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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!
Made a batch of 8 cookies (as called for in recipe). Baked 4 and froze the other 4. Should the balls be baked from frozen or should I defrost? If from frozen, how much time should i add.
I should add that these were delicious! Baked for 12 min but felt they needed another 1-2min. They came out of the oven having barely fallen. I had to flatten them lightly with a spatula.
They were a bit doughy at first but amazing 24 hours later! They set really well by the next day and no longer doughy in the middle.
I would let these thaw to be chilled, not room temperature, before baking them. I’m so glad that you loved my recipe! Thanks for trying it!
Hi! When you mention a cup of butter, does it mean we melt the butter and measure one cup and then once cold cube it up or just fill one cup with cubed butter? I made the comparison and one is almost double the other. thanks
1 cup of butter is 2 sticks or 8 ounces. Cube it right out of the fridge.
Hi there! 1 cup of butter refers to chilled and cubed butter sticks. Packages should show the amount of butter included, but generally speaking a stick of butter is 1/2 a cup. Hope this helps!
Can I swap out regular flour to cup 4 cup or GF Jules GF flour, and make these the same way? I have celiac so I need GF flour. I know to rest the dough before baking. But I’m wondering if this can be made with a swap of the flour and get the same results?
I want to make these for super bowl and I don’t want to make them quite this large cause I would like to have more cookies to go around. What is your measurement for baking smaller cookies, for how long and do I keep the temperature the same? PS. Your cookie recipes are my absolute favorite and I follow you for all my baking!
I make these all the time in a smaller size for my daughter to bring to work. I actually weigh the dough into 55-60 gram balls and it makes about 20 cookies. Same temp and I find 10-11 minutes results in the perfect cookie. I have done this about 30 times and it’s always a hit.
Amazing, thank you Jay!
I always make them smaller. I use a small ice cream/ cookie scoop that holds about 4 tsp. I cook for about 8 minutes and keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t over brown. Plenty big for everyone. It makes about 3 dozen.
I make with half Cup4Cup and half almond flour with great results.
I followed the directions exactly, even refrigerated the dough for 30 min and the cookies were completely raw in the middle & spread out. I was really looking forward to these……
Same thing just happened to mine and I followed the recipe EXACTLY 😭
omg!!! I just looked at the ingredients list and realized I forgot THE NORMAL FLOUR!!!! LOL. *crying face* ooook, will try again 😂 guess I was a little too excited and missed it.
These cookies are delicious! I am in high altitude in a snow storm so 98% humidity, I didn’t use the vanilla to avoid adding extra moisture. Cooked them for 12:30 and they were perfect. Thank you so much for this amazing recipe. The cornstarch makes all the difference.
It was pretty good! I baked for almost 10 minutes but I should have left them in another 2 min OR made the balls smaller. Rather than 5.5 oz make them more like 4-4.5 oz because this things are massive anyway.
These are simply fabulous. Thank you!
Making these today. Make huge beautiful cookies and no flattening here. They hold their shape really well and are so very welcome on this cold weather day.
I wish I could see this famous bakery sometime.I would love to know how my cookies stack up.I think this recipe is awesome 🤩.
Can you make these without the walnuts?
I always have. I actually have never made them with the walnuts.
These are my go-to recipe
These cookies turned out perfectly!!! Followed the recipe exactly. But I did set my oven to 400 since it tends to cook hotter. Pulled them out at 11 min when they were golden on top. For sure make sure to let them set for 10 min after you pull them out of the oven to make sure they aren’t too gooey in the middle. My family says, “best cookies ever!”
Thank you!!
Hi. Can I ask if you don’t add the walnuts do you add extra choc chip or just same as recipe?