The iconic Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies are legendary for their massive size, crispy exterior, and incredibly gooey, soft center, packed with chocolate chips and often walnuts. Recreating them at home is a popular baking challenge, and while Levain keeps their exact recipe a secret, many “copycat” recipes aim to get as close as possible to the original.
Here’s a breakdown of the key elements and a step-by-step recipe to make Levain-style chocolate chip cookies at home:
Levain Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies: The Ultimate Copycat Recipe
This recipe focuses on techniques and ingredients that help achieve that signature Levain texture and size. It makes about 8-10 large cookies.
Key Features of Levain-Style Cookies:
- Giant Size: Each cookie is typically very large (around 6 ounces or 170 grams).
- Thick & Chunky: They don’t spread much, resulting in a tall, chunky cookie.
- Crisp Exterior, Gooey Interior: The outside bakes up golden and firm, while the inside remains wonderfully soft, doughy, and melty.
- Plenty of Mix-ins: Loaded with chocolate chips (often a mix of semi-sweet and dark) and frequently walnuts.
- Specific Flour Blend: Many copycat recipes use a combination of all-purpose flour and cake flour for a tender crumb.
- Cold Butter: Using cold butter is often emphasized for texture.
- High Baking Temperature: A higher temperature helps the outside set quickly while keeping the inside gooey.
Ingredients:
- 225g (1 cup / 2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 200g (1 cup) light brown sugar, packed
- 100g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, cold (straight from the fridge)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional, but adds flavor)
- 170g (1 ½ cups) cake flour
- 187.5g (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cornstarch (helps with softness and structure)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt (or a bit more, like 1 tsp, for enhanced flavor)
- 350g (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips (or a mix of semi-sweet and dark, or even chopped chocolate bars)
- 230g (2 cups) walnuts, roughly chopped (optional, but classic Levain)
Equipment:
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment (or a large bowl and hand mixer)
- Large mixing bowls
- Rubber spatula
- Baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Kitchen scale (highly recommended for accuracy with these cookies)
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- Preheat Oven & Prep Pans:
- Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F). A higher temperature helps achieve the characteristic crisp exterior without overbaking the inside.
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream Butter & Sugars:
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl), add the cold, cubed butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
- Beat on medium speed with the paddle attachment for about 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is light, fluffy, and well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add Eggs & Vanilla:
- Add the cold eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until just incorporated. Scrape down the bowl.
- Stir in the vanilla extract (if using). The mixture might look a little curdled; that’s okay.
- Combine Dry Ingredients:
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix Dry into Wet (Crucial Step!):
- Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients in the stand mixer. Mix on low speed ONLY until just combined. The dough will be very thick. Do NOT overmix as this can develop too much gluten and result in tough cookies. You want to see streaks of flour.
- Fold in Mix-ins:
- Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts (if using).
- Using a sturdy rubber spatula, gently fold the chips and nuts into the dough until they are just evenly distributed. Don’t worry if the dough still looks a little crumbly or rustic; that’s part of the Levain style.
- Portion & Shape the Dough:
- For authentic Levain-sized cookies, use a kitchen scale to portion the dough into balls of about 170 grams (6 ounces) each. You should get 8-10 cookies from this recipe.
- Crucially, do not roll the dough into perfect, smooth balls. Instead, just gather the dough loosely into rustic, slightly tall mounds. The rough, uneven shape contributes to their unique texture and appearance.
- Bake:
- Place 3-4 cookie dough mounds on each prepared baking sheet, leaving ample space between them (they will spread, but not excessively).
- Bake one sheet at a time (or two if your oven bakes very evenly) for 15-20 minutes. The cookies are done when the edges are golden brown and set, but the centers still look very soft, puffy, and slightly underdone. They will continue to cook as they cool. It’s better to underbake slightly than overbake to maintain that gooey center.
- Cool & Enjoy:
- Once baked, remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the cookies cool on the sheets for at least 15-20 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. This cooling time on the hot sheet allows them to finish baking gently and set without becoming dry.
- For the ultimate experience, enjoy them while still warm, when the chocolate is perfectly melty and the center is at its gooey best.
Tips for Success:
- Cold Ingredients: Using cold butter and eggs helps control the spread and contributes to the thick texture.
- Don’t Overmix: This cannot be stressed enough for tender, gooey cookies.
- High-Quality Chocolate: Since chocolate is a main component, use good quality chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bars. A mix of semi-sweet and dark provides a nice depth of flavor.
- Weigh Your Ingredients: For consistent results, especially with baking, using a kitchen scale is always more accurate than volumetric measurements.
- Patience with Cooling: Resist the urge to move them too soon! They are fragile when hot.
Get ready to enjoy some seriously indulgent cookies that taste just like they came from a New York City bakery!