Every few years this one does the rounds again — the story of a woman who fell in love with a chocolate chip cookie at a Neiman Marcus café, asked for the recipe, and was told it would cost “two-fifty.” She agreed, assuming $2.50. Her credit card statement said otherwise: $250. Furious, she supposedly took revenge by mailing the recipe to everyone she knew.

It’s a great story and it’s completely made up — Neiman Marcus has denied it for decades, and Snopes traces the same tale back through Mrs Fields in the ’70s to a $25 fudge cake myth from 1948. What isn’t made up is that the cookie itself, oats blended to a fine powder and loaded with two kinds of chocolate and walnuts, is genuinely excellent.

THE $250 COOKIE (THAT NEVER HAPPENED)

Ingredients

  • 225g rolled oats
  • 300g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 220g caster sugar
  • 220g brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 340g dark choc chips
  • 115g milk choc chips
  • 180g walnuts, chopped

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 190°C. Line baking trays with baking paper.
  2. Blend 225g rolled oats in a food processor or blender to a fine powder. Whisk with 300g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda and ½ tsp salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  3. Cream 250g butter, 220g caster sugar and 220g brown sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. Scrape down the sides and beat in the 2 eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in 1 tsp vanilla extract.
  4. On low speed, gradually mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in 340g dark choc chips, 115g milk choc chips and 180g walnuts with a rubber spatula.
  5. Roll dough into 60g balls (about 2 heaped tablespoons) and place 5cm apart on the trays. Bake for 10 minutes — lightly browned and set on the outside, still a little underdone in the middle. They finish setting as they cool.
  6. Cool on the tray for 2–3 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

Dough balls freeze well raw — freeze on a tray until solid, then bag them up and bake straight from frozen, adding a minute or two to the time. Baked cookies also freeze well double-wrapped in plastic then foil; bring to room temperature before unwrapping so they stay soft.