Almost 1/2 pound of the most indulgent chocolate chip cookie ever! Our Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe was founded after hours and hours of research, testing and of course, tasting. This is the make-at-home version you will make over and over again!
If you’ve traveled to, or live in New York City, you have probably heard of Levain Bakery and their famous chocolate chip cookies. On my last trip back east, I made a stop at the popular bakery on West 74th Street to see for myself if this was indeed the best chocolate chip cookie in the world!
Levain Bakery is rumored to have the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. Yes, in the world. Hmmmmmmm. This is a highly debatable subject. What determines if a recipe is the best recipe in the world?
It’s all a matter of personal opinion and preference. Follow along and I’ll give you my observations and the results of my taste testing and baking research.
Last September, I took a trip with my oldest daughter Corrine to NYC. She was there for Fashion week and I was there for support, choosing restaurants and overall sightseeing. Levain Bakery was high on my list of places to visit this trip. We purchased each of the four types of cookies they sell. My favorite was the Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie.
I Instagrammed a photo (below) of the cookie while we were in NYC and received loads of comments from readers professing their love for Levain cookies, recipe requests and even comments stating a copycat recipe would be an answer to prayers!
In the interest of answering prayers and helping everyone who doesn’t live close to NYC (or even those who just want a make a batch of Levain style cookies) I’m going to share my version of the Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie recipe (and also the no-nut version, read end of post). But first, I’ll give you the story of how this recipe came to be…
Cut to the chase:
I know some of you probably just want the cookie recipe. If you are one of those people, skip to the bottom of this page and I’ll spare you my three thousand word essay on the who/what/why of recreating the Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie. If you want the back story, here it is…
History:
Levain Bakery was opened in 1994 by two women, Pam McDonald and Connie Weekes, who trained for triathlete/Ironman competitions together. They were often hungry after training and wanted a treat that would fill them up. During the training process they talked about creating the best chocolate chip cookie in the world. Over 20 years later, they are still baking cookies (and muffins, breads, pizza, sticky buns) and wowing New Yorkers and tourists every day.
They have 3 (now) 7 locations! There is almost always a line out the door, and their locations even sport a line cam giving you a look at the length of the line. Not that a long line seems to deter anyone from buying Levain’s cookies! We visited the West 74th street location and waited in line for less than 20 minutes.
Why is the Levain Chocolate Chip Cookie so popular?
Size: Huge. 6 oz (almost half a pound) of cookie. Everything is is big and flamboyant in NYC, and Levain cookies are no exception. The cookies are enormous. If you are forking out $4 per cookie (price in 2016 when this post originally went live), you want a cookie you can sink your teeth into.
I’ve purchased big cookies in the past, only to be disappointed that the flavor didn’t match up to the size of the cookie. The Levain cookies deliver in both the size and deliciousness categories!
Texture: Perfect combination of crisp outside and incredibly gooey center. The cookie is baked at a high temperature, and mounded high, allowing the outside of the cookie to crisp up perfectly while the middle barely gets baked and creates puddles of chocolate in the cookie dough.
Hype: New Yorkers love to wait in line! No really. Anything with a long line in NYC= (usually) an experience you don’t want to miss. This isn’t a tourist-only line. New Yorkers faithfully stand in the Levain line, patiently waiting for their cookie fix.
Why recreate the Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie?
Reason 1. They are delicious- See all of the above reasons. A big melty hunk of a cookie.
Reason 2. Cost- At $4 per cookie, if I lived in NYC and could run down the street to buy a cookie whenever I had a craving, it would be an easy choice. Four dollars a cookie is a reasonable price, given the size of the cookie. I mean, it’s a meal for $4. So one cookie or two or three are affordable. But when you consider you can make 8 at home for about a dollar per cookie, the make at home option starts to look very attractive.
Reason 3. Location- If you don’t live in NYC, (and who does?) I mean, only about 8 million people, but most of them don’t read this blog, which brings us to the out-of-towner option, having the cookies shipped. See reason 4.
Reason 4. Affordability of shipping: The mail order option, in my opinion, is not very affordable for most people. And who wants to wait 2 days when they have a chocolate chip cookie craving? Levain cookies are sold four to a package in the smallest package available. The least expensive shipping option (to Utah, 2 day air) will set you back approx $64 or about $16 per cookie. For two day old cookies. Gulp.
or
The next option is $81.50 for next day air, which is about $27 per cookie. Fairly fresh, but still a day old.
or
Last, but not least, next day (early) delivery is $108.50 or $34.94 PER COOKIE. Did you just pass out? I’ve eaten a lot of cookies in my lifetime. Probably more than my share. I don’t ever recall eating cookie that was worth $35 per cookie.
