The Famous NYC Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies (Copy Cat Recipe)

MelandBoysKitchen

Have you ever heard of the Levain Chocolate Chip Cookie in New York City?

We recently introduced our boys to New York City during our Spring Break family vacation.  We rode the subway and trekked all over the city to experience lots of wonderful iconic places like the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, World Trade Center, 9/11 Memorial, Times Square and more.  And because their Momma is a ‘foodie’ we also had a list of famous NYC treats and foods that I wanted to try and at the top fo the list was the Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cooke.  They are famous for these HUGE Chocolate Chip Cookies studded with lots of chocolate chips and walnuts and… oh boy, let m tell you…they completely lived up to the hype!

The Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies are  buttery, chocolatey cookies that are crispy on the outside and ridiculously rich and gooey on the inside.  Seriously, AMAZING!  Now the real Levain chocolate chip cookies are also studded with a generous amount of walnuts–but my husband “thinks” he is allergic (never been documented by a medical professional –but he claims that they make his mouth feel weirdly swollen) so I promised him I would figure out how to make some of these incredible Levain Chocolate Chip cookies at home that were nut free.  After lots of research and recipe testing, I think I have come up with a pretty good match.  My husband LOVED them and declared them to be the BEST cookies that I have ever made!  Just look at this cookie–ooo lala!!!

Now the cookies they sale in New York City’s Levain Bakery are HUGE (like 6 ounces which is more than half a cup of dough!!).  They are a statement cookie, one that will leave a BIG impression!  Trust me, you won’t soon forget the experience of eating a Levain Chocolate Chip Cookie!

They are incredible this way, but I have found that making them smaller is still incredibly delicious and little less indulgent (it is hard to stop once you start on one of those giant sized cookies!).  In the picture below, I baked the dough using a regular cookie scoop–but shaped them into a “tall scoop” (so they were more tall than wide). They turned out perfectly wonderful!   I can tell you that these cookies freeze beautifully. The batch pictured below has walnuts included (just like the true Levain Chocolate Chip Cookie in New York) , which I LOVE.  Either with or without nuts, these cookies are pretty phenomenal!

Check back soon for the next copycat recipe from our New York City trip –I am sharing Magnolia Bakery’s Banana Pudding  and is seriously SOOO yummy!!

Have a great weekend–

xoxo

From the Archives:
5 Years Ago:  Dijon, Maple and Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin
6 Years Ago: Hot Ham and Cheese Poppyseed Sliders.
7 Years Ago: Black Bean and Sweet Corn Quinoa
8 Years Ago: Baguette ( a VERY popular easy and quick bread recipe!)

The Famous NYC Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies

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5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Melanie

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Ingredients

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• 1 cup Cold Butter, cut into small cubes
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
• ½ cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1½ cups Cake Flour*
• 1½ cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• ¾ teaspoon Salt
• 2 cups Chocolate Chips
• 2 cups Walnuts, roughly chopped (Add 1/4 cup more flour if you are not using the walnuts)
• *can substitute all-purpose flour for cake flour (but cake flour works best)
• **Levain Bakery doesn’t add vanilla extract to their cookies but if you want to (I like to) add 1 teaspoon with the eggs.

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 410 degrees.
2. In large mixing bowl, cream together cold cubed butter, brown sugar, and sugar for 2-3 minutes or until creamy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.
4. (1 tsp vanilla–add now if using)
5. Stir in flours, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined –do not over mix!!
6. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts (or extra 1/4 cup flour if you are skipping the walnuts).
7. Separate dough into large tall shaped balls and place on silat or parchment lined cookie sheet.
8. The balls will be about 5-6 oz each, if using a kitchen scale or about 3/4 cup of dough.
9. Bake only 3- 4 cookies on one large cookie sheet at a time.
10. The dough makes about 8 extra large cookies.
11. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on the top.
12. Let them rest for at least 15 minutes on cookie sheet to set. I think they are best after an hour, if you can wait that long!!

Recipe Source: I googled Levain Cookie recipes–then researched, compared and tried several recipes and making my own adjustments.  Some included: Modern Honey , Hip Foodie Mom, A Bountiful Kitchen and Broma Baker