Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies

Levain Bakery is famous for it’s GIANT and DELICIOUS cookies. But who has the time and money to fly to NYC every time they get a craving??

Luckily, this recipe for homemade Levain cookies is super easy to follow, and it comes together in a snap. I even made a video that you can check out here.

Levain Bakery Copycat Cookies

Like any good chocolate chip cookie recipe, this one uses brown and white sugar. That means you’ll get sweet, crispy edges and the most ooey-gooey middle.

But that’s not all. The sheer size of these cookies and the high cooking heat means the outside is cooked and the middle is just-barely ready. 

In fact, they’re more or less raw when they come out of the oven. But trust the process - they’ll finish baking on the tray.

Another unique thing about this cookie dough is that you’ll use cold butter. Not pastry-cold! But right out of the fridge-cold.

This way, you don’t need to chill the dough before you bake. And that saves you time and energy if you’re impatient like me.

Ingredients

• COLD Butter - cut it into small cubes so it’s easier to mix
• Sugar - you want brown and white sugar to make these sweet and chewy
• Eggs - some recipe call for extra yolks but it’s much easier to use whole eggs
• Flour - go for all-purpose to make things simple
• Cornstarch - to ensure they’re extra tender
• Salt - for balance
• Baking Soda - so they rise
• Chopped Chocolate - I like chopped bars rather than chops because you get bigger pockets of melty goodness
• Sea Salt - for the tops (add before baking)

How to Make Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe isn’t too different from any other chocolate chip cookie recipe. And as you can see from the ingredient list, you don’t need anything too crazy.

The key difference is the use of cold butter and the higher cooking temp.

1. Preheat the oven to 210°C / 410°F. You want it nice and high so the edges cook and the middle stays gooey and chewy
2. Cream the cold butter and sugars until light and fluffy. The butter has to be cold if you don’t want to have to chill the dough before baking.
3. Beat in the eggs, then stir in half of the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to mix in the flour.
4. Add the chocolate and the rest of the flour. Mix until just combined.
5. Portion the dough into 8 balls. Roll them and place them on a baking sheet with plenty of room between each. Do not flatten the cookie dough!
6. Sprinkle the cookie dough with sea salt. This is optional but not really. 
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes. They won’t look cooked, but I swear they’ll finish baking on the tray.
8. Leave the cookies to rest on tray for 15-20 minutes. They need the heat from the tray to finish baking. After that, you can transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tips for The Best Levain Bakery-Style Cookies

If you’ve never made huge cookies like this before, don’t stress - they’re a breeze to whip up!

• Use cold butter or chill the dough - cold butter means cold dough, so they won’t spread on the tray. That said, you can chill the portions before baking, too.
• Don’t over-work the dough - don’t mix it too much and don’t handle it too much when portioning. 
• Bake in batches - these babies don’t spread too far but they’re still huge. So it’s best to bake in batches of 4.
• Trust the bake time - they won’t look done and they’ll be pretty raw in the middle, but they’ll set up on the hot tray. So don’t be tempted to cook them for longer.
• Make a smaller batch - make 16 instead of 8 and they’ll still be thick and gooey (like the picture above). Bake “mini” cookies for 8 minutes. 
• Add walnuts to the dough - authentic Levain cookies have plenty of chocolate and lots of walnuts.