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If you haven’t picked up on it already, I am full-on obsessed with cookies.
I created two other Levain Bakery Copycat recipes and they have been the top recipes on Modern Honey ever since. Levain Bakery’s signature cookie is still holding on to it’s 5 star rating over a year after posting the recipe —
Levain Bakery Copcyat Chocolate Chip Crush Cookies
Levain Bakery Copycat Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies has a 5 star rating as well.
Now it’s time to share my original Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Copycat Cookies recipe. This recipe is so much like the original Levain Bakery cookie that you will not even know the difference!
This cookie is full of rich chocolate and studded with semisweet chocolate chips for all of the chocoholics out there. The fascinating thing about Levain Bakery cookies is their ability to be thick without being cakey.
If you read my other Levain Bakery copycat cookie post, you will know that those cookies are my husband’s favorite cookie of all time. I think the reason is that they aren’t over the top sweet. They are rich and decadent without putting you into a sugar coma.
There are a few SECRET tricks that make these Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies extra special:
- Use very cold butter. Now, I am not talking about throwing two cubes of cold butter into the mixer and hoping the butter will incorporate into the sugars. Nope. The key is to cut the butter with a knife into small cubes, making it easier to cream with the sugar. We want them to become one and meld together to break down the graininess of the sugar. Cream for at least 4 minutes on high until light and fluffy.
- Use good high quality cocoa, if at all possible. Levain uses dark cocoa for these cookies. If you can find that in your grocery stores, use it! Hershey’s makes a dark chocolate cocoa that would be fantastic. Guittard and Ghirardelli makes high quality cocoa powders as well. If you follow me at all, you know I am a huge fan of Callebaut cocoa. It’s found in the bulk bin section at Winco and is very reasonable.
- Use a mix of cake flour and all-purpose flour. Why cake flour? You know how I talked about Levain being a thick cookie without tasting like a scone? When you use cake flour, it creates a more TENDER crumb on the cookie which creates a mouth watering texture.
- Another game changer is cornstarch. It also helps to create and soft and tender cookie.
- Bake at high heat. You want to shock these Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies with high heat so they don’t spread too rapidly. It helps keep their shape and make those crispy edges.
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Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Copycat Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cold Butter cut into small cubes
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Dark Baking Cocoa
- 1 cup Cake Flour
- 1 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/3 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 410 degrees.
- In large bowl, cream together cold butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add cocoa, cake flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt and stir until combined. Stir in semisweet chocolate chips.
- Chill dough for 15 minutes.
- Separate dough into large balls and place on lightly colored cookie sheet. Lightly press on top of dough to smooth out. If you have a scale, you can make them anywhere from 4.5 ounces - 6 ounces. You will fit 4-6 cookies on one large cookie sheet. The dough makes 8-12 extra large cookies.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown on the top. Let them rest for at least 10-15 minutes to set.
Video
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
You are going to go crazy over these Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Copycat Cookies and won’t be able to tell the difference.
Happy Baking, my friends! xo
I just found your blog by way of Pinterest. These cookies look amazing!! Can’t wait to make them, as I won’t be making it to NYC for the real thing anytime soon.
Hi!
I was wondering if you use salted or unsalted butter when you make these? I am never quite sure when a recipe doesn’t specify, what is the best route to take?
Thanks, can’t wait to make these!
I use unsalted butter for baking cookies and land of lakes never fails ????
The cocoa you get in the bins at Winco… is that the Dutch process cocoa? Is that dark cocoa? It’s the only cocoa I have ever seen in the bins.
Hi Jamie! That is the correct one. You can sometimes see Callebaut typed out on the label and that is how you know you are getting the good stuff. It is so much cheaper to buy it a Winco and it is definitely high-quality stuff. I hope that helps!
I think dark chocolate is bitter tasting; does this come out in the cookie? Could I use milk chocolate instead or would they be too sweet?
Hi Rose! Don’t worry….these aren’t super dark. I use a regular dutch-process cocoa and they come out more like a semi-sweet. Feel free to add milk chocolate chips to the dough instead of semi-sweet. Good luck1
Hi,
I have tried your recipe a couple of times, the flavor us amazing but I can’t control the spread. Do you have any recommendation? I would like to have my cookie thicker.
Thank you,
Erik
Hi Erik! That is so interesting that the cookies are spreading. Here are some suggestions — 1. Make sure your butter is cold out of the refrigerator, cut into cubes. 2. Chill your dough for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. 3. If you have a large enough freezer, you can always put your cookie sheet right into the freezer before baking. This helps the cookies keep their shape. These cookies are definitely on the thicker side so they shouldn’t be spreading too much. I hope these suggestions help you!
Try freezing the cookie puck first. Cook from frozen. Of course you may have to adjust the time and temp. I have found that this controls the spread.
hii, i dont have cake flour, it affects the recipe if I use all purpose flour?
Hi Yiho! You can still use all-purpose flour in this recipe. Since cake flour has the lowest amount of gluten of any flour, it creates a more tender cookie. They will still be great with AP flour, though.
These look absolutely sinful. In the best way imaginable, of course. Ugh, I want one RIGHT NOW.
Hi Morgan! Yes, you are right — they are downright sinful! I crave one every single day. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and have a great day! – Melissa 🙂
Hi Melissa 🙂 Would it be OK to make these cookies smaller? Would the baking time be different? Thanks bunches!
Hi Nancy! You can definitely make these cookies smaller. I would suggest decreasing the cooking time by approximately 2 minutes. I would keep a close eye on them since the oven will be at a high heat. I would love to hear how they turn out. 🙂 – Melissa
Hi Melissa. I love this recipe! I also made the smaller (4oz.) version, which made about 16 cookies … They are gone and everyone wants more! Thanks.
Hi Donald! That is a great idea to make them smaller. My Mom does this all of the time when delivering to friends and it works great. Thanks for the comment!
Hello Melissa! I followed the recipe and my cookies came out dry. What did I do wrong. I’m trying to impress my chemistry teacher who loves Levain cookies. SOS!
I made 2 ounce cookies. They were to die for, per my granddaughter. Time in the oven 8 minutes, same temp.
I think your #5 needs an edit. It says “You want to shock these Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies with high heat ”
This doesn’t have peanut butter chips. : )
You are right! Thank you, Jen! I have two other Levain Bakery cookie recipes and must have typed it out of habit. Thanks for letting me know. Hope you love the cookies! – Melissa
Another winner! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much, Ilisa! I am so happy that you loved them! 🙂 – Melissa