Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe
The famous Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe! Blended oatmeal in the cookie dough is the secret ingredient that gives these cookies just a little more texture and body. A batch of homemade Neiman Marcus cookies, full of chocolate chips and nuts, is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser any time of day.
Urban legend has it that one smitten Neiman Marcus customer agreed to pay “two fifty” for the store’s chocolate chip cookie recipe. Imagine her surprise when she was served with a bill for $250.
The store actually released a version of their cookie recipe a few years ago. While similar to this one, it contains espresso powder and leaves out one very important ingredient.
The cookies are so tender, chewy and chocolaty, that they just might be worth their price tag. Luckily, my step-mom saved the original recipe and passed it on to me to share and I’m sharing it with you.
This cookie recipe goes beyond your typical chocolate chip cookie with the addition of blended oatmeal, chocolate shavings, and nuts. The extra step of blending oats is well worth it.
Update: I’ve updated this post with a video and helpful tips and tricks to make these legendary cookies live up to the hype.
How To Make The Original Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe At Home
Overall, this is a simple and straightforward cookie recipe. The only extra bit to perfecting Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies is blending up some oatmeal and adding some grated chocolate.
This cookie recipe follows the creaming method, which means you’ll start by creaming butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. If you have a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment on medium-high speed.
Creaming incorporates air into the butter, which helps your cookies stay light and fluffy. Serious Eats has a great article on the importance of creaming butter and sugar when making cookies.
Tip: To bring your butter to the perfect temperature for creaming, cut the butter into tablespoons and put it in your mixing bowl. By the time you’ve assembled all your other ingredients, your butter will be ready to cream.
I like to mix together the dry ingredients (blended oatmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda) before creaming, and gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
Mix until everything is just combined, being careful not to overmix, which can result in tough cookies. Finally, fold in your mix-ins: chocolate, more chocolate, and nuts.
At this point, you can refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Chilling creates even thicker, chewier cookies, as the cold dough won’t spread as much in the oven.
When you’re ready to bake, form balls with your dough and arrange on cookie sheets. I use a #40 disher to get even cookies that bake into perfect circles. If you bake a lot of cookies like I do, this scoop is a time saver and makes evenly sized cookies every time.
Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes. Don’t worry about taking them out a couple of minutes before the cookies look fully set. Resting on the hot baking sheets will continue to bake the cookies all the way through. Then, move the cookies to a wire rack to cool fully.
At this point, if you don’t eat them all straight away, the chocolate chip cookies can be frozen for several months or stored in an airtight container on the counter.
Why Use Blended Oatmeal in Chocolate Chip Cookies?
Blended oatmeal is the key to the delightful texture of the original Neiman Marcus cookies. It’s the secret ingredient that the store left out of their published recipe.
It only takes just a couple of minutes to make blended oatmeal in your kitchen. Simply add oats to a blender and pulse into a coarse powder.
While oat flour is also a form of oats ground into powder, it’s not a great substitute for the oats in this recipe. Oat flour is much more finely ground than you will achieve in your home blender. It also may change the texture of your cookies.
When choosing oats for these cookies, I always opt for old-fashioned oats, but you can substitute quick-cooking oats if needed. Do not use Instant Oats.
What Else Can I Add to Chocolate Chip Cookies?
This is an incredibly versatile recipe. The dough itself is so tasty, soft and chewy that you can play around with your favorite cookie inclusions. The recipe includes the classics: chocolate chips, chocolate shavings, and nuts.
Of course, you can easily omit the nuts if you’re not a fan. Or, you can replace them with other candies, such as Heath Bar. Coconut chips also add a nice, tropical note. One reader replaced all of the chocolate with M&M’s for a colorful take on the classic chocolate chip cookie.
How do you like to change up your Neiman Marcus cookies? Let me know in the comments, I love trying new mix-ins!
Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe
Rich, chewy and soft Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies are studded with extra chocolate and chopped nuts to make the perfect sweet treat.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups oatmeal, blended
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 12 oz. chocolate chips (2 cups)
- 1 (4 oz.) Hershey bar, grated
- 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (I omitted these)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Blend oatmeal: Measure and process in a blender to a coarse powder.
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars, on medium-high speed, until well light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well blended, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add flour mixture; mix just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips, grated chocolate, and nuts, if using. (Optional: cover dough and chill 30 minutes - add a minute or two to the cook time if using chilled dough.)
- Roll into balls and place two inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. (Take the cookies out of the oven 1 or 2 minutes before the cookies are cooked, as they will continue to cook on the baking pans.).
- Let cookies cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to racks to cool completely.
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More Candy-Studded Cookie Recipes to Bake Now
I love the inclusion of shaved Hershey’s Chocolate in the Neiman Marcus Cookie recipe. In fact, I love any cookie with an extra crunch of candy. Here are some of my favorite homemade cookie recipes with candy mixed in:
- Over the Top Lemon Drop Candy Cookies. I bet you didn’t expect lemon drop candies to make such a fun and bright cookie topping perfect for springtime!
- Triple Chocolate Milky Way Cookies have it all: three types of chocolate in one Milky Way-filled package.
- Chocolate Toffee Cookies from That Skinny Chick Can Bake pair dense chocolate with crunchy toffee in a delightfully chewy cookie.
- Oatmeal Raisinet Cookies are a big step-up from classic oatmeal raisin cookies.
More chocolate chip cookie recipes you might like:
Cherry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Toffee Cookies, Barbara Bakes
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Barbara Bakes
Better than the Doubletree Chocolate Chip Cookie, Crazy for Crust
Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies, Mom On Timeout
Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies, Wishes and Dishes
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I have made these for many years and my mom before me. Hands down the best chocolate chip cookie recipe out there. One problem I have is my dough always seems to be dry and crumbly. They come out pretty well but I find I have to press the cookies down in the last couple of minutes. Any tips?
