These Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies are a copycat recipe made with simple ingredients, resulting in gigantic cookies that are crisp outside and gooey inside. They cost much less and are super delish!
Have you ever tried the FAMOUS Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies?
If not, you are missing! Each cookie weighs about 6 ounces (almost half a pound) and is quite chubby.
They are crisp and golden brown outside and soft and gooey inside. No need to say how delicious they are!
In a few words… their chocolate chip cookies are everything that cookie lovers dreamed about and more…
But I don’t live in New York. To buy a pack of 4 and ship to Texas I would have to spend about $46 ($27 for the cookies and $19 for the cheapest delivery method).
I don’t know about you but this would be the type of treat that I couldn’t afford to buy often.
Instead, I preferred to come up with a copycat recipe that is easy to make and affordable.
Well, my children and husband thanked me… and so will yours!
Levain Bakery
Levain Bakery was opened in 1995 and is co-owned by Pam Weeks and Connie McDonald.
Currently, there are 10 locations, most of them in New York City, one in Maryland, one in Washington D.C, and another one in Boston, Massachusetts.
Their owners were training for triathlete/Ironman competitions together and they came up with the idea to create the ultimate chocolate chip walnut cookie to give them energy for training.
Well, no need to say almost 30 years later, they are still baking the best cookies (among other goodies) and wowing customers on a daily basis.
Recently the frozen version of their cookie collection debuted in some grocery stores. Although they are smaller than the original ones.
You can buy them in 5 different flavors:
- Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies,
- Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies,
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies,
- Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
- and Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
Levain Cookie Recipe
You may be asking yourself why they are so popular, right? Well, check it out:
- Flavor: These are no ordinary cookies. Levain cookies are made with simple yet good-quality ingredients. No need they deliver BIG in flavor!
- Size: They are big cookies! We are talking about 6-ounce cookies (almost half a pound) with a 4-inch diameter and 1.25-inch thick.
- Texture: They have crisp edges with a gooey center and are made fresh every day. The cookies are mounded high, weighted, and baked at a high temperature. This allows the outside of the cookie to crisp up while the center barely gets baked, creating puddles of melted chocolate in the cookie dough.
- Hype: New Yorkers and tourists wait in a long line to have these cookies --although they are pricy. This must say how great these goodies are!
Reasons to Make Levain Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe at Home
Ours is not the original recipe that is kept secret but it’s a great copycat. Here are a few reasons you should make this recipe at home:
- Cost: There is no question how great Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies are. But they come with a price, of about $6.75 per cookie (2022), not including shipping. Consider you can make your own at home for much less!
- Location: If you don’t live in NYC, it may be much easier to stop by in one of the several bakery locations and satisfy your sweet tooth. But the rest of us who don’t live there, we can either get them shipped or make ours at home.
- Shipping: It is calculated according to your location or zip code. To have them delivered in San Antonio, Texas I would have to pay about $19 for the cheapest delivery method available (expedite). Moreover, I couldn’t have them shipped any day of the week. When you are checking out, they show a good range of dates and you choose one which sometimes is not close to the purchase date. For faster delivery, I would have to pay $49 which would cost almost double of the price of the cookies. Crazy, right?
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Unsalted butter: Make sure it is chilled and cut into small chunks. Because I am using semi-sweet chocolate chips, I prefer to not use salted butter. The amount of salt also may vary according to the brand and you want to have complete control of the flavor. Also, choose a good-quality butter such as Irish butter that has more dairy than water compared to American butter.
- Light brown sugar: It will add a caramel-like flavor to the cookies.
- Granulated white sugar: It will sweeten these baked goodies!
- Eggs: Use large eggs that are chilled!
- Pure vanilla extract: You may omit it but it will add extra flavor to our cookies.
- Ground nutmeg: It will add a warm flavor to our copycat Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies.
- All-purpose flour: Make sure to measure well and sift it before adding to the dough.
- Baking powder: It is one of the leavening agents and will make the cookies rise!
- Baking soda: It is necessary for this recipe because we are using brown sugar which is an acidic ingredient. It is alkaline and will neutralize some or all of that acid.
- Salt: If using kosher salt, use double the amount of sea salt called in the recipe.
- Chocolate chips: I used semi-sweet chips but you can use dark chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips if you prefer. But they must be of good quality so the chocolate will stay melted for longer after baling the cookies.
How to Make Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (204º C) for at least 20 minutes. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cold butter and sugars together until combined and crumbly (about 3 minutes). SEE PIC. 1
- Add the first egg, beating on low-medium speed until fully combined. Repeat with the second egg. SEE PIC. 2 Then add the vanilla extract and the nutmeg. SEE PIC. 3
- In a separate large bowl, sift the flour and mix together with the other dry ingredients (baking powder, baking soda, and salt). SEE PIC. 4
- Carefully pour the flour mixture into the mixing bowl. Beat on low speed until the mixture is fully combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips using a spatula or wooden spoon. SEE PIC. 5
- Form eight 6-ounce rough/messy balls of cookie dough. Weight each one of them so they have even size/weight. SEE PIC. 6 Divide the 8 cookies onto the two prepared baking sheets. SEE PIC. 7 NOTE: If the edges of the cookie dough ball are rough/not smooth, that’s better to get crispy tops!
