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 almost 100 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 give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. I’d love to see a photo, tag @abountifulkitchen on Instagram!
Kaitlin Madson
This is my absolute, all time favorite cookie recipe! They turn out so gooey and delicious, with the perfect balance of salt, chocolate and nutty crunch. I usually make 3.5 oz cookies and I’ve had great success freezing the dough balls to make a few at a time. Thank you so much!!
Krystell
I had my husband take home some of the original Levain cookies from NYC one time— it was so good. I knew I had to make them at home at some point since we don’t live in NYC. I am glad I found your recipe! I had to make it gluten free and it turned out the same! So good!
Amber Wallace
This cookie recipe is one of my all-time favorites! I crave them regularly.
Megan G
This is the best Levain copycat recipe, hands down! I’ve had the real deal many times and it makes me so happy that I can whip them up in my own kitchen now that I don’t live in the NYC area anymore! I so appreciate all your time and attention to detail here. Thank you!
Katie
I was intimidated to try this recipe but am so glad I did. These cookies are truly gourmet! I made these during the holidays and will continue to do so as a new tradition.
AJ
My sister brought me back the real thing last week because she knows how deep my love runs. I had to share with everybody so they didn’t last long. I was so happy to make these she find they were (almost) just as good. The walnuts are absolutely necessary! And you have to wait for them to cool a bit for the texture to be right. So yummy!
Natasha
These cookies are amazing! I first made your recipe a little over six years ago, and I got so many comments when I posted it on Facebook! It led to my friends and family trying this recipe and loving it just as much!
Megan
These cookies are incredible!! Always a crowd favorite. I love that they freeze and thaw perfectly.
Liz
Oh my word! These are amazing!
I have never had Levain Cookies, and I made the smaller no nut version as my son does not like walnuts, and they were amazing. If this is what Levain cookies are about, I understand why they are legendary.
I did bake them about 11 minutes so I could get that beautiful browning, and they were still gooey and raw-ish enough for me.
This is a keeper! Next time I will make half with waln6and half without!
Thank you!
Si Foster
Liz, I am glad that the cookies turned out well for you! Arent they delish?! Thank you for your positive feedback!
XO
Si
Danica
What would you recommend for their gluten free cookie?
Si Foster
Hey Danica, I haven’t made this recipe gf yet, however, a few readers above posted their tips on making this recipe gluten-free. Let me know how it goes after you make it! You can also take a peek at the ABK Gluten Free Sugar Cookie post (URL below) for tips on gf cookie baking. If you haven’t tried ABK GF sugar cookie recipe yet, I think you will enjoy it!
XO,
Si
https://abountifulkitchen.com/gluten-free-sugar-cookies/
Jillian
Hi Si!
When baking cookies, do you use a specific type of pan? i.e. light vs. non-stick etc.
Also, when cooling, do you let cool for 15 minutes on the hot pan or remove and put on racks?
Thanks for the tips!
Si Foster
Hey Jillian! I recommend using a light pan and leaving the cookies on the pan for the best results. Let me know how it goes after you make it!
Xo,
Si
Heidi
Just like the real deal. Everyone wants the recipe.
Jody
Do you have gram measurements for your flour? I use 120g for each cup all purpose but I know there are slight variations.
Eman Zindani
Hi, I’m thinking of making these next weekend and wanted to ask if I could make them and shape them a day before and place them in the refrigerator overnight and bake them in the morning.
Si Foster
Hi Eman, Yes that will work! Just make sure to cover the balls of dough when refrigerating overnight! Enjoy!
Happy Baking,
Si
Alice
These are 100% amazing! Truly, truly amazing. I don’t dare make them often, but I will definitely make them again!
Alice
Just made these and we’re waiting. The dough was awesome (had a bite left over after weighing them. But the weirdest thing happened. On 400* convection, two flattened out a bit, one about halfway, and one stayed almost perfectly round! They weren’t even left and right, so it cant be the stove element; the round one and the mid-rise one were opposite corners and the flatter were also opposite corners. I’m sure they’ll be delicious, but I can’t figure it out.
Charlyce
Have you tried making these with GF flour? I used to bake these before a celiac diagnosis and I’m really missing them! 🙂
Si Foster
Charlyce,
I have not tried this recipe with gf flour, but I have had several people tell me they DO work using gf flour. I recommend Cup 4 Cup or Bob’s red mill.
Hope this helps!
XO
Si
Neil
Hi! This looks awesome and really want to try this – but my daughter is allergic to eggs. Any suggestion for an alternative? Thank you.
