20061222

yes virginia, there really is a neiman-marcus chocolate chip cookie.

neiman marcus chocolate chip cookies

i get a lot of viral e-mail, but weirdly, i've never gotten the $250 cookie recipe one, in which one hapless department store shopper thinks she is getting a great cookie recipe for $2.50, but ends up getting charged significantly more. out of revenge for such outrageous behaviour, the woman then supposedly e-mailed the recipe to the whole of the internets, so no one shall ever suffer her fate again. all is right with the world. except, the whole escapade never happened, and apparently, up until relatively recently, neiman-marcus did not serve chocolate chip cookies.

as a response to this urban legend, the corporation actually came up with a chocolate chip cookie recipe, which you can get on their website, completely free. honestly, i don't think i've ever had a choc-chip cookie at any of their cafés or restaurants, but i would think they'd actually use this published one. it's a pretty interesting recipe--there's a nice balance of butter, vanilla, chocolate, and hint of saltiness to balance out the sweetness from the tremendous amount of chocolate swirled through. in the end, however, a chocolate chip cookie is just a chocolate chip cookie and is only as good as its chocolate--i used chocolate chunks i chopped off a giant block of semi-sweet chocolate instead of chips. the most interesting thing to me though (besides the story) is the texture--it's a sturdy thing, almost hard, but not; it's firm, with an appealing chewiness throughout the entire cookie. i reckon this it the perfect cookie for mailing cross country or wherever you plan on sending cookies on their merry little way.

chopping chocolate

7 comments:

Yum! I remember receiving a recipe and the Mrs Fields version of this story even before email. I've never tried the recipe, but I always thought including some "blended" oatmeal sounded like a fine idea.

I always use chocolate chopped from bars not chocolate chips. I think it make buns, muffins and cookies taste better as you get a decent mouthful of tasty chocolate.

hi cathy! that's funny, because when i was reading the recipe, it read like it might taste like a mrs. fields' cookie. it probably is the same recipe. the nm version doesn't have oatmeal, but i do like the idea of adding oatmeal.

hi beccy! i am okay with either chips or chunks. i like that chips are self-contained beings, no messy bits or choco-dust muddying the dough. however, as you said, the chunk deliver more of a choco-wallop.

Dang, they really DO exist....and look mighty oishii too. I did go to Neiman once (to buy Yoku Moku cookies as gifts) but they don't take Visa or MC so I had to leave since I don't carry Amex nor a Neiman card. What store in America doesn't take Visa or MC? Rats.

what? no visa nor mastercard?! i wonder how many stores don't take either, because that's so...unamerican :) or that's so american express, i guess.

i wonder what the markup on yoku mokus are, probably something exorbitant. we used to count on getting at least one box a year, but i guess they are getting too expensive compared to other brands in japan that we're now getting faux-mokus. so not the same.

S,

Happy Holidays! And yes, they do exist. I received a gold box with a tin of these cookies in them for Christmas! :P

BTW...the Neiman Marcus stores in North America DO NOT accept Mastercard or Visa. Bergdorf Goodman, and the Neiman Marcus here in Hawaii, DO. Go figure.

WOW - I heard about the NM cookie story over 10 years ago, got the recipe in a company newsletter and actually made them. I must say they are pretty good!