Introducing my favourite thick and chewy Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies. These big, buttery chocolate chip cookies are soft and chewy and filled to the brim with chocolate.
I am obsessed with these cookies.
And rightly so. These thick and chewy Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies are what my sugar-coated dreams are made of. They’re big, buttery and completely irresistible.
If you love cookies with crispy, golden edges and a melty centre filled with chocolate, these cookies have your name on them ❤️
I just returned home from a holiday in New York two weeks ago. And one of the first recipes I wanted to try to develop when I got back was a copycat Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie.
I finally had the chance to try their legendary – and ridiculously big – cookies. They are famous, not just for their taste, but for their size – 6 ounce each apparently. They have a rustic, golden brown exterior, and buttery middle that’s filled with chocolate chunks and crunchy walnuts.
And yes they were as delicious as they sound and look.
(Finally trying the Chocolate Chip Cookie from Levain Bakery in New York)
I love my Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe but I knew to achieve the thickness of a Levain Bakery style cookie, it was going to need some tweaking. But the results ARE IN.
A few adjustments to the ingredients and the method and you have a big, fat Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie that you can make at home. BOOM.
You don’t need any special equipment to make these cookies. In fact, you only need all the basic ingredients of a regular Chocolate Chip Cookie, but you need to follow the instructions carefully for best results.
A big part of the cookie magic has to do with the temperature of the butter. While most cookie recipes rely on softened butter or melted butter, but this recipe calls for cold butter. It helps the cookies not to spread too much in the oven.
Another key is the amount of fix-in’s. There’s alot of chocolate AND nuts in this recipe, just like Levain Bakery’s cookie. It also helps the cookies stay thick and lumpy.
I know everyone has their favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I stand by this recipe. It is legit one of the best cookies I’ve tasted at home!
YOU WILL LOVE THESE LEVAIN BAKERY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES BECAUSE:
- They’re extra thick and chewy, with crispy edges.
- They’re filled with good things, like loads of chocolate and chopped walnuts.
- You don’t need to chill the dough so they could be on your table in less than an hour.
- Everyone always loves them!
TIPS FOR MAKING THICK CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
- This recipe calls for COLD butter – straight from the fridge. Not softened or melted.
- Use brown sugar for this recipe for maximum flavour. Brown sugar will also help the cookies spread less in the oven than white sugar.
- These cookie use a little more flour than regular cookies for extra body. You also need to add 1 tablespoon of cornflour (or corn starch) to help keep the cookies soft. If you don’t have any cornflour, you can add an extra tablespoon of plain flour.
- These cookies call for lots of chocolate. I recommend chopping a block of chocolate by hand, instead of using chocolate chips. You can use milk chocolate or dark chocolate or a mix of both.
- Levain Bakery cookies have walnuts in them. I have included walnuts in this recipe, but have tried these cookies with other nuts, such as pecans and almonds. The nuts also help the cookies not to spread. If you don’t want to add nuts, you will need to add extra chocolate to help the cookies from spreading.
- I recommend using 2 tablespoons of cookie dough per cookie. Because these cookies are very thick, they need a few more minutes in the oven, until they are golden brown.
- Test one cookie to see if the cookies are thick enough. If it spreads too much, you might want to chill the dough for an extra 30 minutes and then try baking them again.
MORE COOKIE RECIPES TO TRY:
- Chocolate Oreo Cookies
- Cornflake Marshmallow Cookies
- White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Honey Cookies
- Lemon Cookies
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PinDescription
Super thick and chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies made from scratch.
Ingredients
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, COLD (straight from the fridge), roughly chopped
- 190 grams (1 cup) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, cold
- 245 grams (1 and 3/4 cup) plain flour
- 1 tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch)*
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 225 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) dark or milk chocolate, chopped by hand
- 50 grams (1/2 cup) walnuts, roughly chopped**
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (360 F). Line two baking trays with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add cold butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until combined. Add vanilla and egg. Beat again until combined – but try not to over mix.
