Neiman Marcus Cookies
Neiman Marcus–Style Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
1½ cups rolled oats, measured before grinding
1 cup unsalted butter—2 sticks—softened but still cool
¾ cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar, or if using pudding, ¼ cup.
1 small 3.4-ounce box instant vanilla pudding mix, dry (optional and adjust sugar and flour accordingly)
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, reduced from 1¾ cups
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
12 ounces chocolate chips
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated
Optional: 1–1½ cups chopped pecans or walnuts
How to make them
Heat the oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment.
Grind the oats finely in a food processor or blender.
Beat the butter and sugars until creamy and lighter in color, about 2–3 minutes.
Beat in the dry pudding mix, then the eggs one at a time and the vanilla. Do not add milk or prepare the pudding.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, ground oats, baking powder, and salt.
Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips, grated chocolate, and optional nuts.
Scoop 2-tablespoon portions, space about 2 inches apart, and flatten slightly.
Start checking at 10 minutes; expect roughly 11–14 minutes. Look for lightly golden, set edges and soft centers that have lost their wet shine.
Leave them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack.
Bake two test cookies first. The oats plus pudding may make these thicker than the original. If the test cookies barely spread, flatten the remaining dough portions a little more before baking.
The intended result is a softer-centered, tender cookie with the oat flavor and chocolate richness of the original. The grated chocolate stays—that’s one of the good parts. 🍪