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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!
Very rustic and very identical to Levain’s. I omitted the walnuts, still it turned out great! Everyone’s asking if I’m selling these choco chip cookies. Your recipes are always a hit!
These cookies are rustic, thick, delicious, amazing and enchanting. I baked them twice, with and without walnuts. When I baked the second time without the walnuts, I only had a half cup of butter on hand so I had to halve every ingredient. I accidentally forgot to do that with corn starch and ended up putting 3/4 tsp when I was supposed to put 1/2 tsp. I think that really helped me getting the thick structure without the nuts. I cooled them for 5 minutes on the cookie sheets and for another 5-7 minutes on the cooling rack. I had a couple bigger cookies slightly under-baked so I put them in the oven with the gas off for extra 3-5 minutes and cooled them on the cooling rack.
I don’t normally write reviews but this cookie recipe totally warrants one.
I eat cookies often, a LOT of them, and this one is definitely my favorite so far. If you’ve ever been to Lazy Acres or Levain, these cookies came out comparably to them. They were huge! Perfectly cooked on the outside and amazingly gooey on the inside.
I used all-purpose flour in place of the cake flour and they turned out wonderfully. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Wow wow wow!!! I made this last night using your recipe! The cookies came out amazing! I don’t have a real oven, so I baked these in my air fryer/oven combo. Had to adjust the temp down to 325 because at 410 it burned the top (good thing I tested with only a few). These are the closest thing I’ve ever tasted to Levain’s actual cookie. Thank you SO much!
I am so excited to try this recipe Melissa. I looked thru every comment to see if anyone had asked about gluten free flours. I googled it and found a blogger (Gluten Free Mollie D) that linked back to your recipe. She said she uses GF flour in the same amounts as your recipe. WOOHOO! I am so excited to try this. Also, do you ever weigh your flour? I would love to know weights and add them to my notes..
I am so excited to try this recipe Melissa. I looked thru every comment to see if anyone had asked about gluten free flours. I googled it and found a blogger (Gluten Free Mollie D) that linked back to your recipe. She said she uses GF flour in the same amounts as your recipe. WOOHOO! I am so excited to try this. Also, do you ever weigh your flour? I would love to know weights and add them to my weights.
QUESTION: If I want to make the dough and then freeze in portions, what baking instructions (temp and time) to get the same results? FYI – I make these regularly and they are always fantastic. I sub out the walnuts for mini-chips. But thinking I need to put some in the freezer to have available to bake as needed.
I just tried to bake these and unfortunately all my cookies flattened out. I followed the recipe and refrigerated the cookies before and tested different heat settings but they still thinned out:(
Is the dough supposed to be sticky after everything it’s mixed?? They get stuck to my hard a lot and they came out flat! I followed the recipe exactly 🙁
This recipe is straight fire, thank you so much for sharing it with us! I’m eating one from the batch I made yesterday – though they’re definitely best fresh, they’re still really good the next day, especially if you toast them a little. Microwaving dries them out. My mum, who is usually very conservative about what she eats, can’t stop eating these!
I did make some substitutions. We were out of corn starch so I used potato. And in Australia, cake flour isn’t a thing, so I used APF and potato starch. I ended up baking 16 smaller cookies for 15 minutes at 180C fan forced. Came out crispy on the outside, lava on the inside. My family kept asking if it was a filling!
The people who are complaining about it being ‘raw’ – the gooey centre is the entire point of this recipe. If you don’t like soft cookies then that’s your prerogative, but don’t rate a perfectly good recipe one star because it doesn’t cater to your preferences. Especially considering that it’s emulating a cookie which is famous for having a molten centre.
That being said, these are absolutely delicious. It’s honestly magical how good these are. I’m already planning to make another batch tomorrow. Thank you Melissa!! 🙂
These are the BEST chocolate chip cookies ever! I have made them several times, followed your recipe exactly, and scored every time.
Actually, every recipe of yours I’ve tried has turned out and has been a hit with my family.
Thank you and keep ’em coming! ????????
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! Made this the other day and people were raving about how good they are. This recipe is a keeper!! Love how the cookie turns out nice and thick, such a good consistency!