Neiman Marcus Cookies have earned their fame with good reason. Each bite delivers the perfect balance of crisp edges, chewy centers, and rich chocolate flavor!

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Indulge in the legendary Neiman Marcus cookies recipe that perfectly blends oatmeal, grated chocolate, and chopped nuts for a decadent treat that’s worth every calorie! These cookies have become famous for their irresistible texture and rich flavor that keeps everyone coming back for more.
The Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies is a soft, chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that is perfect with a glass of milk. This recipe is sure to be one that the whole family will enjoy and is a huge hit as a homemade edible gift or to take to parties!
Jump to:
- Why You’ll Love These Neiman Marcus Cookies
- Recipe Ingredients
- The Famous Neiman Marcus Cookies
- Video: How to Make Famous Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe
- How To Make Neiman Marcus Cookies
- Recipe FAQs
- Expert Tips
- The Story Behind Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Why I Recommend Using Blended Oatmeal in Neiman Marcus Cookies Recipe
- More Amazing Cookie Recipes With Chocolate
- More Delicious Cookie Recipes to Consider
Why You’ll Love These Neiman Marcus Cookies
- Foolproof Results: This recipe consistently delivers perfect cookies every time, even if you’re not an experienced baker.
- Impressive Flavor Profile: The combination of blended oatmeal, chocolate chips, grated Hershey bar, and nuts creates a depth of flavor that ordinary chocolate chip cookies simply can’t match.
- Make-Ahead Friendly: The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for longer storage, making these perfect for busy moms who need to plan ahead.
- Crowd-Pleasing Appeal: These cookies have universal appeal — kids love them just as much as adults, making them perfect for any gathering or occasion.
- Bragging Rights: There’s something special about serving a “famous” recipe with a fun backstory that makes these cookies a conversation starter at any event!
🍪 When in doubt about what dish to take to an event, I honestly believe you can never go wrong with a cookie containing chocolate!
Recipe Ingredients
- Oatmeal
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Chocolate Chips — use the type of chocolate chips that you like or have on hand
- Hershey Candy Bar
- Nuts — I normally use walnuts or pecans, but you can use what you like or have on hand.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.

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The Famous Neiman Marcus Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups oatmeal blended
- 2 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 12 ounces chocolate chips 2 cups
- 1 Hershey bar, grated 4 ounces
- 1 ½ cups chopped nuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Add the oatmeal to a blender and blend into a coarse flour or powder.2 ½ cups oatmeal
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour, blended oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.2 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars, on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy.1 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup light brown sugar
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well blended, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Add flour mixture; mix just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips, grated chocolate, and nuts. (Optional: cover dough and chill 30 minutes – add a minute or two to the cook time if using chilled dough.)12 ounces chocolate chips, 1 Hershey bar, grated, 1 ½ cups chopped nuts
- Roll into balls and place two inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
- Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to racks to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Video: How to Make Famous Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe
How To Make Neiman Marcus Cookies

Step 1: Add the oatmeal to a blender and blend into a coarse flour or powder. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, blended oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Step 2: In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars, on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well blended, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.
Step 3: Add flour mixture; mix just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips, grated chocolate, and nuts. (Optional: cover dough and chill 30 minutes – add a minute or two to the cook time if using chilled dough.)
Step 4: Roll into balls and place two inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in a preheated oven. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to racks to cool completely.

Pro Baking Tip: To bring your butter to the perfect temperature for creaming, cut the butter into tablespoons and put it in your mixing bowl. By the time you’ve assembled all your other ingredients, your butter will be ready to cream.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can! The original recipe specifically calls for a Hershey bar, but any good quality milk chocolate will work. The key is to grate it rather than chop it, as this distributes tiny flecks of chocolate throughout the dough for an amazing flavor experience.
Chilling is optional but recommended! Chilled dough will produce slightly thicker cookies with a more concentrated flavor. If you’re in a hurry, you can skip this step, but even a quick 30-minute chill will improve your results.
Look for golden brown edges with centers that look just slightly underdone. They’ll continue cooking a bit on the hot baking sheet after you remove them from the oven. This ensures perfectly chewy cookies that aren’t overbaked or dry.
Absolutely! You can freeze them in two ways. Either freeze the baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months, or roll the dough into balls, freeze on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. When ready to bake, just add 1-2 minutes to the baking time—no need to thaw!

