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Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
The BEST Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies. The Famous Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe that everyone goes crazy over!
I’ve got issues.
I am a cookie junkie of epic proportions.
There’s probably a support group somewhere for people like me.
When I was a teenager, I would go to the library and thumb through cookbooks to find every single chocolate chip cookie recipe and would beg my Mom to try out the recipe creations almost daily. Issues, I tell you.
I started off by following recipes and then I thought….let’s take a walk on the wild side and start experimenting by throwing stuff in and see what happens. What’s the worst that can happen? Well, that’s another story. Little tweaks here and there were the difference makers – browning the butter, raising or lowering the temperature of the oven, and trying out some interesting ingredients.
When I won a trip to NYC to film a perfect cookie segment for the Cooking Channel’s Perfect 3 Show in the Food Network studios, I went online to seek out the best bakeries in Manhattan. The highest rated cookie was awarded to Levain Bakery and I knew that it had to be mine. Pronto.
Oh, and it was legit. Legit and different. Unique in such a way that I had to figure out how in the world they did it. I became a mad scientist in the kitchen to figure out the how to make the Famous Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies.
I developed a massive crush on a cookie.
I have never, ever worked on a recipe as much as this one. Another trip had to be made to NYC in the name of food science to do some more investigative research. A trip to the Truvia Baking Star competition in NYC meant multiple trips to buy my favorite cookie. We rode our bikes in the freezing cold just for that one bite. By the time we arrived, my feet were frozen, but sacrifices have to be made, right?
I came home and tweaked some more and then it happened…. that glorious batch was perfection and I finally had it.
I was taught in kindergarten that it’s nice to share so that’s what I am doing. Sharing my years of experimenting so we can all have Levain at home. It’s just the right thing to do.
Let’s start with the basics.
Use cold butter. Cut into small cubes. Since you are collecting it straight out of the fridge, you need to cut it into small pieces so the butter and sugar can become friends and make a creamy masterpiece. It takes about 4 minutes for them to warm up and become besties.
This is where it’s all over for me….cookie dough. It’s my kryptonite, unfortunately, and I blame my hips on this goodness. Who else loves this stuff?
Now, these aren’t some ordinary bite-size cookies. No these are a full-on meal. Well maybe for some people. Here’s the deal – you make them big. Really big. Like only four can fit on a cookie sheet, BIG. These are the BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER. Yep, I said it.
Usually, with thick cookies, they turn out like hockey pucks – cakey messes that hardly resemble a gooey cookie.
This is where these are different. We are going to crank up the heat in the oven to cook the outside quickly and leave that center nice, warm and gooey. As a cookie should be.
There are a few ingredients and techniques that set these cookies apart. First, you use cornstarch to add thickness without making the cookie dry. It does wonders in these cookies! Using cake flour also lends to a more tender cookie but you can also substitute all-purpose flour. Here’s one of my favorite cake flours — King Arthur Cake Flour
I am a huge fan of using nonstick silicone baking mats (Silpat) placed on top of the cookie sheets, which allows the cookies to be easily removed from the pan and to bake nicely. My cousin gave me a set as a gift years ago and I had no idea what I was missing out on! These are ones I have loved —Silicone Baking Sheets – 2 pack
You may want to eat these Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies the second they come out of the oven, but patience is a virtue and you must exercise some with these cookies. They need to “set up” so give them at least 10-15 minutes before you devour them. The amazing part of these cookies is that they are the only cookies I have ever made that are still cookie perfection even after a few days.
If you LOVE these cookies, you will love these other Levain Bakery copycat recipes:
- Levain Bakery Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
- Levain Bakery Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Levain Bakery Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
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Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Crush Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cold Butter cut into small cubes
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 1/2 cups Cake Flour*
- 1 1/2 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 3/4 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups Chocolate Chips
- 2 cups Walnuts roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 410 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together cold cubed butter, brown sugar, and sugar for 4 minutes or until creamy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.
- Stir in flours, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined to avoid overmixing. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
- Separate dough into large balls and place on lightly colored cookie sheet. They are bigger than you think! You will fit 4 cookies on one large cookie sheet. The dough makes 8 extra large cookies.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown on the top. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes to set.
Video
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Now go make some Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies! You need one (or two or three….no judging here) of these warm, gooey cookies, a big glass of cold milk and a to-do list with nothing on it except catching up on Netflix or those cheesy Holiday Hallmark movies that somehow keep playing on my TV.
If you are a huge fan of Levain Bakery cookies or just eating the best chocolate chip cookies, you will love my other copycat recipes — Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies and Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies.
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Happy Baking!
Hi,
Can I make the batter a day before? and keep it in the fridge till I need to bake them?
I just made them and are really the best ones !thanks for sharing, i used all purpuse flour and made them smaller
I just made them with fresh ground whole wheat and they are amazing! This is what I did different: I added 7tsps of water because of the whole wheat ( all though I think it was little too much), I also used Morena sugar and made cake flour with the whole wheat and corn starch (replaced 3tbsp). I think they are a little bit flatter than they should be but that’s a small price to pay for a more satisfying cookie that I don’t regret eating afterwards.
I was growing frustrated with other recipes that left me with flat, greasy cookies. I just followed your recipe and I’m happy to report the cookies were PERFECTION!! The only change I made was to cook on convection at 385.
Thank you so much!
Thank you for sharing the recipe. I am a chocolate chip cookie fanatic from the Philippines! I have tried different recipes and have not found the perfect one. So when I saw yours with so much positive reviews, it was a must to do. The cooking time took longer than expected, 15 minutes to be exact and it was a bit dry. My first instinct was to follow the 11 minutes cooking time but it turned out to be so undercook and I was wondering why my cookie had a strong flour aftertaste. Would you have any idea what went wrong?
I have made these and the chocolate chocolate chip now several times and they are THE BEST cookies I have ever tasted in my life. The chocolate chocolate chip come out perfectly every time but for some reason this chocolate chip version spread when i bake them. I have tried refrigerating the dough for 15 minutes before baking but they still spread. I’m not complaining mind you, they are THE BEST tasting regardless but I would love for them to look fatter like yours do. Regardless, these recipes are the absolute best and when I crave a cookie I no longer go to a bakery I just make yours! Tonight I am going to try the oatmeal raisin and I just hope I don’t eat all of the cookies before I can share them!
Made these tonight and they are incredible!!! Thank you for doing so much research to create the perfect cookie. 15 minutes was the perfect cook time for me. Thank you!!
Thanks for sharing the recipe! I gave it a try, but switched out the walnuts for pecans. They were amazing!! I’m used to having vanilla extract in my cookies, but I didn’t even miss it. The cookies still turned out so good. Thanks, again. 😀
Hi Paula! I love to hear it! I am going to try them next time with pecans. That sounds heavenly! Thank you for taking the time to comment. Have a great day!
Hi Melissa. Thank you so much. Your recipe was amazing. 5 stars all the way. Love from Indonesia ❤
Hi Melissa,
I just tried your recipe. But I made only have of it and since I did not have cake flour so I made my own cake flour. For 1 Cup of Cake flour I used 1 cup of AP flour – 2 TBSP AP Flour + 2 TBSP cornstarch.
With half of the recipe I made 8 cookies and each one was 100 gr… I cooked them for 10 min and They are still gooey inside and look like in your pictures 🙂
Thank you very much for this delicious recipe.