These are the legendary $250 Neiman Marcus Cookies. Legend has it that Neiman Marcus charged a customer $250 for the recipe for these amazing cookies. It turns out that this is indeed a legend. According to a New York Times article, Neiman Marcus denied ever charging customers for its recipes.
Years ago, my brother-in-law asked me to make Neiman Marcus Cookies. I don’t know where he got the recipe, but even back then, they were an urban legend. I’m not going to repeat the legend, but suffice it to say – the cookies are incredible.
As it turns out, if one Googles “Neiman Marcus Cookies”, two different recipes are returned. One is very much like a typical chocolate chip cookie. The other one, which you see here, has oats that have been finely ground.
I decided to do a bit of experimenting with the recipe, and toasted the oats. I think it added a bit more flavor to the finished product.
Ingredients for Neiman Marcus Cookies
I used the following ingredients for the Neiman Marcus Cookies: Unsalted butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, toasted old-fashioned oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, toasted pecans, semi-sweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips.
Making the Batter for the Neiman Marcus Cookies
I started by toasting old-fashioned oats. To do this, I spread them on a baking sheet and popped them into a 350° F oven for 15 minutes. After the oats had cooled, I processed them along with the milk chocolate chips in a food processor fitted with a blade until finely ground, about 20 seconds.
Once I had all of the ingredients ready, I started assembling the cookie dough. First, I creamed the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar with my electric mixer for about 3 minutes on high.
Then I added the vanilla and eggs, and beat the mixture on high for a minute or two, until it was creamy.
Next, I added the baking soda, baking powder and salt. I beat the mixture on high until everything was well incorporated.
After that, I added the ground oats/milk chocolate and flour. I beat this on high for about a minute until all ingredients were well combined.
Finally, I folded in the chocolate chips and toasted pecans. I stirred the Neiman Marcus Cookie dough with a wooden spoon.
Once everything was well incorporated, I used an ice cream scoop that was approximately 1 ¾-inches in diameter to partition out the dough. Then, I rolled each piece of dough into balls and placed them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Because the dough was stiff, I flattened each ball with the palm of my hand until each piece was about 3/8-inch thick.
Baking the Neiman Marcus Cookies
I baked the Neiman Marcus Cookies in a preheated 375° F oven the cookies went for around 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, they were golden brown. I removed the cookies from the oven and let them sit on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Then, I transferred them to a wire rack so that they could cool completely.
I ended up with 4 dozen amazing Neiman Marcus Cookies that were about 3-inches in diameter. cookies were about 3-inches in diameter, and incredibly tasty. Yum!
I first published this post for Neiman Marcus Cookies on November 1, 2014. Since then, I’ve made these delicious cookies a number of times. I decided that it was time to update the post with new pictures and updated text.
I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as we do! If you like cookies made with oatmeal, you should check out some of my other oatmeal based cookies:
- King Arthur’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies
- Oatmeal Spice Shortbread
- Chocolate Oatmeal Pecan Cookies
- Oatmeal Craisin Cookies
- Outstanding Oatmeal Cookies
These are the legendary $250 Neiman Marcus Cookies. Legend has it that Neiman Marcus charged a customer $250 for the recipe for these amazing cookies.
- 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups (8 3/4 ounces) finely ground old-fashioned oats, measured before grinding (See Tip 1)
- 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate chips
- 4 ounces milk chocolate grated (See Tip 2)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, toasted (See Tip 3)
Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Cream butter and sugars with electric mixer on high for about 3 minutes. Add eggs, and vanilla; beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Add ground oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; beat until well combined, about 1 minute. Add chocolate chips, grated milk chocolate and pecans. Stir until all ingredients are mixed.
Roll into balls the size of a golf ball. Place 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheet; flatten with palm of hand. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack. Yield: 48 cookies. (See Tip 4)
- If desired, spread the oats on a baking sheet, and toast at 350°F for 15 minutes. Process the oats in a food processor or blender until finely ground.
- Rather than grating the milk chocolate, place milk chocolate chips in food processor with oats
- To toast pecans, place in preheated 350° F oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully to ensure that the pecans do not over-toast.
- If you don't want to bake all of the cookies at one time, roll into balls and freeze. Remove from freezer 10 minutes before baking; bake as directed.