- Add flour, cornflour and baking soda and beat on a low speed until soft cookie dough forms. Add chocolate and walnuts and beat briefly.
- Scoop out cookie dough***, roughly 2 tablespoons per cookie, and place on prepared oven trays, leaving room for the cookie to spread.
- Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Leave cookies to cool completely.
Notes
*If you don’t have any cornflour (or cornstarch), add an extra tablespoon of flour.
**You can use any nut you like (e.g. pecans or macadamias). If you want to leave out the nuts, add extra chocolate. The generous amount of fix-in’s help the cookies stay thick.
***Instead of rolling the cookie dough smooth, leave it rough and pieced together for a more rustic look.
****Try baking one cookie initially. If it’s not thick enough, place the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and try again.
Keywords: Thick chocolate chip cookies, big chocolate chip cookies, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies
Hi. Can this recipe be adapted so that the cookies are stuffed with Nutella? If so, how would you do it?
Hi, yes you could. You could freeze teaspoons of Nutella and hide them in the cookies when you are rolling up the cookie dough. Might be a little tricky with all the fix-ins in this cookie but would be delicious!
Hi! I made these and am so confused. My dough never became soft, it remained crumbly and was difficult to form into cookies. Once I managed to squish them together enough I baked them, but they came out and fell apart the second I picked them up. I followed your instructions to a T. Any ideas what could have gone wrong??
Hi Sophia, I’m sorry to hear that! Did you add the egg? It sounds like perhaps you didn’t beat the butter enough or added too much flour. I have a step by step tutorial on my Instagram Stories on how to make these that you might find useful.
Hi Jessi,
I want to do this recipe but need to know If brown sugar is Panela?
Thanks!! 😊
Hi Daniela, panela is different to brown sugar. I’ve actually never used it before but I think it would be ok to use in this recipe.
Made these tonight and they are very nice. I used pecans instead of walnuts. I think next time I make them I will swap the nuts for extra chocolate though. Mine were darker but that was probably because I used dark brown sugar. I’ll swap to light brown next time and see if this makes a difference to the colour. and taste. Thanks for the recipe. It was very easy to follow and baked perfectly.
Hi Lisa, I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies! Yes, using dark brown sugar would change the colouring. You could also turn the temperature down slightly if you find that your oven runs a bit hot and may have browned the tops. Thank you for trying one of my recipes! ☺️
I have been looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe and this is the one. Thank you so much for sharing your talents. They are delicious.
★★★★★
Aw thank you so much Ariel! I’m so glad you love them as much as I do! 🥰
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe! I was just wondering why yours look more blonder than my ones, which I think are more on the browner side. Do you think I may have over mixed my dough? Other than that, they tasted incredible with the crispy edge and soft middle!
★★★★★
Hi Oly! I’m so glad you loved them! Thanks for the lovely feedback. I think it probably just depends on the oven temp, you could maybe try cooking them at 160/320 if you feel your oven may run a little hot – causing the cookies to brown a little more quickly.
These are delicious! For anyone curious, I subbed in gluten free flour and they still came out perfect!
Oh that is so good to know! Thanks Megan!
Yes, thanks! Can’t wait to bake
These are the best cookies I’ve ever had at home!
★★★★★
Wow! Thanks so much Josh!
Hi! If I’m not adding any nuts, how much of extra chocolate would I need? Also do you recommend using a hand mixer or a stand mixer and with which attachment? TIA!
Hi Rachel! Add an extra 1/3 to 1/2 cup of chocolate. And either a stand or hand mixer with a paddle attachment of sorts will be fine! I actually just did a live demo of making these cookies on my insta stories if you want to check it out – lots of tips on there! https://www.instagram.com/sweetestmenu/
Do I need to chop the butter up at all? Or will the mixer work it if it’s in one block?
Hi Jodi, yes just roughly chop it! Sorry, I’ll add that to the recipe!
These cookies look amazing!!!! So rich and chocolatey!
★★★★★
Thanks Natalie!