Hi Leigh Ann – it could be the way you’re measuring your flour or oatmeal? Here’s a good video https://www.barbarabakes.com/how-to-measure-flour/
This is a great recipe and I have been making NM cookies for over 20 years now. I have the original recipe, which is a little different from the one here on this site. One part of the NM recipe that I have doesn’t call for blending the oatmeal, just measure and add. I think I will blend the oatmeal this year to see the difference. I also add M&Ms to part of the cookie dough, kids of all ages love them.
Thanks for sharing Jane. Let us know what you think. M&Ms sound like a delicious addition.
I like to replace some of the chocolate with herb-infused chocolate (it is legal in my state). The key is to decide how many grams of herb is right for you (if you’ve bought from a dispensary it should be carefully marked). I use 5g per cookie, which is about one square of the chocolate bar. I chop it coarsely and work it into the dough after the cookie amount is measured out. Since you probably won’t do this with *all* the cookies in your batch, I do this with the first however-many of the herb-infused chocolate cookies I plan to make. Then I use a canister with a metal bail lid. You can use a small 3-number lock to lock this type of canister to lock it up from anyone who might happen upon them so they don’t unwittingly eat a cookie without their consent (I prefer non-clear canisters–there are metal ones where you can’t see what’s inside). Store it in the very back of the refrigerator. Then wash your hands thoroughly and make the rest of the cookies. Enjoy!
I saw a Q/A that said you use light brown sugar, but is it loosely or tightly packed?
Hi Kim – yes, light brown sugar firmly packed.
Can you use half blended oatmeal and oatmeal?
Hi Marsha – the blended oatmeal takes the place of some of the flour, so I wouldn’t use half and half but you could try not blending 1/2 cup to add some texture to the cookie.
Can’t wait to try this recipe! How many cookies does this recipe make? If I want to make double the recipe, can I bake using 2 racks in the oven, and what’s the best way to do that (rotate racks after 5 minutes)? Thank you!
Thanks Lyla! It makes about 3 dozen cookies. I prefer not to bake 2 sheets at a time because your results won’t be as good as if you bake 1 sheet at a time. If you prefer to bake two sheets, move the racks so the oven is divided into thirds and swap the cookie sheets top to bottom and back to front after 5 minutes. Also, you’ll probably need to bake the cookies a couple of minutes longer if you bake two trays at a time, so overall you’re not saving very much time by doing two sheets at a time. Enjoy!
I usually add about 1 cup of golden raisins. Soak them in water first so they plump up. Add them last so they don’t tear up.
Sounds like a great addition – thanks for sharing Kathy!
I have made these so many times I could do it with my eyes closed! everyone just loves them, hmm maybe it is time for me to do them again!!! it is always time for a homemade cookie as opposed to store-bought you just do not get the love from store-bought that you get from homemade!!
How fun – thanks for sharing Marilyn! You’re right a homemade cookie is great way to share love 🙂
Have you tried Neiman-Marcus cake? It’s always a hit when I make it – no matter where I take or who I share it with. The same story is attached to the cake recipe as is to the cookie recipe.
Hi Marsha – no, I didn’t know there was a Neiman Marcus cake. I’d love to give it a try if you’re willing to share the recipe. barbarabakes@gmail.com
I just emailed it to you. Enjoy!
I like to have the recipe of the
NEIMAN-MARCUS CAKE.
Please share the recipe for the cake.
THE COOKIES ARE VERY GOOD!
can i add raisins to this to put them over the top/
Hi Dan – I think raisins would be an awesome addition. I’d try 1 to 1 1/2 cups.
Very familiar with this great recipe and I’m not much of a baker. My son wants peanut better chocolate chip cookies. How would I change the recipe to add peanut butter?
Hi Sally – adding peanut butter will require adjustments to the butter and sugar to get the consistency right. Here’s a peanut butter chocolate chip recipe that you could try instead https://www.handletheheat.com/peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Hi! Does it mater if its light or dark brown sugar? Can’t wait to try this recipe out!
Thanks Maryan – I used light brown sugar, but you can use dark brown sugar if you prefer.
The recipe calls for 3 cups of chopped nuts which seems excessive. I think 1 1/2 cups of chopped nuts be a reasonable amount for this recipe.
Hi Julia – 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts is correct. Enjoy!
What is the effective difference in using ground rolled oats versus oat flour?
Hi Andrew – oat flour is generally more finely ground and won’t add as much texture to the cookie, it could also change the ratio of butter to flour and sugar. But you could certainly give it a try.
Salter or unsalted butter?
Hi Deborah – unsalted butter – enjoy!
Is your butter melted or hard when you add it? Is that the measurement of the oatmeal after blended or before?
Hi Tori – I’ve updated the recipe so it’s more clear. The butter is room temperature, not melted and the oatmeal is blended after measuring. Enjoy!
Can they be frozen?
Hi Melissa – yes, they will freeze and thaw very well.
If I freeze some dough in balls do I need to thaw them completely before baking?
Hi Danielle – no, just cook them 2-3 minutes longer
I have made these several times . I wanted to add M&Ms I need to make 30 Extra large cookies for High School grad. Will I need to double the quantities.?
Hi Kathy – yes, adding M&Ms and doubling the recipe should give you 30 extra large cookies. You’ll need to add extra baking time, probably 15 minutes and only bake 6 on a tray.
What kind of oatmeal do you use?
Hi Patti – I use Old Fashioned Oats. Enjoy!
Hi, Do you recommend chilling the dough?
I will often chill my cookie dough before baking for at least 30 minutes. Enjoy!