EAT: NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES

MAKES 112 | PREP 15 MINS | COOKING 10 MINS | VEGETARIAN

Two years ago a friend forwarded me some junk email that I actually read. So glad I did, because the email contained this recipe. Often with an unknown source, recipes like this could be a total waste of ingredients, but this one is definitely not. In fact, it's so good, I feel badly for not paying for the recipe. Of course, it's a hoax. (But you can still read the story below. Totally entertaining!)

Last week when I had some friend's children over for the day, we did some baking. These cookies (I personally like to call them biscuits, but it's an American recipe) are delicious, and turn out perfectly every time. Definitely worth sharing with you!

INGREDIENTS

5 cups rolled oats
2 cups butter (I use light margarine)
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

4 cups plain flour 

680g chocolate chips
1 tsp salt 

2 tsp baking powder 

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

500g cooking chocolate, grated

3 cups chopped nuts (optional)

METHOD
1 Blend oats in a blender to a fine powder.

2 Cream the butter and both sugars.

3 Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda. Add chocolate chips, grated chocolate and nuts.

4 Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Bake for 10 minutes at 180 degrees celcius.

Recipe may be halved as this makes heaps. [The above quantities make 112 cookies.]

And here's the story...

If you don't already know, Neiman-Marcus is a very expensive boutique department store in Dallas, USA.

My daughter and I had just finished lunch at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe, and because both of us are such biscuit lovers, we decided to try the Neiman-Marcus cookie. It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe. The waitress said with a small  frown, "I'm afraid not, but you can buy the recipe."

I asked how much, and she responded, "Only two fifty. It's a great deal".

I agreed to that, and told her to add it to my bill.

Thirty days later, I received my Visa statement, and the charge from Neiman-Marcus was $285. I looked at it again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two sandwiches and about $20 for a scarf. At the bottom of the statement, it said,  "Cookie Recipe: $250". That was outrageous!

I called Neiman's accounting department and told them the waitress had said it was "two fifty", which clearly does not mean "two hundred and fifty dollars" by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money because according to them, "What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe. We absolutely will not refund your money.

I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes which govern fraud in the state of Texas. I threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau and The Texas Attorney General's office. I was basically told, "Do what you want. Don't bother trying to get any of your money back".

I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the world with an e-mail account gets a $250 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus for free.

So here it is! Please pass it on to everyone you can  possibly think of. I paid $250 for this, and I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make another penny from this recipe!