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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!
I very rarely follow recipes. Thus, I very rarely leave comments, but these cookies… Oh my… They are pure heaven. My husband is very picky about cookies and he LOVES them.
And they stay fresh for sooo long. I made them smaller (normal sized cookies basically) and they lasted for a week without being any less amazing.
If anyone is hesitating on making these, just do it. It’s way easier than it might seem and they are GLORIOUS!
These are very yummy! However, my cookies ended up spreading more than yours did in the picture. They are by no means flat as pancakes, but still not tall as mountains. I used cold butter and cake flour and followed everything in the recipe. Do you think it could be the low altitude of New Orleans? My usual recipe for chocolate chip cookies get flat as pancakes–at this point, I have started making cookie bars instead. Any suggestions?
Hi, i was wondering how do you substitute the cake flour? What is the proportion of all purpose from and the cornstarch?
This recipe looks amazing! Do you know how the cold butter makes the cookies taller? Thank you for your diligent work in perfecting the recipe (and forcing yourself to go back to get more of the originals, SUCH a chore!) for us!
I tried your recipe yesterday but I had an issue with my cookie not spreading. It was still a gigantic ball even after 12 minutes of baking. I needed to flatten it out a little bit with a spoon and baked for another 4 minutes just to have some color like yours. It still turned out well though. Any thoughts? Thank you.
I tried these last week as well as the chocolate with peanut butter chips and both were amazing! I can’t even bake and somehow these still turned out incredible with me making them!
I like a deeper brown sugar taste to my cookies. Could I use either dark brown sugar or just more light brown sugar to get that flavor?
Trader Joe’s has two types of dark chocolate pound bars, one that just says dark chocolate and one that gives a percentage of the cacao, maybe 60/70 percent? Which one do you use?
Do you use light or dark brown sugar in your recipe? 🙂
These are THE best chocolate chip cookies ever and I have been to Levain’s Bakery and loved their cookies! I left out the walnuts and the recipe and baking time are perfect. Thank you so, so much!
I’m a seasoned baker and this is probably the best recipe I’ve ever come across. Period. I’ve tweaked it to make it more to my liking but the original recipe is still perfect.
I do add the 1 tsp vanilla extract, use dark brown sugar and I up the salt to full tsp. I also use half semi-sweet chocolate chips and half chopped milk chocolate chunks.
I always freeze my dough for at least an hour before baking as she suggests. Even better- refrigerate for a day and THEN freeze for an hour before baking.
These cookies are huge! Emphasis on huge. But that’s the Levain bakery way. I cut the size of my dough balls in half and they’re still gigantic. Cook times vary of course.
All of my family and friends request to these now. Every time. I’m known for them haha.
Thank you so much for introducing us to the start of the best cookie!