- Cover and chill them in the fridge for 45-60 minutes before baking. When baking in winter, the dough tends to be pretty stiff and solid and doesn’t require chilling.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes. This time may vary depending on your oven (I used the conventional oven, not convection) and also whether you chilled your dough (and for how long). Make sure to check the cookies after they hit the 10-minute mark. Look but don’t touch them! They must present patches of deep golden brown and light golden brown. SEE PIC. 8
- But if you removed them from the oven when they are too light, let them cool and set them on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before serving. If you took them out at the perfect or later time, you can gently transfer them to a cooling rack after 4-5 minutes of cooling/setting in the pan. They will have crisp edges with a gooey middle.
Pro Tips for Making Copycat Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Use chilled butter and eggs.
- Measure well and sift the flour before adding to the dough.
- Use good-quality chocolate chips so they will stay melted for longer.
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh the cookie balls so they will have even weight/size and bake evenly. Each must weigh about 6 ounces.
- Do not flatten the tops of the cookie dough balls!
- Chill the cookie dough balls before baking so they won’t spread much under heat in the oven. The cookies must be thick and chubby.
- For getting crisp edges, don’t smooth the cookie balls when forming them.
- Make sure to preheat the oven for at least 15-20 minutes before baking the cookies.
- Preferably use gloves to form the cookie balls because they may be sticky.
- The baking time may vary depending on your oven and also whether you chill the dough and for how long.
- Bake the 8 cookies in two cookie sheets. Because they are enormous, they will need to be baked far apart and with enough room to expand.
- Take a peek at the cookies after baking them for 10 minutes.
- Let the Levain Bakery cookies come to room temperature before handling. They must be golden brown and crisp outside with soft, gooey centers.
Storage
Store these baked and cool Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies in a Ziploc bag or airtight container for about 2-3 days, removing as much air as possible from the bag.
You can freeze them but after thawing they won’t have crisp edges anymore yet they will still be moist. You may wrap each in a paper towel and microwave for about 15-18 seconds in order to defrost faster.
Other cookie recipes
- Nutella Cookies
- Coconut Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Keto Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate
- How to Make Shortbread Cookies
- Gluten-Free Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Salted Dulce de Leche Cinnamon Cookies Recipe
- Walnut Cookies
- Low Carb Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies
- Sugar-Free Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies
PIN & ENJOY!
Copycat Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 spatula
- 1 cookie sheets
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter chilled and cut into small chunks
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs chilled
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (204º C) for at least 20 minutes. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cold butter and sugars together until combined and crumbly (about 3 minutes).
- Add the first egg, beating on low-medium speed until fully combined. Repeat with the second egg. Then add the vanilla extract and the nutmeg.
- In a separate large bowl, sift the flour and mix together with the other dry ingredients (baking powder, baking soda, and salt).
- Carefully pour the flour mixture into the mixing bowl. Beat on low speed until the mixture is fully combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips using a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Form eight 6-ounce rough/messy balls of cookie dough. Weight each one of them so they have even size/weight. Divide the 8 cookies onto the two prepared baking sheets. NOTE: If the edges of the cookie dough ball are rough/not smooth, that’s better to get crispy tops!
- Cover and chill them in the fridge for 45-60 minutes before baking. When baking in winter, the dough tends to be pretty stiff and solid and doesn’t require chilling.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes. This time may vary depending on your oven (I used the conventional oven, not convection) and also whether you chilled your dough (and for how long). Make sure to check the cookies after they hit the 10 minute mark. Look but don’t touch them! They must present patches of deep golden brown and lighter golden brown.
- But if you removed them from the oven when they are too light, let them cool and set in the baking sheet for 15 minutes before serving. If you took them out at the perfect or later time, you can gently transfer them to a cooling rack after 4-5 minutes of cooling/setting in the pan. They will have crisp edges with a gooey middle.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Use chilled butter and eggs.
- Measure well and sift the flour before adding to the dough.
- Use good-quality chocolate chips so they will stay melted for longer.
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh the cookie balls so they will have even weight/size and bake evenly. Each must weigh about 6 ounces.
- Do not flatten the tops of the cookie dough balls!
- Chill the cookie dough balls before baking so they won’t spread much under heat in the oven. The cookies must be thick and chubby.
- For getting crisp edges, don’t smooth the cookie balls when forming them.
- Make sure to preheat the oven for at least 15-20 minutes before baking the cookies.
- Preferably use gloves to form the cookie balls because they may be sticky.
- The baking time may vary depending on your oven and also whether you chill the dough and for how long.
- Bake the 8 cookies in two cookie sheets. Because they are enormous, they will need to be baked far apart and with enough room to expand.
- Take a peek at the cookies after baking them for 10 minutes.
- Let the Levain Bakery cookies come to room temperature before handling. They must be golden brown and crisp outside with soft, gooey centers.
Nutrition
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Please note that health-focused and diet information provided on easyanddelish.com is for educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. Consult with your doctor or other qualified health professional prior to initiating any significant change in your diet or exercise regimen, or for any other issue necessitating medical advice.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
From the large size, it sounds like one cookie could feed a family of four.