Chocolate Chip Cookies And Urban Myth.

A few entries earlier, I put up on my blog an email that was forwarded to me by a friend, a story behind the Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. It’s about a lady who felt she was cheated out of $250 for the cookie recipe and in retaliation, decided to make the recipe available for free to as many people as possible.

Apparently, the Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe story is an urban legend. It’s been circulating since the late 80s. Although Neiman Marcus denied the story, the urban legend continued to circulate, with the help of the Internet and E-mail.

There is actually a long history of urban myths about overpriced recipes. In 1960’s, there was a similar story involving a red velvet cake recipe from the famous Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. A lady who wrote to the hotel asking for the cake recipe was charged $350 and just like the Neiman Marcus cookie story, to get even, the lady made the recipe available for everybody.

In the 1970s, the urban myth changed from cake to cookies. The cookie version of the myth started with Mrs Fields cookies. The story was so popular that Debbi Fields had to put up notices in her stores stating that she was not charging $250 for her cookies recipes as it is a trade secret.

Come the 90s, there was a shift in the urban myth. This time around, targeting Neiman Marcus. Neiman Marcus kept getting inquiries about the costly cookie recipe that they came out with their very own cookie recipe in 1995 which everybody can access for free as it is posted on Neiman Marcus's Website.

The "actual" Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.

Ingredients

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

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

2.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.

3.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.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies.

I never did try the urband legend version of the recipe. Maybe I’ll give this actual version a go. Happy Baking you all!