Neiman-Marcus Cookie

This is the legendary Neiman-Marcus cookie recipe that circulated through chain emails and recipe boxes for decades. Whether the backstory is true or not, the cookie itself is no joke: two kinds of sugar, two pounds of butter, blended oatmeal, chocolate chips, a grated chocolate bar, and 3 cups of chopped nuts.

The secret ingredient is the oatmeal, and the preparation matters. Five cups of oats go into a blender and get ground to a fine powder before they’re mixed into the dough. This oat flour disappears into the batter, adding a toasty, slightly nutty flavor and a chewy texture without any visible oat flakes. It’s what makes these cookies taste different from a standard chocolate chip recipe.

Two cups each of white and brown sugar create a cookie that’s crisp on the edges and chewy in the center. The white sugar handles the crunch; the brown sugar adds moisture and that toffee-like depth. Together with 4 cups of flour, the dough is substantial enough to roll into balls without spreading into flat puddles.

The grated Hershey bar melts into the dough during baking, creating ribbons of chocolate throughout. Combined with 24 ounces of chocolate chips, you get chocolate in every single bite.

Pro Tips

• Blend the oatmeal until it’s truly a fine powder. Coarse pieces give a gritty texture that doesn’t belong in this cookie.
• Roll the dough into uniform balls and space them 2 inches apart. They spread more than you’d expect.
• This recipe makes 112 cookies. Freeze balls of dough on a sheet pan, then transfer to bags. Bake from frozen, adding 1 to 2 extra minutes.
• Don’t overbake. Pull them at 10 minutes when the edges are golden but the centers still look slightly underdone. They firm up as they cool.

Variations

• Half batch: The recipe halves easily for a more manageable 56 cookies.
• Dark chocolate version: Use dark chocolate chips and grate a 70% cacao bar instead of milk chocolate for a more intense, less sweet cookie.