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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!
Is the brown sugar supposed to be packed? Thanks for clarifying
I made these today and they turned out beautiful! I used semi-sweet callebaut chocolate callets and OMG they were so good! Thanks for the recipe!
Today I made these again for the 4th time, and made a huge mistake I wanted to share so no one else makes the same mistake. Somehow when I wrote this recipe in to my recipe card catalog I wrote “sea or kosher salt”, so I used coarse kosher salt.. and that was a HORRIBLE idea. I tasted the batter and the salt was so strong my mouth still feels coated in salt even after I drank iced tea. I only had a tiny finger full of the batter. It did not taste like cookie batter at all, it’s basically smoosh salt. So sad!
Best CC cookie I have ever made! I followed recipe ingredients exactly as written but only used 2 ounces of batter per cookie. Baked them 375 degrees for exactly 12 minutes. Nice size cookie with perfect structure inside & out. Using 2 oz. of dough per cookie yielded 24 cookies.
I want to make this recipe. It sounds delicious. I don’t want to make it very big. If the dough is about the size of a regular ice cream scoop or less, how long should you bake them. Would the temperature be the same? Aldo how long to bake.
I make these with a 4 TBS cookie scoop all the time. I bake them at the same temp for about 13 minutes. Good luck!
I bake this recipe about twice per month and send them with my daughter to her workplace, so I always bake a smaller size. I do 60 gram balls of dough, still baking at 410. I put them in the oven for 11 minutes and they come out perfect everytime.
I make them smaller and find them just as tasty. I do the same oven temp. I’d do a test batch for timing- usually 8-9 minutes is what I do. It’s best not to over bake them!
I’ve made these so many times and today is the first time I actually had cake flour. They were more tender but I wouldn’t go out of my way to get it. For some reason this cookie always browns really fast on the bottom despite a silpat and oven thermometer. Not sure why, but I think they are BETTER than Levain in NYC.
Use parchment paper or the silpat mats, then bottoms won’t do that.
I followed the directions even using the cake flour and they came out perfect..we will be serving them at our Labor Day party. I’m wondering if you can double the batch? I am actually making the oatmeal raisin tomorrow..
Wondering the same about doubling! I’m gonna go for it!
I double it all the time with no issues. Hope that helps.
These were wonderful! I didn’t make them quite as big as yours.. but almost! I think I ended up with 10 since we have a family of 5 and I thought some may want more than one. Thanks for sharing.. will definitely make again. ☺️
Love these! My family has made these a staple at every event we attend and they are by far the best we have ever tried.
I have a question, i know about freezing the dough.
But how long would the dough last uncooked in the fridge for? If i made a batch and left it in the fridge to scoop and bake s required.
Thanks for you’re advice if you know the lifespan.
Thanks!
Hi Liz! Thank you so much! I love chilling my cookie dough in the refrigerator because it gives it a deeper, richer flavor. I like to chill this chocolate chip cookie dough for 48-72 hours. The dough may be more crumbly as the liquids absorb the dry ingredients so you can roll them into balls ahead of time or you can wrap the entire cookie dough batch in plastic wrap and chill. I would just suggest letting the cookie dough come to room temperature before rolling to make it easier. You can keep the cookie dough in the refrigerator up to 7 days, I believe. I hope this helps!
Hi I love the recipe and love you for sharing! Was just wondering as to why in the pictures there seems to be a mixture of chopped whole chocolate and chocolate chips yet there is not mention of it in the recipe. Was this just for aesthetic choices? Or was this just something that does not really matter? I feel like using a combination of chopped dark chocolate with milk chocolate chips could be interesting.
Hi Mauricio! That’s a great question. In those photos, I used Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips. I baked the cookies, let them sit for about 1 hour, and then ended up putting them in the microwave for about 10 seconds. That is what made them look like melted chocolate. But I think it would be amazing to add some milk or semisweet chocolate chunks, cut straight from a chocolate bar.
I made these yesterday and that is what I did-used a combination of milk chocolate and dark. I chopped up 1/2 of the milk chocolate, trying to add a different look to them. They are really good!!