h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This should go under an urban legend heading ... as in modern fable, not bloddy true, faker than a porn star's ... wall, you get the idea.

This story has circulated since the invention of the Internet. It is possibly the oldest living piece of forwarded e-mail in the history of networking. This has been originated from a small coffee shop, Neaman Marcus, and dozens of stores/shops/cafes in its many incarnations.

Although, to be honest, the cookies are quite tasty. But the recipie is from an old cookbook, not a $200 cookie purchase.

Ah, you beat me to it by moments. Perhaps I can add just a few details.

Yes, this is an urban legend. Most often it is told about Neiman Marcus (an upscale department store in the U.S., which did not even sell cookies when this nonense started circulating) or Mrs. Fields (a chain of cookie stores, likewise in the States, who helped popularize the "soft" gourmet cookie).

Apparently the story goes back to at least the 1940's, which means it predates the internet. A guess a good tale never dies.

There's more information, as well as plenty more urban legends, at http://urbanlegends.about.com/culture/beliefs/urbanlegends/library/weekly/aa071397.htm

Ah, you beat me to it by five hours! Nothing to add except that somewhere I saw where Neiman Marcus published a response to the urban legend, and claimed that the recepie circulating wasn't even their real cookie recepie -- which they published with the response just to prove that the urban legend was a fake! The response I saw could well have been an urban legend in unto itself, who knows...