The shipping is what increases the price of the cookies. If you have a friend visiting NYC, having them hand deliver cookies is a sweet option. Unless they leave the cookies on the plane. Oops. See Reason 6.
Reason 5. Everyone asks for the recipe. Many of you have been to Levain, and NEED this recipe. After eating one of the Levain cookies, I knew it was my duty to create a make at home version of the Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie.
Reason 6. I want to help you keep your integrity intact. These cookies are a HOT item. Don’t leave them unattended, or else. True story. My friend Maria was visiting her kids in New York last year. We were texting back and forth and talking about some of the fun restaurants and treats they were enjoying in the city, including Levain cookies. At one point, I asked her to pick up a cookie for me if she was close to the bakery again before returning home… for research purposes.
Maria was kind enough to buy a few cookies, had them packaged up and carried them back on the plane to SLC in a cute little Levain Bakery bag. After she left the plane, she realized she had left the cookies onboard. Maria tried unsucessfully to re-board the plane. Her husband saw a man leave the plane with the cookies in hand…
He approached the man and said “I believe that is my wife’s bag of cookies she left on the plane.” (awkward, right?) The man looked startled, but acted like they were his cookies, although he had no story to share or no retort for the insistence by Maria’s husband that they were Maria’s cookies.
Picture me, reading this text from Maria, about what happened to the cookies, and saying over and over again, “OH MY GOSH” Grant thought maybe someone had passed away. No, just a cookie casualty… Maybe this gentleman did purchase the cookies, but it sounds like a possible cookie heist to me. Don’t take something that doesn’t belong to you. Just bake a batch at home instead.
Observations, baking tips and how I came up with this copycat Levain Bakery recipe…
In order to make a cookie that tastes, looks and has the same texture of the Levain cookie, I started by watching an episode of Bobby Flay’s Throwdown, where the Levain Bakery owners and Bobby Flay bake up a batch of cookies and judges pick their favorite cookie.
Pam and Connie (Levain founders) show up to the throw down with their dough already made, so it was difficult to do much observing of the actual cookie making process in the video clip.
I did take a look at the texture of the dough, which seems to be fairly sticky, leading me to believe there is not an excessive amount of flour in the dough. They also state a few times during the segment, they like to “keep it simple”. Bobby Flay’s cookies include Muscavado sugar and gourmet chocolate. In the end, the Levain cookies won the throw down.
The second video “Levain Bakery Pam and Connie Make Cookies” shows Pam and Connie making the cookies. They don’t show specifics, such as amounts, but I carefully watched and re watched the video several times and gathered the following:
-They use cold butter in 1 lb blocks
-The walnuts are not chopped, and don’t appear to be toasted.
-It looks like the amount of brown sugar is a bit more than the white sugar added, and the brown sugar appears to be light brown sugar, but difficult to tell the proportions of white to brown sugar, since brown sugar is usually measured in packed down amount, and the amount in the bowl does not looked packed.
–No vanilla. They also mention in the Bobby Flay video they don’t add vanilla because they think it is not needed. At first I thought WHAT? No vanilla in a cookie? But they are right. It really doesn’t add much flavor.
–Eggs, appear to be 2 per recipe, from what I can see, the butter and egg ratio per (at home) recipe would be 1/2 lb butter to 2 eggs.
–Chocolate chips. Semi sweet. About 2 cups per recipe. They add the walnuts first and pulse the dough, then add the chocolate chips last. They add the walnuts and chocolate chips after the dry ingredients have been pulsed into the wet ingredients.
–Dry ingredients. They add the dry ingredients in one big bowl, so it is difficult to tell what is in the dry ingredient portion of the recipe. I tried all purpose flour, cake flour, bread flour, a combination of bread and AP flour, a combo of cake flour and AP flour, and the AP flour by itself. I also tried baking soda, baking powder and a combination of both. Many people believe Levain Bakery includes cornstarch in their cookie, but I believe it is just plain old baking powder, which is made with a bit of cornstarch (remember the “keep it simple” quote)?
-The cookies also seem to be on the less salty side, which is less to my liking. I’m a firm believer in salt to balance out and enhance the flavors in desserts. I think they probably use about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt per recipe. I always use a coarse sea salt for best taste results. I am not sure if they use salted or unsalted butter, but I always use unsalted.
–Mixing: The mixer used in the video is a large commercial grade machine. They mix the butter and sugars together first, with the mixer on low. The mixer speed is always on low, it seems. When making other chocolate chip cookies, I usually add my chocolate chips and nuts with the flour to get them coated with flour (which is supposed to help them from sinking into the bottom of the dough) but Levain just adds the walnuts and chocolate chips after mixing in the dry ingredients. They pulse the mixture several times to prevent the flour and other dry ingredients from spilling over the bowl.
