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My ooey gooey Levain Cookie Recipe with Chocolate Chips makes the best homemade cookies ever! Huge, chewy, and filled with chocolate chunks and walnuts, you need to give these a try.
Meet your new favorite chocolate chip cookie! This is New York City’s most famous cookie – a huge cookie that’s made for sharing with friends! I think I have perfected the recipe and am so excited to share it with all of you.
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Levain Cookies Recipe
These chocolate chip cookies come from the Levain Bakery in New York City and are world-famous for their incredible texture, flavor, size, and gooey middle.
This isn’t just your average chocolate chip cookie recipe. These are the ultimate chocolate chip walnut cookies that are so big, that you have to cut them to eat them!
Every time I visit NYC, I make a stop at Levain bakery for this one-of-a-kind cookie. I just knew I had to come up with a copycat Levain chocolate chip cookie recipe! My family is sure glad I did!
Hands down the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made!
Cindy on Pinterest
Levain Cookie Recipe Ingredients
- unsalted butter cold, cut into small cubes
- lightly packed brown sugar
- granulated white sugar
- eggs at room temperature
- vanilla
- cake flour
- all-purpose flour
- cornstarch
- baking soda
- salt
- walnuts roughly chopped
- chocolate chunks
How to Make Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add butter to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer (stand mixer or hand mixer) for about 2 minutes, or until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- Add brown sugar and white sugar and continue to beat until mixed through. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to bring everything to the center.
- Add eggs and vanilla and beat until mixed through and smooth.
- Set your mixer to low speed. Add cake flour and mixed through.
- Once completely incorporated, add all-purpose flour and mix through.
- Finally, mix in cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and bring everything to the center with your spatula.
- Add chocolate chunks and walnuts and mix with your spatula until evenly distributed through the dough.
- Measure your dough into 6 oz. balls using a ¾ cup measure (make sure it’s greased) or weigh it using a kitchen scale. Don’t try to eyeball it – they are bigger than they sound!
- Place on baking sheets and bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven and let them rest 15 minutes so they have time to set. Enjoy!
Levain Bakery Cookie Recipe Tips
- These cookies are huge!! You should only place 4 cookies per baking sheet.
- If you want to heat chocolate chip cookies up, don’t do it in the microwave! They’ll harden up. Preheat your oven to 350°F instead and heat the cookies for about 5 minutes until they’re warmed through.
- Levain cookies make amazing birthday treats! They’re so large, it’s like eating a mini cookie cake. Kids love them!
- Use chocolate chunks, not chocolate chips. Trust me on this one – chocolate chunks are so much better than chips!
Levain Cookies FAQs
You can store them for up to a week in an airtight container outside of the refrigerator. Storing them in the refrigerator will cause them to dry out.
Yes! We love our Levain cookies recipe with walnuts, but you can leave them out if you’d prefer. You may want to use extra chocolate chunks if you do. Yum!
When we say these homemade chocolate walnut cookies are huge, we mean it! One should be cut into fourths to enjoy. Part of what makes them so gooey, gooey delicious is that they’re oversized! For serving to kids, or if you just want a treat, you may want to cut them in half and save the other half for later. They’re that big!
How to Freeze Levain Bakery Cookies
Yes, cookies can be frozen! Here’s how:
- After baking, allow them to cool, then either keep them whole or cut them into fourths.
- Place them on a baking sheet in the freezer and allow them to freeze solid.
- Once frozen, add them to a freezer-safe container or freezer bag. Label with the freezing date.
- Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies will last for up to 3 months in the freezer, but we guarantee you’ll eat them all before then!
Levain Copycat Cookie Variations
Want to try mixing up your copycat Levain cookies recipe? Try using other ingredients for cookies, like peanut butter chips, or dark chocolate chunks!
White chocolate chips and macadamia nuts would be another delicious combination. Try your favorite cookie ingredients with this incredible cakey dough!
Levain Bakery cookies also come in dark chocolate chocolate chip, dark chocolate peanut butter chip, and oatmeal raisin. You bet I have tried them all, but this one is my favorite!
Best Cookie Recipes
Did you try this recipe? Leave a comment and a rating below to let us know what you think! We love to hear from you!
📋 Recipe
Levain Cookies
Equipment
- 3 baking sheets lined with parchment paper
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- ¾ cup measure
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter cold, cut into small cubes; equal to 1 cup
- ½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1½ cup cake flour
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. cornstarch
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 cups walnuts roughly chopped
- 2 cups chocolate chunks not chocolate chips!
See our Cooking Conversions Chart for help converting measurements!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.Add butter to a large mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer (stand mixer or hand mixer) for about 2 minutes, or until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- Add brown sugar and white sugar and continue to beat until mixed through. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to bring everything to the center.
- Add eggs and vanilla and beat until mixed through and smooth.
- Set your mixer to low speed. Add cake flour and mixed through. Once completely incorporated, add all-purpose flour and mix through.Finally, mix in cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and bring everything to the center with your spatula.
- Add chocolate chunks and walnuts and mix with your spatula until evenly distributed through the dough.
- Measure your dough into 6 oz. balls using a ¾ cup measure (make sure it's greased) or weigh using a kitchen scale. Don't try to eyeball it – they are bigger than they sound!Place on baking sheets and bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and let them rest 15 minutes so they have time to set. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- If you want to heat the leftover cookies up, don’t do it in the microwave! They’ll harden up. Preheat your oven to 350°F instead and heat the cookies for about 5 minutes until they’re warmed through.
- These cookies are huge! Only place four cookies per baking sheet.Â
- Use chocolate chunks, not chocolate chips. Trust me on this one – chocolate chunks are so much better than chips for cookies!
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Levain Bakery cookies recipe.
Brent Shogren says
I made these cookies but they flattened out and did not stay thick. Great taste but disappointed in not having thick gooey cookies.
Em Beitel says
Hi Brent! We’re sorry to hear that, and are thinking the butter must have melted too much for that to be the result.
Alexandra says
These is my fav chocolate chip cookie recipe! My kids love it too. We are fans of Levain and I was buying their frozen cookies from the grocery store. Now I can make them myself 🙂 thank you!
Isabel Laessig says
This makes me so happy, Alexandra. I am so glad you and your kids enjoy it!