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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!
Here’s a hint for true addicts. Weigh your flours, cornstarch, baking soda and salt and store it in a ziploc bag. That makes the process so much faster when you really need a fix quickly.
I always add the optional vanilla. I think the recipe needs it.
I have my boyfriend and his coworkers hooked on these and the Oatmeal Raisin ones.
I love this idea, Trish! We need to be prepared to make chocolate chip cookies at all times. 🙂 I agree– I think the vanilla adds a touch of warmth and flavor. Thank you so much for trusting my recipes!
I don’t have to go to church for a while after finding this recipe. I said many prayers thanking to be alive and to find this recipe! Absolute PERFECT cookie! Belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of all cookies. Perfect flavor, texture, consistency……have I mentioned perfect! Thanks for creating a recipe that I can make from home that will be in my family for generations!!
Hahahaha your comment made me laugh! I am so glad you found your perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe! I appreciate your kind comment.
Love these! Would I need to do anything different to turn these into cookie bars?
hi there! if i do use melted butter, but chill/ freeze the dough long enough, does this ensure that the cookies will remain tall and thick?
I recently made this recipe in smaller size cookies. I doubled the recipe(adding 2.5t of vanilla), scooping with a large size cookie scoop (3T). I got 3.5 dozen and froze the dough balls. I baked them from frozen at 410° for 11-13 minutes. Made 3.5 dozen of these smaller cookies. They were delicious and went super quick!!
Thanks for the recipe! Made these according to instructions exactly and they were okay. Maybe I had my hopes too high given all the hype. Then I started playing a bit. I toasted the walnuts and that made all the difference for taste! Some other things I changed for personal preference: Measured out 2.0 ounce of dough and made irregular balls, smooshing down the top a bit. Froze them solid (this way I can just pull from the freezer and bake whenever I want to). Baked at 410 for 8 minutes, rotated the pan, and baked for another 8 minutes. My oven has hot spots so this might not be necessary for everyone. This gave me a large cookie with a crisp outside and ooey-gooey center!
HI there – I just made this recipe and am confused. I MUST have done something wrong, but went through each step and detail. The only thing I did was use salted butter Kerrygold. Anyway they turned out very “cakey” rather than gooey. I baked them 10 mins, maybe over cooked I guess? but they are real “bready” or “cakey” not sure how else to describe this. Any ideas? Thanks! Andrew
How did you measure the flour? It has to be scooped, poured into the measuring cup, and leveled out with a knife. Otherwise you end up using way too much flour.
So so good, I made them smaller and got about 18-22 cookies. I don’t remember the number for sure and they’re all gone now 😆 I think if I made them again I would slightly increase the nuts and slightly decrease the chocolate chips! Just a personal preference they really were amazing as is too!!
Hands down best chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve ever made. I keep coming back to these because they are not too white sugary like a sugar cookie and have a perfect balance to them.
These cookies are soo good. I was having difficulty cooking them to my preferred level of done so I made them again but this time smaller (3 Oz) and cooked them on 350 for about 15 minutes. I also used pecans because I don’t like walnuts. These cookies are to die for. They are so good no matter what size you decide to make them. Stellar recipe. I can’t wait to try the other cookie recipes.