Oops... I forgot the Chocolate! Happy Mother's Day!

You just thought I was through with NM stories! After posting the last article, I remembered one funny tale.
Since it involved chocolate, I thought I'd save it for Mother's Day!

There is an urban legend regarding a chocolate chip cookie recipe, that has been passed around for as long as I can remember. According to the storyline, many years ago, a customer came with her daughter to shop at Neiman's.

At lunchtime, they stopped at the NM cafe, ordering 2 salads. After eating their salads, and both being chocolate lovers, they each ordered a chocolate chip cookie to finish off their meal. Enjoying the cookie so much, the woman asked the waitress if she could get a copy of the recipe. The waitress responded that she could not give her the recipe, but she could buy it. "How much", asked the woman. The waitress replied, "only two fifty. It's a great deal". The customer agreed and went on her way with the recipe.

Thirty days later, the woman received her statement with a bill for the two salads - $9.95, scarf - $20 and a charge of $250 - Cookie recipe. The woman was outraged and called the store to complain, but did not get the matter resolved.

In return, the woman to get some satisfaction, sent the recipe to everyone she knew, claiming that she didn't want Neiman's to ever make another penny off of their recipe.

Well, the truth of the matter is, Neiman's never served chocolate chip cookies at The Little Mermaid or at the Zodiac Room. After years of dealing with the story that would never die, Neiman's decided to create its' own chocolate chip cookie to sell in their restaurant.

The following is the original recipe, that legend has it, cost the customer $250, followed by the recipe created by Neiman's.

"Urban Legend" Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
2 C butter
4 C flour
2 tsp soda
2 C sugar
5 C blended oatmeal
24 ozs chocolate chips
2 C brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 8 oz Hershey Bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
3 C chopped nuts (your choice)

Measure oatmeal and blend to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place 2" apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 mins. at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.

NM Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1 C brown sugar
3 tsp granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 C flour
1 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder, slightly crushed
8 ozs semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract. Combine the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 or 10-12 for a crispier cookie. Makes 15 large cookies.

Happy Baking and Happy Mother's Day! Enjoy!