–Refrigeration of dough: They don’t talk about refrigerating the dough, but there are reports of the dough being refrigerated or frozen before baking. Refrigeration of dough usually enhances the texture of the cookies, but I don’t feel it is necessary in this cookie. I have baked this recipe right out of the bowl and also refrigerated the dough before baking. You can see what will be best in your oven by baking a cookie right after mixing up. If the cookie flattens too much, refrigerate the remaining dough for 30 minutes before baking.
–Shaping: Pam and Connie talk about “no baseballs” when shaping the dough. I usually create “baseballs” by using a cookie scoop. The Levain cookie is a more rustic looking treat. They use their hands to shape the dough. I prefer to use a food handler’s glove and measure the dough out and weigh it on my trusty kitchen scale.
–Baking time and temp: I found the best temperature in my oven is 400 degrees. If I am baking on a regular setting, I bake at 400 for 11-12 minutes. If using convection, I bake for 8-9 minutes. To achieve the gooey consistency of the Levain Bakery cookie, you must take the cookie out of the oven before the center is baked.
–Cooling-an important step: The Levain cookie needs to sit on the cookie sheet for at least 15 minutes before eating. Leave the cookie on the warm cookie sheet so it can finish baking and set up. I believe the cookies are best when left to sit for about an hour after baking.
Cookie Conclusion
I loved this cookie at the bakery and at home. It’s definitely a cookie lover’s dream. Not to be confused with the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie, which is a chocolate lover’s dream, this cookie is a mini-mountain of chocolate chip cookie dough.
I’m still partial to my all time favorite, ABK’s Tried and True Chocolate Chip Cookie. If you know someone who loves to eat the dough more than a baked cookie, I am guessing they will fall in love with the ABK version of the Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie. One recipe makes 8 GINORMOUS cookies. I look forward to reading your reviews… Happy baking!
Can’t Get Enough Levain?
I’ve made multiple copycat versions of Levain cookies: The Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, the Oatmeal Raisin, and the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie. They were all tested, tested again, and retested until I felt the recipe was as close as possible to the real deal.
This Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe has the most in-depth explanation of all the who, what, why and how on everything in my Levain Bakery copycat cookie journey. A little over the top, but seriously some of the most fun I’ve had in the recipe development game.
**Update May 2017** NO-NUT VERSION**
After receiving lots of feedback on this recipe several of you have said in emails, messages through Instagram and comments on Instagram posts that your cookies are going flat. I was puzzled by this! As you can see, the cookies are HUGE balls of dough before baking. I finally measured, and the dough balls sit about 3 inches high.
How could they flatten out after baking for such a relatively short time? When I drilled down the problem, I found the readers who were having issues with the cookies going flat were NOT adding walnuts to the recipe. I stated in the recipe notes originally – “If you are going to omit the nuts, you may want to try adding more chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of additional flour.”
I should have been more specific. I didn’t want to add much more flour than the originally called for 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups total, because once you add too much flour it changes the texture and flavor of the end product. Apparently 1/4 cup of additional flour was not enough.
I talked through this with my friend Melinda a few days ago. She mentioned something about replacing the volume of nuts in the cookies with something else. Then it hit me. To have success with this recipe the volume of the nuts had to be replaced exactly if the cookies were going to hold their shape.
I experimented with adding the additional 1/4 cup of flour- 3 cups total flour (1 cup cake flour, 2 cups AP flour) and 4 cups total semi sweet chocolate chips. HOORAY! The no-nut perfect version of the Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie Copycat was born. The adjustments are in the recipe notes.
I highly recommend refrigeration of dough if you do not have a convection oven. Refrigerate for 45 minutes after shaping the dough, then bake as directed. This will also help the cookies hold their shape.
One more note- The chocolate chips weight equals 14.6 oz for 2 cups, while 2 cups of whole walnuts equal 10.16 oz for 2 cups. The walnuts take up more volume, but weigh less than the chocolate chips. When measuring out the cookies made with chocolate chips only, the dough is more dense and the dough balls are smaller.
I weighed out the cookies without walnuts to about 7 oz per cookie, as opposed to 6 oz for the cookies with nuts. The recipe will still yield about 8 cookies per batch!
**Update May 23, 2017 Mini Version**
The cookies can be made in a “mini” size, about 3-3.5 oz each. Perfect size for any gathering where you don’t want to make and serve cookies that are nearly 1/2 lb each! Shape as directed, then bake at 400 degrees ( I use convection bake, but you can use regular bake as well) for about 5-6 minutes or just until top of cookie forms a crust.
