TALL TALES FROM TEXAS!

The Neiman Marcus $250 Cookie Recipe

If you hail from Texas I'm sure you have heard of the 'Neiman Marcus $250 cookie recipe caper'. It's a decades-old tall tale* kept alive by vengeful individuals who don't have anything better to do but sit around baking and eating Chocolate Chip cookies. Don't get me wrong or misunderstand my intentions, I am but a simple Texas woman who is VERY uncomplicated coming to you with truth on my side. For my faithful readers who live VERY far from Texas and may never have heard of Neiman-Marcus I will relate this tale of woe for you...here it is:

Email text contributed anonymously, Nov. 1997:

FWD: Free Neiman-Marcus Cookie Recipe

This is a true story... Please forward it to everyone that you can.... You will have to read it to believe it.... My daughter and I had just finished a salad at Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas and decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Neiman-Marcus Cookie". It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and the waitress said with a small frown "I'm afraid not." Well" I said, "would you let me buy the recipe?"

With a cute smile, she said YES". I asked how much and she responded, "Only two fifty, it's a great deal!" I said with approval, "just add it to my tab". Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Neiman-Marcus and it was $285.00. I looked again and remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, "Cookie Recipe - $250.00". That's outrageous!!!

'Neiman-Marcus Cafe' at the Flagship store in downtown Dallas.

I called Neiman's Accounting Dept. and told them that the waitress said it was "two-fifty," which clearly does not mean "two hundred and fifty dollars" by any POSSIBLE interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money, because according to them, "What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe - we absolutely will not refund your money at this point." I explained to her the criminal statutes which govern fraud in Texas. I threatened to refer them to the Better Business Bureau and the State's Attorney General for engaging in fraud. I was basically told, "Do what you want, we don't care, and we're not refunding your money." I waited a moment, thinking of how I could get even, or even try to get any of my money back. I just said, "Okay, you folks got my $250.00, and now I'm going to have $250.00 worth of fun." I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the United States with an e-mail account has a $250.00 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus... for free..She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this" I said, "Well you should have thought of that before you ripped me off", and slammed down the phone on her.. So, here it is!!! Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid $250.00 dollars for this...I don't want Neiman-Marcus to ever get another penny off of this recipe....

Neiman-Marcus Cookie Recipe 

2 cups butter, room temperature
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal, measure oatmeal and pulse in blender to chop it up a bit
24 oz. semi sweet or dark chocolate chips
1 tsp. salt
4-8 oz. Hershey bars, chopped
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
2 tsp. vanilla
Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bars and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies. Have Fun!!!
This is not a joke - this is a true story. Ride free citizens!!!! This isn't some stupid chain letter either.. pass it on. If you don't, you won't die or get dumped. You'll just do the world an injustice...

.....so it isn't true dear friends. It's a classic urban legend.....in fact, it is a version of another tall tale folklorists have traced as far back as 1948, when the ridiculously expensive recipe came from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The recipe in question there was for a Red Velvet Fudge Cake, supposedly asking price for that recipe at the time was $25. A lot in 1948! I may have to hunt this recipe down, real or not it sounds delish!

So everyone relax, Neiman's is NOT trying to scam us with their cookie recipe. I'm thinking Neiman's is doing fine on cash with out sticking it to the general public! Bake them up, real or 'tall tale', no matter these are excellent cookies as any Texan would tell you!

 I just love this photo of the Neiman Marcus Dallas Store circa 1947.  It is a Dallas icon and not to be missed. Window shopping on a beautiful Fall day is the BEST!

For my readers that live in other countries, here is the definition of a tall tale.

**A Tall Tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some such stories are exaggerations of actual events, for example fish stories ('the fish that got away') such as, "that fish was so big, why I tell ya', it nearly sank the boat when I pulled it in!" Other tall tales are completely fictional tales set in a familiar setting, such as the American Old West. Hope this helps.

Thanks for stopping by and ENJOY the cookies!