Si Foster
Neil,
I have not tried an egg substitute in this recipe. Here is a substitute I have used with success in a pinch when I am out of eggs:
1 egg ≈ 1 tablespoon chia seeds mixed with 2 to 3 tablespoons water
Sonia
Can you tell this recipe in grams ? Thanks
Lauri Moncur
Si, I’ve made this recipe in the past and loved it. Last week Bob and I were in NYC and of course made a stop to Levain’s.. We bought one of each @$5 now and honestly none of them were as good as they have been in the past. Kind of disappointing. So, still craving the outcome I hoped for at Levains, I’m going to whip up a batch. I already know they’ll be delicious! Thank you!
Anna
Hello,
Can I chop the walnuts instead of adding them in whole?
Si Foster
Anna,
Yes, you will probably need 1 3/4 cups of chopped nuts instead of 2 cups whole. Hope this helps!
XO
Si
lrwillow
Hi, have you tried this recipe with cake flour and bread flour and not A/P flour? Curious what is the difference as to why some use the cake and bread flour recipe over A/P flour? Do you use a kitchen scale to weigh the flour?
Si Foster
Yes, take a look carefully at the recipe post. I explain the method in choosing flour and my experiments with using bread, cake and AP and the reasons why!
Holly
I’ve baked these so many I know the recipe by heart! I’ve shared with so many people! I make mine with 2 c semisweet and 2 c dark chocolate…no nuts. I refrigerate them overnight and bake!!!❤️❤️🤭🤭🤭
Si Foster
Thanks for your note Holly! I love that you know this recipe by heart <3
XO
Si
Chelsea Ridley
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made these cookies. SO MANY TIMES. And I can’t tell you how many people have been blessed by these cookies. It’s my go-to and i make them as gifts for people all the time. I even bought fancy cookie boxes on Amazon to make it really special. People go crazy for them and they are a hit EVERY SINGLE TIME. seriously these are the BEST and are fail proof. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I’m making them AGAIN for teacher appreciation week right now, and I just thought, I need to let her know how special these cookies are and how many people they have blessed. Thank you!!
Si Foster
Chelsea,
Thank you for your kind comments and review! I’m so glad you’re sweetening the world with these cookies! How kind of you to share the love. Thank you for reading ABK and thank you for your kindness.
xo,
Si
Dominina
So for the no nut version, do we add 2 cups additional chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of AP flour? So a total of 4 chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of AP flour?
Si Foster
Great question, Dominina!
For the no nut version, either add ¼ cup all purpose flour
OR
an additional 2 cups chocolate chips,
OR
coarsely chop pretzels to equal 2 cups and add pretzels instead of flour or extra chocolate chips. Hope this helps!
xo,
Si
Kathy
Hands down the best chocolate chip cookies. I make a batch of dough and get 2 dozen cookies from it. Everyone loves them!
Si Foster
Hi Kathy! So glad you love these cookies. They’re one of our favorites! Thanks for reading ABK.
xo,
Si
Kathy
Si, You wrote this “I believe the cookies are best when left to sit for about an hour after baking.” Do you mean to sit on the cookie sheet right out of the oven for an hour? So that makes the inside a little firmer maybe? Just want to make sure the inside is baked properly. Thank you.
Si Foster
Hi Kathy,
They can be left to sit on the cookie sheet, or on a cooling rack. I usually leave mine right on the cookie sheet to set up! And yes, the cooling time gives the cookie a chance to solidify. Hope this helps!
XO
Si
Chad Thurston
This was it!
Ariane
Hello! When creaming the butter and sugar, should it be done til I reach the light and fluffy stage? Or just until they are incorporated? Bc i watched connie and pam’s YT video where they baked the walnut cookie and noticed the mixture was light and fluffy before they added the eggs.
Nathayah
Awesomeness 😎
These turned out so well! I haven’t had Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies, but if they are anything like this, wow! Thank you for the fabulous recipe! 😋
Kendal
I feel like I just leveled up in baking now that I can make a perfect cookie thanks to your recipe. I have this favorite cookie recipe from growing up that uses part of a yellow cake mix. I love the flavor combo. Can I just do an exact exchange? E.g. remove 1 cup of flour and replace with cake mix? I assume it isn’t as easy as exchanging flour for cake flour, but a girl can hope!
Rebecca
We just came back from New York this weekend. Although these aren’t exactly the same as levain, they are close and incredibly good!!!!
Kylee Lyon
Can I make this and freeze the dough, then bake them a few days later?
Si Foster
Hi Kylee,
Yes! They are actually better after the dough is refrigerated or frozen! The only time I do not recommend freezing is when using pretzels in place of the nuts. The pretzels texture changes.
XO
Si
PATRICIA VALENCIA
Can these be refrigerated 2 days in advance to baking
Si Foster
Hi Patricia,
yes! This cookie dough refrigerates and freezes well!
Xo
Si
Aureo
The most beautiful I’ve ever seen!
Would you be able to provide the recipe in (g)? On the other side of the world I feel that the measurements change a little!
