Copycat Levain Chocolate Chip & Walnut Cookies
Copycat Levain Chocolate Chip & Cookies
The first time I visited New York City in 2013, I had a long list of places to see and foods to try, but nothing stuck with me quite like my first bite of a Levain Bakery cookie.
The first time I visited New York City in 2013, I had a long list of places to see and foods to try, but nothing stuck with me quite like my first bite of a Levain Bakery cookie. It was everything I had dreamed of—thick, gooey, packed with chocolate, and perfectly crisp on the outside. From that moment on, I was obsessed. Every time I visited the city, I made sure to stop by Levain for a warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven cookie. Then in 2016, I moved to NYC, and suddenly, I didn’t have to wait for a special trip—I could get my fix whenever I wanted! Of course, that also meant I wanted to recreate the magic at home. Between 2013 and before I moved to NYC in 2016, I was on a mission to recreate this recipe. After countless tests and tweaks, I found a recipe that brings me right back to that first bite in 2013.
Copycat Levain Chocolate Chip & Walnut Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups cake flour*
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips
2 cups walnuts, roughly chopped (can be omitted for a nut-free option, making it an extra chocolate chip cookie)
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 410°F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the cold cubed butter, brown sugar, and sugar for about 4 minutes, until smooth and creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the cake flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined to avoid overworking the dough.
Gently fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
Divide the dough into large balls—these cookies are much bigger than you think! You should be able to fit four cookies on one large baking sheet.
Bake for 9-12 minutes, until golden brown on top but still soft in the center.
Let the cookies rest for at least 10 minutes before enjoying—this helps them set into that perfect, thick consistency.
Recipe Notes:
If you don’t have cake flour, you can substitute with all-purpose flour.
Levain Bakery has mentioned they don’t use vanilla extract in their cookies. If you’d like to add some, 1 teaspoon mixed in with the eggs would work well.
Biting into one of these cookies always takes me back to that magical moment in 2013 when I discovered Levain for the first time. And now, I get to enjoy that same experience from the comfort of my own kitchen!