**Update June 2017**
Lots of questions about CAKE flour. It is usually found on the top shelf at grocery stores, in a small box. Most groceries sell ” Softasilk” Cake Flour in a box. Make sure you read the label if you buy other brands and buy Cake Flour and not a “Cake Flour Blend”.
If you can’t find cake flour at your grocery, you can make your own at home by using this method to Make Cake Flour at Home:
- Measure out 1 cup of all purpose flour into a medium size mixing bowl.
- Remove 2 tablespoons of the flour and place back in the flour container.
- Add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to the flour in mixing bowl.
- Sift the flour and cornstarch mixture. Sift again about 3-4 more times.
- You now have cake flour! Place in a bag or container, measure out and use as needed.
Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter cut into tablespoons, I prefer unsalted
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 1/2-1 3/4 cup all purpose flour* see notes
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 2 cups walnut halves
- 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips* see notes
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 400 degrees and set rack in middle of oven.
- Place butter into bowl and turn mixer on low. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.
- Add sugars and beat butter until smooth on medium speed. This should take about 1 minute. Mix until the butter pieces are completely blended with the sugar and is no longer visible in pieces.
- Add the eggs and beat on medium just until incorporated with butter and sugars, about 30 seconds.
- Turn the mixer off. Add the cake flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pulse the dry ingredients on low until the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together.
- Pour the walnuts into the batter all at once. Pulse the batter 5-6 times.
- Pour the chocolate chips into the batter and pulse again 5-6 times.
- Pour the batter out onto a clean surface. Fold the dough together a few times until all of the chocolate chips and walnuts are mixed into the batter.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces about 6 oz each. Use your hands to shape cookies. Do not use a cookie or ice cream scoop. The cookies are meant to be roughly shaped. Do not flatten the dough.
- Bake 4 cookies per pan, for 11 minutes on regular bake or 400 convection bake for 8-9 minutes.
- The cookies are done when the top is a bit golden and the bottom is also golden.
- Do not over bake. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.
- To make the cookies without walnuts, see recipe notes below!
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Be sure to leave a comment and rate this recipe! I’d love to see a photo, tag @abountifulkitchen on Instagram!
Yann
i just came back from new york and i went (like everyone else) the day after i arrived at the bakery leaven … what a mistake i got back every day from the suite during the 10 day trip to fill my addiction. My favorites are double chocolate, then those with peanut butter and finally those with nuts and chocolate chips. Would you have these variations in your recipes ??? Thx a lot xxx
Nattakitta
Am Bee from Thailand Thank you so much This is first time in my life to make cookies so i like very much its so nice and easy make me proud because my daugther and husband also my mom like I looking forward about other cookies from Leavin Bakery Oatmeal or peanut butter ^_^ ^_^ from you ♡♡ you make me fall in love cookie right now Big hug ♡♡
Colette Braithwaite
So excited to eat these cookies. They are cooling right now! I pulled them out when golden brown on top, baked for about 10 min. but the bottoms were a little burned (it seemed like the chocolate chips were burnt) I put another jelly roll pan in my oven upside down and baked them on top of that and they turned out great. NOW IF THEY CAN JUST COOL FASTER!!!!
Kathy
This is an amazing recipe and I have made it many times but I just got a new oven with convection and it has been a game changer in how my cookies turn out!!! If you have a convection setting I would highly recommend using it! My family loves these cookies and we make them every couple of weeks.
Si Foster
I agree Kathy, the convection setting makes such a difference for these cookies, especially for getting that golden brown crispiness on top. Thanks for sharing!
xo
Si
Tricia
I watched you on the food nanny video and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about these cookies. I’m excited to try them. These cookies remind me of my favorite cookie when I lived in Seattle. If your ever up there you should go to the metropolitan market and get their “the cookie’. That’s what they call it and it’s pretty amazing. Has the nuts in it as well. My mouth is watering just thinking about that hot gooey goodness. Anyway thanks so much for this recipe. Looks like you put a lot of hard work into it.
Sarah
I was dying at all of the pictures being posted of these cookies and so I had to make them! Went out and bought a cheap kitchen scale ($10 on amazon) and went at it. Followed the recipe, but did the smaller version of the cookie – 3.5 oz per cookie. My oven is a little wacky so the recommended times don’t always work out for us. We ended up baking them for 10 minutes and they came out perfectly. I don’t think they were as doughy as the pictures, but they were just right for us. Exceeded expectations!!! I’m already excited for when I get to make them again!
Si Foster
I’m so glad to hear that, Sarah! You definitely have to watch these cookies as they bake because oven times can be so different. Thanks for sharing and for reading ABK,
xo
Si
Fay
Can’t wait to try this recipe!!
