Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Cookie Love (I've Discovered the Neiman Marcus Recipe)


A couple of random things first. One is have you heard about the new vegan baking book My Sweet Vegan by the lovely Hannah? I haven't had a chance to look through it yet but I'm sure it's great - just look at her site! And two, I need to learn the lesson of being careful how much citrus I add to things. I made orange carrot soup a month or more ago which turned out tasting like orange soup (which I do not recommend). I forgot that I halved the recipe, and to measure the orange juice before adding it to the soup. It was pretty inedible. Then a couple of nights ago I made the lemon caper sauce I had previously made to go over tofu, but I put it with whole wheat spaghettini. I doubled the recipe and discovered that no amount of white wine or vegetable stock (okay maybe massive amounts) was going to tame the lemon flavour. Hopefully in the future I will be more careful with citrus fruits!


Moving on, I found possibly the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. I'm not sure I can commit to that statement yet but they're as close as I've found so far. They're the perfect texture (though of course that statement is relative because we all like different kinds of cookies), or rather the texture I've been searching for in a chocolate chip cookie recipe. The texture is the same throughout - just a nice, soft, chewy but not buttery and flat cookie. A cookie that holds its shape well and is a little bit crispy on the outside. Unfortunately they seem to go dry within a few days though. I'm not sure that I love the taste of the dough on its own (I think the Magnolia Bakery's or Didi Emmons' chocolate chip cookie doughs taste delicious), but I didn't add the espresso powder so I should try that next time. I'll also try adding extra vanilla (after all I have two 1 liter bottles to use up).


I'm really looking forward to trying these cookies with white chocolate peppermint bark, as discovered by Heidi. I've also tried making them with M&Ms, yum yum.

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Neiman Marcus

Makes 2 dozen

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Cream the butter and sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute.

2. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

3. In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.

4. Drop cookie dough (about 2 tbsp each) onto a greased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into a 2 inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie.

18 comments:

Becky said...

they look delicious! after all, nothing from neiman marcus could be bad ;)

Deborah said...

You know what's funny? There is another Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookie recipe floating around out there that is different. I never thought to actually check the Neiman Marcus website - the other recipe is a fraud!! This one sounds great!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Hannah is one of my dear friends, so I'm THRILLED to see that you mentioned her new cookbook on your blog - it's definitely one that everyone should check out whether they're vegan or not!

can't say that I've had much experience cooking/baking with a lot of citrus, but I will be extra careful now, if I do, haha.

those cookies look stunning! guess the Neiman Marcus stores aren't just talented at selling beautiful apparel and accessories - they do recipes as well! ;0)

Mandy said...

who can resist a good chocolate chips cookie! Whenever I bake, I tend to eat more than my share :(

Jessica "Su Good Sweets" said...

Ooh, thanks for mentioning My Sweet Vegan. That looks like it's just up my alley.

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Looks delicious! I could never turn down a good chocolate chip cookie.

Lyrically speaking said...

I didn't know about the vegan baking book, will have to check it out. Those cookies are calling my name "come here, come here, I won't bite" lol

Anonymous said...

Aw, thank you so much for the shout-out! The books are actually shipping a bit late thanks to an error at the printers, but they should be arriving by the end of the month, I believe. Hope that everyone enjoys the content...!

(Those cookies look really tasty, by the way... Makes me want to put off my essay writing yet again to go bake cookies of my own!)

Anonymous said...

This is one cookie recipe I haven't tried but have heard all about! Looks delicious!

Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen said...

Citrus is tricky. I have actually ruined myself on it, so I normally steer clear of it. As for the cookies, they look delicious!

Anonymous said...

I just pulled these out of my oven and I had to say thanks! I take chocolate chip cookies seriously and these were seriously yummy!

Anonymous said...

Too funny, I was just in Needless Markups, eh hem, I mean Neiman Marcus today, and the subject of their chocolate chip cookies came up in conversation. I have the recipe, but I've never made it. Sounds like they are the perfect texture. Yum!

eatme_delicious said...

becky: I've never actually been to Neiman Marcus so I have no idea what it's like but the cookies ARE delicious. :)

deborah: Haha yea people like to modify things so I went to check their actual website.

veggiegirl: Thanks. :)

mandy: It's hard to stop yourself from eating a yummy freshly baked treat!

jessica: Great. :)

lynn: Me neither. :)

lyrically speaking: Haha.

hannah: Of course. :) I can't wait to check out your book myself.

kristen: You should definitely try it!

sarena: I don't think I've ruined myself yet. Well probably from adding orange, but not lemon. Thanks. :)

anonymous: Glad they turned out well for you!

bri: They are quite the perfect texture. :) You should try them!

Unknown said...

Just made these, though being something of a chccolate-fanatic, I chopped up chocolate pieces rather than using shop-bought chips, and added cocoa instead of ground coffee.

I can truly say that these are the best cookies I've ever made (and not just because of the copious amount of chocolate), thank you very much! *mmmff-yum-mm*

eatme_delicious said...

conrad: Haha glad you enjoyed them! I prefer chocolate chunks to chocolate chips as well, since you get tiny pieces of chocolate that just disappear into the batter and giant chunks too.

Unknown said...

These were amazing! I have honestly never had a better chocolate chip cookie IN MY LIFE! They were big fat and chewy even the next days after baking. I'm making these again today!
Thanks for a great chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Anonymous said...

Is there anything I can use instead of instant espresso coffee powder? i have everything else and don't really want to go out and purchase this if i only need 1.5 teaspoons.

I just stumbled on your blog this week and i am obsessed. I swear I've read like every recipe. Everything looks delicious!!!

eatme_delicious said...

Anonymous: Aw wow thanks!! I'm so happy you like my blog so much. I didn't use the instant espresso/coffee powder when I made them so I would just omit it if I were you. Hope you like them!