The TRUE “original” Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie

The Legend of The Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie

The urban legend is well over 70 years old and has been circulated about many various venues and assorted recipes.

In the case of Neiman Marcus:

A woman and her daughter stop for a light lunch ordering a couple of salads at “The Neiman Marcus Cafe”  located in Dallas, Texas — then, later they decide to have a cookie for dessert — because they are such huge fans of cookies and avid cookie lovers. They love the NM cookie so much that the mom asks for the recipe but is initially denied. Offering to pay for it, the evil waitress tells her it’ll be “two fifty” so she responds “put it on my tab” — to later on be shocked finding a charge on her Visa card not for two dollars and fifty cents, but for two hundred fifty dollars. In response, she spreads the recipe around for free.

However, at the time the myth circulated there was no such Red Velvet Cake recipe being made by the hotel.   Eventually, in response to the myth, they decided to actually come up with a recipe.

So, what of the $250 Chocolate Chip Cookie?

It has to be real and we can chalk one up for the little guy!  Right?

Wrong!    The story of the $250 cookie is also only a myth.

Plus, Neiman Marcus didn’t even start accepting Visa charge cards until the end of 2011 (just in time for holiday shopping) in response to customer demands.

Nevertheless, it is a great chocolate chip cookie recipe!  — Right?  But wait! …

There are also several recipe variations floating around claiming to be the “original” NM cookie recipe!

 

I rather like the one with oatmeal, which is the most commonly and first to be circulated — but it is not the true original recipe.

I even like the variations with pecans instead of walnuts — also not the true original recipe.

My all time favorite version used chocolate chunks instead of chips — also not the true original recipe.

Some use chocolate discs, many use grated chocolate, or even specify a particular brand of chocolate. The recommended oven temperatures often vary, the bake times vary, the types and amounts of ingredients vary, and so on.

Even printed newspaper articles and other reports of the recipe over the decades often vary.

So, what exactly is the true original recipe?!!   When in doubt, get it straight from the horse’s mouth!

Which is exactly what I did, the first time my (then future) mother-in-law and one of her sisters took me on a “ladies” outing, in the mid to late 80s.  Hitting I-35, we drove just a little over an hour and a half away, visiting none other than Neiman Marcus on Main Street in Dallas, Texas.

According to the Neiman Marcus on Main Street in Dallas, Texas, they had no such recipe, never had, — but wouldn’t mind sharing if they did, and that they have always shared their recipes willingly!  We were even encouraged to have a meal at any one of their three restaurants and to feel free to ask for any recipe we’d like — but that they had no signature chocolate chip cookie recipe available.

As far as I know, the closest they ever came to actually selling any of their recipes was “charity” cookbook published in 1991 and it was only sold to an inner circle of top customers —  and the proceeds went to benefit the American Heart Association.

By the way, they also never had a “Neiman Marcus Cafe” in Dallas.  They were called The Woods, Zodiac, and Zodiac at North Park.

So,  there was no such thing as a Neiman Marcus Cookie!   How disappointing!  

However, eventually, like the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, Neiman Marcus finally decided to come up with a recipe of their own.  It was nothing at all like The $250 Cookie Recipe.

This is their true original recipe (which wasn’t developed until sometime in the late 1990s):

 

The Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened (at room temperature)
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder
1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 300 F degrees.  Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy (approximately 30 seconds).

2) Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

3) In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.

4) Using a 1-ounce scoop or a 2-tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into a 2 inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Now you know!

I still use the recipe today, however, I prefer to line my cookie sheets with parchment paper rather than greasing them.

MY OWN DIABETIC FRIENDLY LOW & NO ADDED SUGAR VERSIONS:

Due to my late husband’s diabetes, I eventually started making a more diabetic friendly low sugar version, so for his sake,  I used 3/4 cups granulated sucralose, plus 3 Tbsp. sorghum molasses, and 1/4 cup dark brown sugar in place of the sugars.  I also used 1 Tbsp more flour and an extra 1/2 tsp instant espresso coffee.

For a no added sugar version simply use 1 cup plus 3 Tbsp of granulated sucralose and if desired use 2 to 2-1/2 tsp of the instant espresso coffee.  I also recommend adding 2 Tbsp baking cocoa.

Also, check the labels on semi-sweet chocolate chips and choose the lowest possible sugar content — or, instead, substitute a really good low or no sugar dark chocolate which you can either grate or chunk.

And, here is the recipe for a still very delicious cookie — even though it is not really a Neiman Marcus cookie — (that I obtained in 1982):