I know the recipe calls for butter – but if I need to make it non-dairy do you have any suggestions? Would replacing the butter with margerine work? ( in my usual cc cookie recipe I replaced 1 cup of butter with 3/4 cup margerine)
Thank you!
Heidi
GLUTEN FREE OPTION: For all you celiac people out there you can make a version of this! Here is what I did. In place of all the flour I used Bob’s Gluten Free 1 to 1 flour. I used a total of 2 3/4 cup. No nuts – and I used only 3 cups of chocolate chips. I refrigerated the dough for 20 min. before cooking 13 min @ 400. They turned out as good as can be for a gluten free cookie! They were big and did not go flat! So happy I can now make some of these for my husband since I was feeling guilty every time I made them for kids who do not have Celiac.
Brynnly
So perfect! I love that these can be made without the walnuts too.
Catie
Our favorite cookies ever! We usually make them mini and they go so quick! They freeze amazing!
Andrea Shuman
Yum! These are our new favorites. Just found the recipe a month ago, and we’ve made them several times already. Once you read through allllllllll the instructions, it really isn’t difficult. We make them much smaller and cook for less time, and they are scrumptious!
Chanel
Do you do less cups of chocolate chips if you do the mini version?
Fatima
What do I do if they flatten a little?
abountifulkitchen
they will flatten a bit, that will naturally happen when cooked! If you keep the dough high when forming, they will still be thick and gooey after baking.
Shaylee Pace
These are incredible! I’ve made them for my neighbors a few times and I’m a legend now haha! I love how easy they are and how impressive they look.
Liz
Sooooo good! And BIG! I’ve loved every one of your recipes I’ve tried!❤️
Leslie Chan
Yum! I made these into 3oz cookies and they were still (delicious) monster-size cookies. I tried to save some for later but ate them all within a couple of days!
Abby Rasmussen
My favorite cookie recipe hands down!!!!! A fistful of goodness. I make them way too much.
Michelle
I’ve made these a lot. I usually half the recipe and have had great success with that but the original full recipe dough has a better consistency. Either way they’re great cookies.
Kristy Hill
Seriously the best cookies I have ever made!! My family swears I could sell them, they are that good. They turn out perfect and large every time!
Helen
Hi Si! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I used crystal brown sugar, which gives a “crunchy” effect to the cookie. I could taste the sugar crystals, so it wasn’t so good.
I can see that you use light soft brown sugar. In the part of the world where I’m from, the soft brown (light or dark) isn’t very common.
So, in order to lose that crunchy crystal effect, what would you recommend I should do?
Thank you in advance!
abountifulkitchen
Hi Helen,
I understand brown sugar is not available in many countries. You can make your own if you are able to get a hold of molasses where you live. Add 1-2 tablespoons of dark molasses to 1 cup of granulated sugar and stir well. 1/4 cup of molasses to 1 cup of granulated sugar will yield dark brown sugar. Hope this helps!
xo
Si
Jen
These cookies are the best! I used a regular oven at 400 degrees and had to bake closer to 16-18 minutes instead of 11. And this was for 3 oz portions. I know my oven is working okay because I just made a cake and that was totally fine. Curious to know if this has happened to anyone else or if anyone has insight (I’m in Northern VA).
Thanks! So glad I found this recipe — delicious.
Gwen
I baked mine for about 12 minutes which was perfect for me. I do also like my cookies very gooey in the middle so this time was perfect for my liking.
Si Foster
Hi Jen, I’ve heard that these cookies take a few minutes less to bake sometimes, especially when they’re in smaller portions. I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe and thanks for reading ABK!
xo
Si
Gwen
BEST COOKIES EVER! They aren’t literally perfect. Do you ever cool your cookies before baking?
Si Foster
Hi Gwen, I do cool my cookies sometimes before I bake them, it depends on if I’m making them ahead of time. Thanks for asking and for reading ABK!
xo
Si
Gwen
Omg meant to say BEST COOKIES EVER… they ARE literally perfect. Feels like I’m right back at Levain in NYC. I add different varieties of chocolate chips which is awesome. 12/10 would recommend. I tried 7 different cookie recipes the other day… this recipe won BY FAR
Si Foster
I’m so glad to hear that, Gwen! This recipe is one of my favorites by far too and I love your idea of adding different kinds of chocolate chips. Thanks for sharing,
xo
Si
Taylor
I made these a couple weeks ago and they were such a hit. Not only did I think they were the most amazing cookies I’ve ever had, but they got the same recognition from boyfriend, roommates, and coworkers.
I doubled the recipe, which proved to be a lot of work for my Kitchen Aid (which is already a size up from standard), so I could freeze some extras for later. Best decision.
