Cookie #71 - The Infamous Nieman Marcus Cookie

Back when I got my very first email address, I received the following email from a friend:

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 & 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!!!

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 dont give a damn, 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....

I was appauled! 

How could Neiman's do that to someone! 

Of course, I forwarded the email to everyone I know.   

I come to find out (a lot later than I like to admit) this story is untrue. 

Still, the squash any remaining rumors, Neiman Marcus posted the cookie recipe on their website. 

This was the first time I made these cookies. 

I only have one question:  What was I waiting for? 

Upon first reading the recipe, I thought it was just another chocolate chip cookie.  I was wrong. The flavors are so much more pronouced and deep. 

The addition of the espresso powder really brings out the chocolate.  

The ratio of the brown sugar to white sugar results in a much softer cookie, as well. 

The cookies smell fantastic baking.  It's hard to not grab one right off the cookie sheet and eat it. 

Don't do it. 

Melted chocolate burns. 

Don't ask me how I know. 

Just trust me.  

The Neiman Marcus Cookie

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder

1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy (approximately 30 seconds)

Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.

Using a 1 ounce scoop or a 2 tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into a 2 inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie.

Cookie #65 - Washington Chocolate Espresso Bean

After only four days of dreary, rainy weather her in northeastern Pennsylvania, I can't imagine living in the Pacific northwest. 

Every part of my body hurts. 

I've had a headache since Sunday. 

To quote Milli Vanilla, "blame it on the rain." 

Aside from grunge music and vampires, Washington State is also known for another pop

culture icon that has rocked the world: 

Starbucks. 

The largest coffeehouse company in the world with over 17,000 stores in close to 50 countries.

Knowing immediately that my Washington cookie would incorporate coffee,

I decided to try chocolate covered espresso beans.

Side note:  when I was in college, I took an evening biology class.  A classmate friend of mine discovered the cafeteria sold bags of chocolate covered espresso beans and would sometimes eat an entire bag during class.  One day, she complained to me that she was having trouble sleeping.  I asked her if she thought it had anything to do with the fact that she was eating handfuls of coffee beans during class.  She never put two and two together. 

Back to the cookies. 

Since I used actual chocolate covered coffee beans in this recipe, I didn't want to do a dark chocolate cookie.  I was afraid that the bitterness of the chocolate would compete with the bitterness of the coffee beans.  \I also didn't use any brown sugar in this cookie as I initially planned.  I wanted the cookie to be soft and chewy, so I planned on using half white sugar and half brown.  Instead, I used all white sugar and the cookie, once cooled, was crisp and almost melted in your mouth.  I was quite happy with the overall texture.  I think that if it was a softer cookie, the sudden crunch of the espresso beans would give the cookie and odd feel.

Washington Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp espresso powder

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chocolate covered espresso beans (I used Gertrude Hawk)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add in vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Mix in espresso powder.  Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Add slowly to butter and egg mixture, stirring until just combined.  Mix in chocolate chips and espresso beans.

Drop by rounded tablespoons full onto parchment lined baking sheets about 2" apart.

Bake for 10 minutes.  Let cool on sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Cookie #7 - Chocolate Espresso Crinkles

I'm sorry I'm so late in posting today's cookie.  Everyone knows today was Father's Day, so today I spent my time catering to my husband's every whim.  Well, not really.  Mostly, I kept the girls out of his hair while he smoke a beef brisket and chicken on his grills in our backyard.  The smell of the mesquite, apple and hickory wafted through the house starting bright and early at seven a.m.  The result: a delectable dinner and a super happy Daddy.  So, Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.
Now, onto the cookies.
These cookies were Corey's request for Father's Day.  Right around the time I first made these cookies, I was fighting some serious insomnia.  I couldn't figure out why I was staying up until after 1 am when I normally am in bed around 10. 
Yeah.  Chocolate ESPRESSO....and I don't normally drink coffee. 
So, I'm not very cautious about how many of these guys I eat after 8 pm. 

Chocolate Espresso Crinkles

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tsp instant espresso powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

4 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (I used semisweet), melted & cooled

1 tbsp milk

1/2 cup powdered sugar, for coating

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.  With an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg until well combined.  Mix in cooled chocolate. 
With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture, then milk, until just combined.
Flatten dough into a disc and wrap in plastic.  Freeze until firm (about an hour).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll dough into 1" balls, coat in powdered sugar.  Place on parchment lined baking sheets, about 2" apart. 
Bake for 12 - 14 minutes, rotating the sheet pans halfway through the baking time.  The cookies will be soft to the touch, but they should spread and the coating should crack.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.