Expert Tips
- The Secret: The secret to this cookie is OATMEAL! And the secret to the oatmeal is popping it in the blender before adding it to the cookies to make a coarse flour out of it. Amazing texture and flavor!
- Measure Your Oatmeal Before Blending: Measure the 2½ cups of oatmeal before you blend it, not after. The volume changes when blended, and proper measurement ensures the right cookie texture.
- Room Temperature Ingredients Matter: Make sure your butter and eggs are truly at room temperature for the best incorporation. Cold ingredients don’t blend as smoothly and can affect the final texture of your cookies.
- Don’t Overmix: Once you add the dry ingredients, mix just until combined. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, which can make your cookies tough instead of tender.
The Story Behind Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies
The classic Neiman Marcus cookie recipe came as a result of a hoax someone pulled against the Neiman Marcus Cafe. It was said that a woman went to the cafe and loved the cookie so much that she asked for the recipe.
The person said that they’d give it to her for “two fifty”. But when her bank statement came she realized that the recipe wasn’t sold to her for $2.50 like she thought, but rather for $250. This story spread throughout the country and it became a big ordeal.
The funny thing is, the Neiman Marcus Cafe wasn’t even offering cookies on their menu at that time. So, in response to the hoax over a cookie that didn’t exist, the Neiman Marcus Group created the Neiman Marcus cookie.
The store actually released a version of their cookie recipe a few years ago. While similar to this one, it contains espresso powder and leaves out one very important ingredient — oatmeal.
Why I Recommend Using Blended Oatmeal in Neiman Marcus Cookies Recipe
Blended oatmeal is the key to the delightful texture of the original Neiman Marcus cookies. It’s the secret ingredient that the store left out of their published recipe.
It only takes an extra minute to make blended oatmeal in your kitchen. Simply add oats to a blender and pulse into a coarse powder.
While oat flour is also a form of oats ground into powder, it’s not a great substitute for the oats in this recipe. Oat flour is much more finely ground than you will achieve in your home blender. It also may change the texture of your cookies.
When choosing oats for these cookies, I always opt for old-fashioned oats, but you can substitute quick-cooking oats if needed. Do not use instant oats!

More Amazing Cookie Recipes With Chocolate
I’m not sure we can ever have too many recipes for cookies that have chocolate in them. Here are some awesome ones that always get gobbled up quickly at our house or wherever I take them!
- Monster Cookies: The best parts of your favorite cookies and make one giant conglomeration. So delicious and everyone loves them.
- Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies: Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and the best part is that you don’t need to fire up your oven!
- Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies: Brown sugar and higher oven temperature is the secret to thick, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies every time.

More Delicious Cookie Recipes to Consider
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Barbra
Is there a video on making these cookies, it would be nice to see them being made as well as a close up visual of the blended oats.
Barbra
I love these cookies, but when I blend to a “coarse” flour, I can feel those tiny flakes of oatmeal when I eat the cookies.
Joan
Hello, These sound delicious and am going to make them tonight. Just a silly question: Is it 14 oz. of Hershey Bar or one 4 oz Hershey Bar. I’m sorry, I cannot tell. Thanks so much for clarification.
Melissa Griffiths
It’s 4 ounces total, thank you for bringing that to my attention. I have changed the formatting to better reflect the 4 ounces and not 14.
Champa
beautiful cookies,I tried with success ,our family enjoyed it each time we have party.
Jean Krause
My daughter baked these cookies today and used blended oats. The cookie was perfectly shaped and crisp. She used mini chocolate chips and mini m&m’s. The taste was so delicious. She mentioned there is a recipe calling for espresso powder, but she didn’t use it because she has a toddler who loves cookies. He was the best host at sharing with us, too. I am looking forward to making them soon.
Dorothy Lansberry
Will try the cookies afte
Barbra
Can someone please tell me how to find the video?
Judith Rutschman
great ingredients and excellent instructions, including link for creaming the butter. Thank you
Veronique
My son- in-law loves these cookies so much. His mom I guess made them when he was a kid. I agree that they are pretty delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Shawn
This is a great cookie. I put milk chocolate, white chocolate and butterscotch chips in it. I also grind the oats very fine, so it’s like flower. Everyone that tries these love them. I think they have a good complementary flavor.
Melissa Griffiths
Sounds perfect! Thank you for sharing!
Joel
Unless you watch the video you don’t know when to add the eggs and vanilla. Maybe it would be a good idea to have this in the directions.
Melissa Griffiths
You add them in step 4 of the recipe, not sure where the confusion is from…
Barbra
Can you tell me where to find the video please? There’s a lot of different videos and ads so I can’t find it. Thanks
Cherie E Nye
you are right it is right there in the directions Don’t understand where the difficulty comes from seems very to the point to me
Barbra
Can you tell me how to find the video please?
Vickie
I decided to use butterscotch chips in place of the chocolate chips. Gave the cookies an uplift. And used cake flour for more moisture. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Hyleigh
I really like this cookie recipe but I think you should add half a cup of white sugar instead of a cup they’re just a little too sweet for my taste but
Cherie E Nye
adding a less amount of sugar is a great option for you if you want it not everyone would