I followed the recipe word for word, except I used dark chocolate chunks in place of semi sweet chips. Also, I’m usually not a fan of nuts in baked goods, but I LOVED the walnuts.
I will definitely be saving this recipe in the archives!
Si Foster
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Taylor! It’s definitely a must have for our family too, there’s nothing like a good homemade chocolate chip cookie. Thanks for sharing and for reading ABK,
xo
Si
Becky Lucas
Sorry, I don’t see a butter amount on the recipe…? How much do I need?
Si Foster
Hi Becky, this recipe calls for one cup of butter. Thanks for asking and for reading ABK!
xo
Si
KD
Made these into 2.5oz, baked for 6 mins but put them in for another 2 mins on the top rack after letting them cool for awhile because they were way too undercooked still. These also spread a lot for me, next time I’ll fridge the dough first.
Si Foster
Thanks for sharing, Kristie, hopefully they’ll bake a little higher when you refrigerate the dough beforehand.
xo
Si
Cyrielle
Hi!
I just want to say THANK YOU for your hard work researching for this recipe! I made them as my first recipe when my boyfriend got me a stand mixer and they’re absolutely AMAZING! Now all my colleagues and friends ask for more 😉 you’ve made me the best baker of the office! 😀
Si Foster
I’m so glad to hear that, Cyrielle! That’s why I love this recipe so much, it’s something anyone can make and make well. Thanks so much for sharing and for reading ABK,
xo
Si
Carol
Followed the directions carefully, did the ones without the nuts and added the extra flour and they are completely raw on the inside, so bummed. I refrigerated for 30 min and cooked 11 min until outside rim was golden brown. I’m going to put them back in the oven but think they’re goners :(. Willing to adjust if you have ideas, maybe smaller would work.
Si Foster
Hi Carol, I’m sorry to hear that. Did you have the cookies set on the middle rack in the oven? Sometime they bake different if it’s a gas versus an electric oven as well. You could also try making them a little smaller. Hope this helps and thanks for reading ABK!
xo
Si
Carol
Yes, middle rack. I will try smaller for sure, thanks!
Si Foster
Let me know how they turn out, thanks Carol!
xo
Si
Brittnee
The cookie is DELICIOUS and I am so stoked to have my go-to chocolate chip hammered down. I do have one question, when making the no-nut version, it is clearly a suuuuper chocolately cookie with double the chips. Any thoughts on how to keep the form of Levain while producing a less chocolatey cookie? (I know, I’m off my rocker for even asking about less chocolate in a cookie… 😉 )
Thanks so much!
Robyn
Do you think pecans would work in place of walnuts? Walnuts give me canker sores.
Si Foster
Yes, Robyn, you can use pecans or more chocolate chips instead of using walnuts. Thanks for reading ABK!
xo
Si
Sjoseph
Can you suggest an egg substitute? I only have 1 egg at home:(
Si Foster
Hi Joseph, you could try replacing it with unsweetened applesauce (1/4 cup per egg) or white vinegar and baking soda (1 tablespoon vinegar and 1 teaspoon baking soda per egg). Hope this helps and thanks for asking!
xo
Si
Neira Bektas
Not sure if my oven wasn’t strong enough or what, but the edges/outside were great, but the inside was still raw. Not sure what to do or how to adjust 🙁
Si Foster
Hi Neira, maybe try to bake them on the lower the rack at 375 until the outside of the cookie is barely golden. Also, you could try refrigerating the dough for an hour or so before baking. Hope this helps and thanks for asking!
xo
Si
Julie S.
Sorry if this has been answered before, but I’m a bit stuck on the no walnut portion.
So am I adding an additional 2 cups chips (I’m actually using chunks chopped from a bar) AND the extra 1/4 cup AP flour, or is it one or the other?
I’ve made these so many times and they still manage to flatten 🙁 Baking soda is fresh, so it can’t be that, and the butter (I use Kerrygold) is straight out of the fridge. I’ve tried using replacing some of the cake flour with AP flour 1:1, but never an additional amount.
Si Foster
Hi Julie, since you’re only using chocolate chips, you want to put about 30 oz total of chocolate chips, which is 4 cups total. You are also adding and additional 1/4 cup of flour. To help with the dough baking well, I would refrigerate it after you have shaped the balls for about 45 min. Hope this helps and thanks for asking!
xo
Si
Kristie
Wonderful!! Made per recipe for no nuts with only chocolate chips except smaller in size. Easy, delicious, and beautiful cookie. This is a perfect and simple chocolate chip cookie. Your recipe is a keeper!
