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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!
Love the recipe, can you scoop the raw dough and freeze them ?
Absolutely! You can scoop the chocolate chip cookie dough into balls and then freeze them. There are a few options — you can freeze them on a baking sheet by covering them well, to prevent freezer burn. Another option is to place them in a gallon-sized freezer bag. To make sure they don’t stick together, place on a baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour and then place in Ziploc bag. They will freeze for months, as long as the cookie dough is covered well.
Hello im going to make these cookies tomorrow. I tried a similar one yesterday and for some reason they tasted bland. Is there a preference on the brown sugar (light or dark) yesterdays were light and I’m thinking that may have been the problem. Any suggestions?
Since Levain Bakery doesn’t add vanilla extract to their chocolate chip cookie recipe, that could be an issue. I would suggest adding 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Also, if you want a slightly sweeter cookie, you can add 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar. I use light golden brown sugar. You could use dark brown sugar. It would create a chewier texture because of the additional molasses in the brown sugar. I hope you love them!
Been making these cookies for years. I recently made ONE change that had a significant impact on the flavor. I add 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp (your preference) of LorAnn Butter Vanilla Bakery Emulsion. That’s the only change and it takes these cookies from bland to amazing.
I have made these soooo many times and they turn out amazing every single time!! Everybody LOVES them! Thank you so much! This is the Grand Master of ALL cookies!❤️
Thank you so much for the amazing accolade! I am so glad you loved this chocolate chip cookie recipe. It is our favorite too!
These are fantastic; I appreciate all of the effort involved to nail it down! It had been a while but I just downed one of the “real thing” today and couldn’t help but think that their chips remain strangely melty/soft even hours later, at room temp (when other chips would be back to their harder solid state). I know, it’s weird that I even had one sitting around that long to be able to notice, but I did. Have you ever noticed? What the heck kind of chips are they using?
I am going to do some investigative work! I believe they use Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips but let me get back to you after I figure it out for sure. Chocolate chips are super interesting because they are made to hold their shape and not become too melty. They may have chosen a brand that has less cocoa butter and additives that keep the chocolate chips less firm after baking. The baking nerd in me will find out and keep you posted, Chris!
I made half a batch with walnuts, and half without. However, the ones without the walnuts did not thoroughly cook. Do I need to modify any of the other ingredients when removing the walnuts? I appreciate the help!
Hi Mary! The walnuts may provided more structure for the cookies and also it creates less dough, because the walnuts take up a lot of space, so that may one of the reasons. If you don’t add walnuts, I suggest reducing the oven temperature to 400 degrees and baking for 1-2 minutes longer. Oven temperatures may vary so keep checking the cookies.
Do you have the ingredients by weight instead?
I used these conversions:
226 g butter
200 g brown sugar
100 g granulated white sugar
336 g all purpose flour
27 g corn flour
340 g chocolate chips
224 g walnuts
(Baking soda and salt as written)
I don’t keep cake flour on hand, so I used a homemade cake flour recipe and adjusted the all purpose flour and corn flour quantities accordingly.
Thank you so much for sharing, Saralyn. I appreciate it!
Awesome recipe!! I halved it and made much smaller cookies (my half recipe = 20 cookies, apx 2 tbsp each) which were the perfect size for me. I shaped the dough into balls, refrigerated and baked the next day for 11 min. The walnuts are a MUST, they make the cookies so much more interesting!
Love the tips, Amy! Thank you for sharing your great ideas. So happy you love the Levain cookie recipe.
Love this recipe!! But quick question, has anyone froze the cookie after baking and if so how was the taste? And how did you do it?
Hi Jesse! I do it all of the time! There are a few ways to do it. You can put them on a baking sheet and just do an initial freeze of 1 hour and then place them in a Ziploc Freezer Bag and put them back in the freezer. I like to individually wrap them into clear bags and then place all of the clear bags into a gallon-sized Ziploc bag so it is easy to grab one out to eat. When I am ready to eat the cookie, I just let it come to room temperature, about 30 minutes, or place in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. I hope this helps!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! It was super easy and everyone in my family loves it! I did make mine a lot smaller (around 1/4 cup per cookie) since I was making it for my family but they were still amazing and it made almost 2 dozen! Definitely a new favorite!
Hi Megan! Thank you for sharing that you made them smaller. This is such a versatile cookie recipe and can be made into very large cookies or small ones. So glad you loved them!
Is there a reason you didn’t add baking powder? I always thought that was a necessary ingredient.
Hi Willow! Great question…so my leavening agent for these chocolate chip cookies is baking soda. You usually use baking powder when there is no brown sugar included in the recipe (like sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, etc). I hope that helps!
I made these tonight after trying a Levain cookie for the first time last week. They were delicious and looked like the real deal! My issue was that after 9-10 minutes, they looked perfect on top, so I let them sit for about 20 minutes, but when I went to dig in, it was still raw inside. I put some foil on them so the top wouldn’t get burned and too brown and put them back in the oven for 5 more minutes and then let them sit again, and they are still really gooey (and not the good kind of gooey haha!). Any ideas on what I could do to make sure they cook all of the way through without burning them next time?
Hi Brittany.
Just some amateur here! Perhaps dropping the oven temperature a bit and cooking for a tad longer. Your oven may run a bit hot. I’ve run into this problem myself.
Good luck!