 (!) she called the store to say there was a mistake. When she was informed that the charge was correct, she vowed to share the recipe with as many people as possible.

Many (including Neiman Marcus) claim that this story is not true; it's simply a legend or  myth that's been passed down. Urban Legend claims this is a myth based on an email that's been circulating since 1996.

However, I first received a copy of this recipe, along with the story, sometime around 1990. I really don't know if it's true or not. Of course Neiman Marcus would deny it if it were! It certainly wouldn't be good for business.

Regardless of the truth of the story behind the recipe, it is an absolutely delicious cookie and well worth gathering the multitude of ingredients needed to make the 112 cookies it yields.

The combination of chocolate chips, grated chocolate, pecans and oatmeal is absolutely divine, in my opinion. I think one of the things that makes this recipe unique is actually blending the oatmeal before adding it to the batter. This gives the cookie a different texture than a typical oatmeal cookie.

When I first began making this recipe, I used a hand mixer to cream the first ingredients, then spent a good bit of time and energy hand mixing the batter. Fortunately for me, Robbie owned a KitchenAid Stand Mixer when we married, so I decided to try it out when I made a batch of these cookies last month. It certainly cuts down on the amount of "elbow grease" needed to get everything mixed in. (It would have worked even better if I'd switched to the correct mixing blade as the batter got thicker!)

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that the dough can be frozen to use later. I use a dough scoop to form the dough into balls, some of which I bake immediately (of course) and others which I place on a tin foil-lined tray and set in the freezer for a few hours. I then take the frozen dough balls and put them into a zip-loc bag that goes back in the freezer until we're ready to bake them. (So, I've got a start on my holiday baking already!)

The hardest part is waiting for the cookies to cool . . . so we typically enjoy one all hot and gooey (and messy!) right out of the oven.

For your enjoyment, here's the full recipe!

Have you heard the story of this recipe before? What do you think - truth or myth?

The INSPIRATION for pulling out this recipe and whipping up a batch of cookies was Cate's 31 Days of Cookies blog series! Check it out for more yummy recipes and beautiful cookie photos!