Si Foster
This is definitely a recipe I’ll be making for a long time too, Kristie! Thanks for your comment and for reading ABK.
xo
Si
hailey
hi siii
i dont have light brown sugar , can i use brown sugar instead of it? will it affect the cookie texture? pls reply, thankyou soo muchhh
Si Foster
Hi Hailey, yes you can use dark brown sugar, it shouldn’t affect the texture. Thanks for asking!
xo
Si
Angela Francoeur
Hello,
My husband and I just returned from New York for the first time and all he could talk about were the cookies we got from LeVain Bakery! They were the best cookies I think we have ever had in all of our travels! When I found your recipe I decided to make them this weekend. He was so excited.. and they were amazing!! I made the original and also with no nuts. Can’t wait to make them again!
Si Foster
Thanks, Angela, these are some of my favorite cookies of all time. Those Levain Bakery cookies are hard to beat. I’m glad you found this recipe and thanks for your comment!
xo
Si
Kaylynn
What a dangerous cookie…. Oh my goodness! Sooo delicious. I subbed out the nuts with extra flour and followed your notes. They came out perfect!!!! The hardest part was waiting for them to cool.
Si Foster
I agree Kaylynn, they are dangerously addicting, and one of my favorite cookies ever! The hardest part is always waiting for them to cool, but it’s definitely worth it. Thanks for sharing,
xo
Si
Sofia
Hi! Thanks for sharing this recipe! I’m making it right now, waiting for it to chill in the fridge, two balls of 6oz.
I was measuring the cups of chocolate chips and saw that 1 cup was about 100 grams.. I added 300gr of chocolate chip cookies to a no nut dough, but I also used 1 3/4 AP flour. I’m not sure how much of the chocolate chips I had to put in, but I saw it was good enough. Lets see how they come out.
It would be great that you had the recipe in grams so it for sure could be replicated exactly, whenever you have an opportunity :).
Thanks for sharing alll those details, they for sure help a lot!
Si Foster
You’re welcome, Sofia. I know you’ll love these cookies, and I’ll see what I can do about putting it in grams. Thanks for sharing!
xo
Si
Anabel
If you don’t mind could you tell me how much you used of each ingredient? I use grams too and sadly I’m struggling to convert the recipe.
Copy Cat of a Copy Cat : Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies – Melanie Jeanne
[…] only did I find a recipe, I found the most glorious nut free version of this recipe ever. Thanks to A Bountiful Kitchen, who did all the crazy hard work to recreate the recipe, we were able eat spoonfuls of cookie dough […]
Naomi
My Cookie Monster son found LeVain cookies on the web, but we are in CA. Then we found your receipe here. It is delicious. A whole family loves it. Thank you for sharing with the great notes.
Si Foster
You’re very welcome, Naomi! I’m so glad your son found the recipe. These cookies are hard to beat and seriously addicting. Thanks for sharing,
xo
Si
Copy Cat of a Copy Cat : Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies – Melanie Jeanne
[…] only did I find a recipe, I found the most glorious nut free version of this recipe ever. Thanks to A Bountiful Kitchen, who did all the crazy hard work to recreate the recipe, we were able eat spoonfuls of cookie dough […]
Emily
I made these for the first time this past weekend and they were divine! The only difference is that I made them in 1 and 7/8 oz. and they turned out great!
Si Foster
Thanks for sharing, Emily. I’m so glad you enjoyed them. These cookies are always so yummy, no matter what size you make them. Thanks for reading ABK!
xo
Si
Robin Goodrich
These look delicious! Do they still seem raw in the middle after cooling for an hour? I ate Levain fresh from the shop so they were still raw/warm. I want to make 6oz cookies that are thick like these, soft in the middle/crunchy outside when cooled. Some of my experiments have been too raw but maybe I needed to walk away for an hour before tasting lol!
Si Foster
Hi Robin, those fresh Levain Bakery cookies are hard to beat! The cookies in this recipe turn out fairly gooey in the middle and crispy on the outside. You may want to let them sit for an hour before you serve them. Thanks for reading ABK,
xo
Si
Kathleen
I just made these today and they are amazing!!!!! I’m all the way in Australia and they are similar to great cookies we can get at some fantastic eateries around here. Thanks so much.
