Levain Chocolate Chip Cookie (Copycat) recipe makes perfectly chewy, thick cookies with melty chocolate chips and crunchy walnuts throughout.
There’s nothing quite like a warm Chocolate Chip Cookie freshly baked in your own oven. For this Dessert Recipe, we’ve copied the iconic Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie for big, chewy, extra chocolatey cookies just as good as the bakery, but made yourself.
LEVAIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE (COPYCAT)
The Levain Bakery is a New York City Bakery established in 1995 that has become famous for its chocolate chip cookies. Levain Bakery’s cookies are large with a chewy texture, crispy edges, melted chocolate, and crunchy walnuts. If you’re in New York, Levain Bakery is a must-visit to indulge in these amazing chocolate chip walnut cookies. Even if you can’t go to Levain Bakery, you can still enjoy Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies from your own kitchen.
Follow this copycat version to make chocolate chip cookies with the same gooey center and light, chewy texture as Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies. We love coming up with copycat recipes to enjoy our favorite desserts while staying at home. Some other favorites are our Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls, Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars, and Cosmic Brownies. These family-friendly recipes are a great way to have fun with baking and satisfy your sweet tooth!
There are a few tricks to making this homemade cookie recipe taste just like New York’s favorite cookie. One of them is adding cornstarch to the dry ingredients. Cornstarch makes sure the dough isn’t too sticky or clumpy, so you get more fluffy and tender cookies. This recipe also uses a combination of regular flour and cake flour. Cake flour is very fine, which also helps the Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies to stay light and airy. The end result is a batch of perfectly airy, chocolatey cookies that everyone is sure to love!
MORE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie
Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
TIPS FOR MAKING LEVAIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE (COPYCAT)
- Prep time: Start by lining 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper so that they’re ready to go.
- Flour mixture: Add the all-purpose flour, cake flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt to a medium bowl, and whisk the dry ingredients together. Set that bowl to the side while you combine the rest of the ingredients.
- Cookie dough: Cut the chilled butter into cubes and add it to your stand mixer. Beat the butter for 30 to 45 seconds at medium speed, then add in the brown sugar and white sugar. Continue to cream for 30-60 more seconds. Add the semisweet chocolate chips and walnuts to the cookie dough. Slowly add in the flour ingredients. Mix until just combined into a crumbly cookie dough. If there are any remaining chunks of butter use your hands to break them into smaller pieces. Add the eggs and mix until all ingredients are combined.
- Form: Use your hands to form dough into balls. You want each of the dough balls to be about a ¾ cup size. You don’t need to measure precisely, but you can if you want to make sure the cookie dough balls are a more even size. Put 4 balls on each of the prepared cookie sheets. Place them in the freezer for 90 minutes. This is an important step that allows the butter to chill again.
- Baking time: Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees. Place an empty baking sheet upside-down in the oven, and place a tray of frozen dough on top. Using the upside-down baking sheet helps the large cookies to cook through evenly. Bake for 26 minutes until they have crisp edges and a gooey middle. Then take them from the oven, and bake the other tray. Serve warm, or let them cool on wire racks at room temperature.
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VARIATIONS ON LEVAIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE (COPYCAT)
- Flavor additions: To add a little more warm flavor to the recipe, you can add in some vanilla or almond extract. A tablespoon of vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract will add a nice amount of taste without overpowering the recipe.
- Chocolate: Try out your favorite kinds of chocolate in these gooey chocolate cookies. Milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips would taste great. You can add white, dark, or milk chocolate chips along with the semisweet chocolate as a mix, or use them to replace the semisweet chocolate. Another way to change up the chocolate in the recipe is using mini chocolate chips or chocolate chunks instead of regular-sized chocolate chips.
- More add-ins: For some different mix-ins, try peanut butter chips, M&Ms, caramel pieces, or toffee bits. You can also top the cookies off with coarse sea salt after baking.
MORE COOKIE RECIPES
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Lemon Cookies
Peanut Butter Blossoms
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
HOW TO STORE LEVAIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE (COPYCAT)
- Serve: You can keep Copycat Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Store: To store the baked cookies a little longer, put them in a ziplock bag and store them in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Freeze: You could also freeze the recipe for up to 2 months. Let them thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating in the oven.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter , frozen and diced
- 1 cup brown sugar , packed
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups flour (not cake flour)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup walnuts , chopped
- 2 large eggs , beaten
Instructions
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), cream cold butter on low speed until cubes lose half their shape, about 30 to 45 seconds.
- Add sugars and continue to cream briefly, 30 to 60 seconds more.
- Add chocolate chips and walnuts and beat until combined.
- Gradually add flour mixture and beat to combine; mixture will be a bit crumbly.
- If any big pieces of butter remain, use hands to cut butter into smaller pieces.
- Add in eggs and beat until fully combined and smooth, forming a cohesive dough.
- Portion large balls of dough, about 6 ounces or ¾ cup each.
- Place 4 balls of dough on each prepared tray and place in the freezer.
- Let chill for 90 minutes.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Place one empty baking sheet upside-down in the oven and place one tray of frozen dough on top.
- Bake one sheet of cookies at a time, until edges and spots on top are golden, but insides are still slightly doughy about 26 minutes.
Nutrition
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Very interesting read, not sure if i agree. Will read more
Why do you add the eggs at the end?
This recipe looks wonderful. Can you make smaller cookies (and obviously adjust the cooking time) or will the texture be different in smaller cookies. We’d never eat a cookie this large! I realize they can be broken in half, but I would not serve broken cookies to guests!
No, you can make them smaller!