Made with ground oats, blended nuts, and 3 kinds of chocolate, Neiman Marcus Cookies are worth every penny of their legendary price tag!

Neiman Marcus Cookie Being broken apart showing chocolate oozing out.

The Legend Behind Neiman Marcus Cookies

Have you heard the legend about the Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe?

The story goes that a woman at a famous department store begged for a recipe for a baked good she had eaten at their cafe, only to receive a bill in the vicinity of $250. She expressed her anger for this rather large bill by sharing the recipe with anybody and everybody.

Is the legend true? Maybe, maybe not. But after one bite of these cookies, you will believe they are worth their price.

Unbelievable Flavor and Texture. Made with a combination of blended oats, blended nuts, and more chocolate than should be legal, these Neiman Marcus Cookies are soft, yet a bit chewy, and every bite oozes with chocolate. And the walnuts give the cookies an earthy, nutty taste, yet are blended to keep the cookie soft. They are absolutely perfect.
Crowd-Pleasing Cookie Recipe. Neiman Marcus Cookies are my all-time favorite cookie recipe and everyone I serve them to, LOVES them!
Holiday Worthy. While these cookies deserve to be enjoyed year-round, they also are a favorite Christmas cookie recipe.
Make-Ahead Friendly. You make the dough a couple of days in advance or freeze the cookie dough to enjoy warm Neiman Marcus Cookies when the craving strikes.
Free to You! Unlike the woman behind the legend, you won't receive an invoice after baking these delicious cookies.

Notes on Ingredients

Ingredients for Neiman Marcus Cookies labeled on white counter.

Butter: Use unsalted butter to control the sodium in the cookies.
Flour: Use all-purpose flour for best results.
Oats: Use rolled old-fashioned or quick-cook oats, not steel-cut oats.
Sugar: This cookie recipe uses both granulated and brown sugar. Either dark or light brown sugar works for this recipe.
Walnuts: This recipe works best with walnuts, not any other variety of nuts.
Chocolate: Not one, not two, use 3 kinds of chocolate! A combination of dark chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and grated milk chocolate is used to give these Neiman Marcus Cookies the best flavor.

Tips for Making Neiman Marcus Cookies

The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Use room-temperature butter. You can tell your butter is soft enough if you can press gently on the butter and your fingertips leave an indent, but it should not be melted. This will help the butter will cream evenly into your cookie dough and result in a lighter, fluffier cookie.
Measure the oats and nuts AFTER blending them. This recipe calls for blended oats and blended nuts, which helps to give the cookie its nutty flavor, yet retain a softer texture. But because baking is a science, be sure to process the oats and nuts after blending to ensure your measurements are correct.
Grate the chocolate bar. Using a combination of grated chocolate and chocolate chips ensures every bite of the cookie features chocolate.
Add the chocolate to the dry ingredients rather than folding them into the batter at the end. This will coat the chocolate in the flour mixture, which will help to keep the chocolate suspended throughout the cookie batter, instead of sinking to the bottom of the cookie.
Don't overmix the cookie dough. Once you add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar, mix just until the flour is fully moistened. This will keep your cookies tender.
Chill before baking. Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes. This helps the butter get cold again, which will help prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven.
Use a cookie scoop. This will keep each cookie the same size, ensuring they bake evenly.
Be careful to not overbake. Bake until the edges of the cookies are just set and beginning to brown, yet the center is still soft. The Neiman Marcus cookies will harden a bit more as they cool, so you want them to be JUST set.

Baked Neiman Marcus Cookies on cookie sheet.

Storing Neiman Marcus Cookies

Room Temperature: Bake and cool the cookies completely. Transfer the cooled baked cookies to an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Refrigerate: Bake and cool the cookies completely. Transfer the cooled baked cookies to an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Freeze: Bake as directed and cool the cookies completely. Freeze the cooled, baked cookies for up to 1 month in an airtight container. Defrost on the counter for a few hours or in the refrigerator overnight and then enjoy.

I love having frozen Neiman Marcus Cookie dough on hand so that I can bake warm cookies to enjoy whenever the craving strikes.

Prepare the Neiman Marcus Cookie dough as directed up to chilling.
Instead of chilling the cookie dough, immediately roll the dough into balls and place them onto a rimmed cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.
Place the tray into the freezer and freeze for 1 hour, or until solid.
Transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to a freezer-safe storage bag and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When ready to enjoy, place frozen cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, 2 inches apart, and bake at 375 degrees F for 8-11 minutes.

If you tried this recipe for Neiman Marcus Cookies, I would love for you to leave a review below.

This post was originally published in 2016 but was updated in November 2020 and 2023 with new pictures, tips, and a video.

The $250 Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe

The Legend Behind Neiman Marcus Cookies

Notes on Ingredients

Tips for Making Neiman Marcus Cookies

Storing Neiman Marcus Cookies