levain bakery chocolate chip cookies

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if you are looking for a seriously BIG cookie, these copycat levain bakery chocolate chip cookies are it

if you asked my kids about their nyc experience they would probably tell you about the great street dancers they saw in times square. our room at the doubletree with an amazing view of the empire state building. perhaps the carriage ride through central park. the bird man in washington square park. they loved our visit to the american museum of natural history even though “rexy” was nowhere to be found. charlie rode the bull on wallstreet. stella shopped at bloomingdales and barneys. and gucci. and coach. we were beyond moved by the 911 memorial, and they are still talking about all the traffic.

of course i loved all of these things. but truthfully i was really in it for the food. ian experienced his first nyc street cart hot dog…for breakfast. when in ny you need a sprinkles cupcake atm style. we stood in line for bagels. we stood in line for joe’s pizza. and we stood in a really long line, in the rain, for levain bakery chocolate chip cookies. new yorkers love their lines, and they were all worth it.

especially for the cookies.

i was so in love with the levain cookies that i bought a box full to bring home. turns out that greta our weimaraner also loves leavin cookies. she ate them box and all.

so i set out to recreate the levain bakery chocolate chip cookies we fell in love with. after much research, and even more butter and sugar i think i finally found the perfect recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

Print Recipe ^[4]

Yield: 8 cookies

levain bakery chocolate chip cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 12-14 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups AP flour
• 2 Tbsp corn starch
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup of cold butter, cubed
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups of walnuts, roughly chopped (I used 1 cup for a half batch)

 

Directions:

• line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats
• preheat oven to 400 degrees
• combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and set aside
• in the bowl of a stand mixer cream the butter and sugars. because the butter needs to be cold, start with your mixer on low speed, and once it begins to soften a bit increase the speed to medium-low
• add the eggs one at a time, stop and scrape the sides of the bowl and then gradually add the flour mixture
• stir in the chocolate chips and nuts
• divide the dough into 8 pieces, and form into a rough ball (do not roll smooth)
• place 4 cookies per baking sheet (they will not spread much)
• bake one sheet at a time at 400 degrees for 12 -14 minutes (mine took 12) centers will not be fully set but the outside will be crisp
• allow cookies to rest 15 -20 minutes on baking sheets before moving
• cookie can be kept in an airtight container for a week, but to keep them perfectly fresh freeze any that won’t be used right away

     

my kids are not fans of nuts, and the levain cookies are loaded with walnuts, which i loved. i made half of our cookies with the nuts and half without. even if you are a chocolate chip cookie purist, you really need to try them with nuts. they are over the top amazing.

and if you couldn’t tell from the pictures, these cookies are BIG. the entire recipe makes only 8 cookies. they are purposely under-baked to keep the middles nice and soft. but because they are so soft, do not move them from the baking sheets until they have rested at least 15 minutes. my cookies with the nuts took even a bit longer to firm up, and as hard as it is to wait before you dig in, the cookies will fall apart if moved too soon.

you could always fork over the $37-$112 for levain to ship their cookies to you, but i think you’d be just as happy with these copycat levain bakery chocolate chip cookies made at home whenever you want.

enjoy!