Neiman Marcus Cookies

An urban myth is a modern folk tale, its origin unknown, its believability enhanced simply by the frequency with which it is repeated.  As the story goes (and there are many variations), a woman lunching at Neiman Marcus ordered a cookie for a dessert and liked it so much she asked for the recipe.  She happily agreed to pay the “two fifty” charge the waiter quoted, only to find later that the restaurant had charged her $250, not $2.50.  When the store refused to reduce the bill, she mailed the recipe to everyone she knew, asking them to pass it on.

A stirring tale, but an untrue one.  Variations of this story have been applied to many a dessert recipe since the 1940s (the Waldorf-Astoria’s red velvet cake was infamously known as the $100 cake), and though the dollar amounts have changed to reflect inflation, the basic tale of just dessert remains a constant.

To carry on the tradition of righting Neiman Marcus’s imagined wrong, you may wish to copy this recipe and mail it to all your friends and family, LOL.

Neiman Marcus Cookies (adapted from Leite's Culinaria)

For recipe in Indonesian, click HERE

Ingredients:

·         2 ½ cups oat flour, or oats blitzed in a blender until powdery

·         2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

·         1 teaspoon baking powder

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         ½ teaspoon salt

·         8 ounces unsalted butter, softened

·         1 cup granulated sugar

·         1 cup light brown sugar

·         2 large eggs

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips or chopped bittersweet or milk chocolate

·         1 cup milk chocolate, grated

·         1 ½ cups chopped nuts (your choice)

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.       In a large bowl, stir together the oat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

3.       In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-low or with a handheld mixer on medium-high, beat the butter and both sugars until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.

4.       Add the eggs, one at a time, pausing after each addition to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula.  Stir in the vanilla.

5.       Add the flour mixture gradually, in 2 to 3 additions, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.  Stop using the mixer and gently stir in the chocolate chips, grated chocolate, and nuts.  Drop 1-inch balls or blobs of the chocolate chip cookie dough 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

6.       Bakes the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Let cool for a couple of minutes before carefully transferring the cookies t a wire rack to cool completely.  The cookies will be rather tender and delicate, so treat them accordingly.  You can store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Bahasa Indonesia

Bahan:

·         2 ½ cups tepung oat

·         2 cups tepung terigu serbaguna, ayak

·         1 sdt baking powder

·         1 sdt baking soda

·         ½ sdt garam

·         8 ounces mentega tawar, suhu ruang

·         1 cup gula pasir

·         1 cup light brown sugar

·         2 butir telur ukuran besar

·         1 sdt ekstrak vanilla

·         1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips atau chopped bittersweet atau milk chocolate

·         1 cup milk chocolate, parut

·         1 ½ cups kacang-kacangan cincang (sesuai selera)

Cara:

1.       Panaskan oven dengan suhu 375 derajat F (190 derajat C), siapkan loyang yang telah dialasi dengan kertas roti.

2.       Dalam mangkuk, ayak dan aduk bersama tepung oat, tepung terigu, baking powder, baking soda, dan garam.  Sisihkan.

3.       Dengan menggunakan stand mixer kecepatan medium-low atau handheld mixer dengan kecepatan medium-high, kocok mentega dengan kedua gula sampai mengembang, 3 sampai 5 menit.

4.       Tambahkan telur satu per satu, kocok. Tambahkan vanilla.

5.       Tambahkan campuran tepung secara bertahap, dalam 2 sampai 3 kali penambahan. Aduk hingga bercampur.  Tambahkan chocolate chip, coklat parut, dan kacang. Aduk hingga bercampur dengan menggunakan spatula.   Dengan menggunakan 2 buah sendok, ambil adonan dan bulatkan, kemudian letakkan di atas loyang yang telah dialasi kertas baking. Beri jarak. Lakukan sampai semua adonan habis.

6.       Panggang selama 8 sampai 10 menit, atau sampai berwarna kecoklatan.  Biarkan dingin sebelum dipindahkan ke dalam wadah.  Kue ini tahan disimpan dalam wadah kedap udara pada suhu ruang selama 7 hari atau sampai 1 bulan di dalam freezer.