Okay, now before I go any further, I want everyone to know that the whole story of the $250 Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe is completely an urban legend and is not true in the least.  But, several years ago, I had this recipe passed on to me through a well-placed email, delivered while I happened to be in the baking spirit.  The result?  A new holiday tradition in my household!

My entire family loves these cookies and since I only make them around the holidays, they've become a decadent pleasure to look forward to.  (By the way, if you have no idea about the $250 Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe myth and want to learn more, I've attached the story to the bottom of this post!)

I've included the original recipe below, but my family and I agree that this is a tad too chocolate-y for our tastes, which is why I've also included the slight modifications I make to this recipe.  These few changes make the cookies PERFECT!

Happy holidays and I hope this recipe can be the beginning of a yummy holiday tradition for your family too!

Here's the urban legend of the Neiman Marcus $250 Cookie Recipe in its entirety...

"My daughter & I had just finished a salad at Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas & decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Neiman-Marcus Cookie". {EDITORIAL COMMENT: Neiman's is a VERY EXPENSIVE department store in the United States a.k.a. Needless Markup}.

It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and the waitress said with a small frown, "I'm afraid not." "Well", I said, would you let me buy the recipe?"

With a cute smile, she said, "Yes." I asked how much, and she responded, "only two fifty, it's a great deal!" I said with approval, "just add it to my tab."

Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Neiman-Marcus and it was $285.00. I looked again and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, "Cookie Recipe $250.00."

That's outrageous!! I called Neiman's Accounting Dept. and told them the waitress said it was "two-fifty," which clearly does not mean "two hundred and fifty dollars" by any *POSSIBLE* 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 at this point."

I explained to her the criminal statutes which govern fraud in Texas, I threatened to refer them to the Better Business Bureau and the State's Attorney General for engaging in fraud. I was basically told, "Do what you want, we don't give a crap, and we're not refunding your money."

I waited, thinking of how I could get even, or even try and get any of my money back. I just said, "Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250.00 worth of fun."

I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the United States with an e-mail account has a $250.00 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus for free. She replied," I wish you wouldn't do this." I said, "Well, you should have thought of that before you ripped me off", and slammed down the phone on her. So, here it is!!!

Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid $250 dollars for this... I don't want Neiman-Marcus to *EVER* get another penny off of this recipe...."