It was spring semester of my sophomore year in college, over 6 years ago. Making my way to Psych class one afternoon, a bake sale hosted by the Anthropology Department caught my eye. Cookies, muffins, and brownies galore. I walked away with a chewy brownie and a pair of chocolate chip cookies stashed in my backpack. Arriving in class a few minutes later, I snuck one of the cookies. (My class was in a computer lab where food was strictly forbidden.) I was so taken by the cookie, I ate the other one in quick succession. The cookies were so good, I packed my belongings and returned to the bake sale to see if there was any way I could get the recipe. The Graduate Student manning the booth happened to have a file of all of the recipes on hand, in case a food allergy question arose. He promised to have a copy of the recipe waiting for me after class, the class that was about to start at that very moment. As soon as my Psych class released, I hurried back to pick up the sought-after recipe. Turns out, that was best dollar I have ever spent at a bake sale.
All these years, this recipe has been tucked inside my recipe binder. In all that time, I have only made these cookies two or three times. But each time, I wonder why I don’t turn to them more often. The oat flour gives the cookie a chewier texture than your traditional chocolate chip cookie and the grated chocolate spreads the chocolate flavor throughout the entire cookie.
Neiman Marcus Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 ½ cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal and blend in blender to a fine powder)
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
4 oz chocolate bar, grated
12 oz chocolate chips
1 ½ cups chopped walnuts
Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda into the creamed mixture. Mix well. Add grated chocolate, chocolate chips, and walnuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 56-72 depending on size. Do NOT over bake.