Alanna
I have never experienced Levain cookies straight from NYC, but I did buy frozen Levain cookies to heat and eat. I thought they were incredible! Then, I made this recipe. I have gotten rave reviews from everyone. I had two of the frozen Levain cookies leftover and I made them the other day, and they absolutely did NOT compare to what I made at home with this recipe.
This recipe is super easy. I thought there would be a lot of complicated steps and that it would require at least a day to make one batch. Nope! A super casual recipe and I appreciate all of the tips!
Thank you!
Mary
Made them but added 1 tsp vanilla… they are delicious 😋
Kukie
What brand of chocolate chip do you use?
PaMela
What is the measure needed of butter in lb or grams?
NOLAndrews
I went on a hunt for a copy cat cookie recipe after seeing the bakery cookies featured on a tv show. Followed your instructions except used pecans, it’s what I had on hand. These were AWESOME, I’d love to send you a picture of the cookies but they did not last long. We made the “minis” and I did cook them a bit longer as mine were almost raw. Thanks for sharing, going to try the peanut butter next!
Si Foster
Hi NOLAndrews!
I’m so glad you found this recipe and love it as we do! Pecans are a wonderful addition to this chocolate chip cookie. Thank you for reading ABK!
xo,
Si
Bilmary
Hi there! Just wanted to let you know that Leavine now sells their cookies frozen at Whole Foods. I saved your recipe because I wanted to make the cookies but after doing a bit of research I found that Levine is now selling their cookies at grocery stores!! Just bought a box and I can’t wait to try it!
Amanda
I’ve been making these for a couple years now. I make them small, (like normal, 12 to a cookie sheet size) and they turn out great. It’s the only choc chip recipe I’ll even entertain. They’re fantastic, and I get asked for the recipe all the time. THANK YOU!!
Si Foster
Hi Amanda!
Thank you for your positive feedback. Whatever size you choose, you really can’t go wrong with this recipe! So glad you liked it.
Thanks for reading ABK!
xo,
Si
Claire
Absolutely love how detail oriented this recipe is and the cookies in general! Thanks!!
Ed P.
Love the recipe & looking forward to trying. but I’m a bit confused.
It states to bake at 400, but also 400 in a convection oven.
Shouldn’t the convection temp be lowered to about 375 ?
Kallan
These are amazing! Totally satisfied my craving for Levain. I live in Michigan and had no issues with rising — I did have to bake them for a few extra minutes to get the bottoms browned. I took the liberty of converting the measurements into grams, so if anyone is looking for that, here it is:
226g unsalted butter
160g brown sugar
99g sugar
2 eggs
120g cake flour
180g-210g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
256g walnut halves
340g semi sweet chocolate chips
Si Foster
Hi Kallan,
Thank you for your wonderful review and thanks for converting this recipe to grams! I’m sure your information will help many of our readers. I’m so glad you loved these cookies as much as we do! Thank you for reading ABK!
xo,
Si
Lily
Perfection. Si clearly did her homework to create the most perfect nutty, chocolatey cookie recipe.
Aileen Bluhm
These are amazing! We’ve made them several times with unsalted butter and salted butter and we DEFINITELY prefer them with salted butter. They taste too plain with unsalted butter.
Si Foster
Aileen,
I’m so glad you are also a Levain fan. I worked hard to perfect this recipe! Great to know you preferred salted butter. It is an option if the dough seems too bland. Thanks for your input and thank you for reading ABK!
xo
Si
april
i made these with vegan butter and they cane out beautiful and tasted amazing, i used regular eggs btw. can these be stored at room temp or is freezing the only option?
Si Foster
Thanks for letting us know April! So helpful to know this can be made using Vegan butter!
xo
Si
Trey
I’ve made this recipe three times now! Be sure to add full amount of walnuts or pecans! They taste good with all dark chocolate but I am a big milk chocolate person so I did 1/2 dark chocolate chips, 1/4 milk chocolate chips, and 1/4 roughly chopped dark chocolate bar and they turned out phenomenal. Also be sure to use cold butter and no need to refrigerate the dough before baking😊
ANGEL MARQUEZ
Hi. I made this yesterday as well and this is really good. I just need to adjust the sugar a bit, cause its too sweet for me. Anyway, I sold each piece and it was sold out yesterday. My customers love them, but someone requested a crispier one.. Maybe one or 2mins more..it was soft inside and the walnuts are heavenly. I didn’t use a good quality butter, so I guess it will make a big difference. I’ll use a good one next time. 😊 Thank you for the recipe. I made money yesterday with this recipe 😁 I owe you one haha.. Anyway, like I said in my other comment, I’m from the Philippines, and haven’t tasted the real levain cookies,so I can’t tell if the recipe is close to the original. Nevertheless, thank you so much 😊