Si Foster
Thank you for sharing, Kathleen! I’m so glad you enjoyed them, and thanks for reading ABK all the way from Australia.
xo,
Si
Ashlee
This is hands down the best recipe for cookies! Just a quick question though, sometimes when I make them they have a very strong flour taste. Is there anyway to fix this this or could you advise what I’m doing wrong lol. Thank you for such an amazing recipe 🙂
Si Foster
Thanks Ashlee, I agree this cookie recipe is one of the best! How much flour are you using? I usually use 1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour and 1 cup of cake flour, but I’ve heard people have a lot of success only using 1 1/2 cups of AP flour. Thanks for reading ABK,
xo
Si
Ashlee
Thank you for your reply!! I think the last batch I probably measured wrong cause I used the 1 1/2 plain flour and 1 of cake flour. I’m trying again tonight and will be more vigilant. Thank you again for this amazing recipe 🙂
Natalie
Just made these and they were delicious!!!!!! I also just found on Levain’s Instagram that after shaping them and weight each to 6oz, they “pop them in the fridge” before baking. Next time I’ll try that! It will probably help them hold their round shape a bit more. Mine didn’t flatten out too much but definitely were wider and not as tall as the real ones. Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Si Foster
You’re welcome Natalie, and thank you for sharing! Refrigerating the dough usually enhances the texture of the cookie, but I haven’t noticed a difference with this recipe. The key to getting a perfectly crispy outside and gooey middle is to mound the dough balls high while baking them at a high temperature. Thanks for reading ABK,
xo
Si
Janice in AZ
Curious- do you have the Levain Oatmeal Raisen copy cat recipe?
abountifulkitchen
Janice,
yes, I developed a copycat recipe last year. Use the search bar and enter the name Levain Bakery Oatmeal Raisin Cookie and you’ll be linked over. Thanks for reading ABK Janice!
xo
Si
Diane
Great recipe, Si! My family loved the cookies. I made the three-ounce version (without nuts, adding the extra 1/4 cup AP flour) and they turned out great. Thanks for taking the time to add all of the tips to your recipe. The cookies that looked the best out of the oven were the ones I didn’t shape into smooth balls, but rather left them with nooks and crannies. Thank you!
Si Foster
Thank you so much for sharing, Diane! I’m glad they turned out well for you. That little bit of extra flour can make all the difference. Thanks for reading ABK,
xo
Si
Paulo Silveira
Ok, this is really incredible! Thanks for the recipe!
I tried to do a lowcarb version and I think it worked pretty well: I ve used almond flour instead of Cake Flour and AP Flour and Xylitol instead of sugar. Chocolate chips 80%. It just works, but I need to add the extra flour and refrigerate it to avoid the flattening. The exterior does not get too crispy. Maybe I will try to use less butter next time
Si Foster
Paulo, thank you so much for sharing your tips to making a low carb version. I’m sure readers who are more health conscious will love this. I’d love to hear how it turns out when you add more flour to the dough. There aren’t many cookies better than the Levain cookie!
Thanks for reading ABK,
xo
Si
Paulo E A Silveira
Si, here I have a picture with the added flour, it is PERFECT now:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2vfjx7mhwgd93av/lowcarb_version.jpeg?dl=0
3 cups almond flour in total. And here a small video:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/au68zd3k0nqqw7g/lowcarb_video.mp4?dl=0
You can see it is too soft and it is not crunchy in the outside, although the walnuts always help. Next time I will try a smaller amount of butter, since I am using 80% chocolates and almond flour: they are already too buttery.
Si Foster
Paulo, thank you so much for sharing. Cutting the amount of butter might help with the texture, especially with the different ingredients you’re using. They look great and I’m so glad they turned out well for you!
xo,
Si
Deb Parker
Just got back from New York and wanted to check out Lavains having seen them on the Food Network. Months ago, in anticipation of the up coming trip, I was looking for the recipe and happened onto your blog. Made your recipe many times and loved the results every time. Did not have time to go to the actual bakery when I was in NY so I had a dozen cookies sent by messenger to my hotel which worked great. I have to say that the Lavain cookie was good but your recipe knocked them it out of the park. Theirs was very sweet to me and cakey. I love the buttery taste in your recipe which was not there with the Lavain cookie. I was very surprised that I did not like the Lavains product more than I did. Would I buy it again? Maybe if I was in the neighborhood and bought one, I brought the booty back from NY to share with my family in AZ and they agreed. Your cookie is better but they did like the Lavains version too. Just wanted to share my experience of going out into the big world and finding that there is no cookie like homemade.
Si Foster
Deb,
Thank you for your very kind comments! It always feels great when I create a recipe that is enjoyed by so many! Thank you for reading ABK and again, thanks for your positive feedback.
xo,
Si
manda
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve made the original recipe with and without nuts, but after a special request I replaced the nuts and chocolate chips with (the same amount of) chopped macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips. They turned out perfect and were a huge hit. Thank you for this great recipe!
Si Foster
Manda,
Your white chocolate, macadamia twist to this recipe sounds fantastic! Thanks for your tips and I’m so glad you love this recipe.
Thank you for reading ABK.
xo,
Si