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
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.
Let’s Bake
Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
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 or all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornflour or cornstarch*
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt, optional
- 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 (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. 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, baking soda and salt, if using, 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
*Cornflour: If you don’t have any cornflour (or cornstarch), add an extra tablespoon of flour.
*Nuts: 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.
Shaping the dough: Instead of rolling the cookie dough smooth with your hands, leave it rough and pieced together for a more rustic look as pictured below.
Thickness: 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.
Nix says
How long will the cookies last?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, they don’t last longer than a day in my house! You can store them in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Lisa says
Hi!
Do you think these would work with gluten free flour?
Thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Lisa, I haven’t tried myself. But if you had a gluten free flour designed to be swapped 1:1 it could be worth trying!
Lisa says
Omg beat recipe ever! Thank you for posting! My go to now! I used Hershey’s chocolate and just chopped it up since that’s what I had on hand.
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Love that Lisa!
Ali says
This is my new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. It’s what I’ve been looking for my entire life. I bake at 375 to compensate for my oven and get the perfect crunchy outside and gooey middle.
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So happy to hear that Ali!
Eve says
These were so good ! Thank you for sharing the recipie!!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed them Eve!
Aamina says
Hi can i freeze the cookie dough for later use
Jessica Holmes says
Yes absolutely!
Sally says
hi, i just tried making these and they come out cakey :/ not sure what went wrong! Can you please help to which why this happened ? Thank you x
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Sally, most likely you added too much flour. Make sure you measure your flour using a kitchen scale for best results. I also have step-by-step photos on how to make these cookies on my Instagram Highlights if that’s helpful.
Indri says
Hi, i’m new to baking, may i know what kind of brown sugar you use? did you use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar? also kind of flour that you use for this recipe, thank you.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Indri, you can use either light or brown sugar – it’s up to you! Here in Australia, we only have one main type of brown sugar but it’s probably most similar to light brown. And the recipe calls for plain or all purpose flour. Hope that helps!
Jackie says
Thank you so much for this great recipe. It won me some major points with my in-laws!
Jessica Holmes says
Yes! Love that Jackie!
Kathryn Berman says
Not impressed. The cookies were thick but cakey and too sweet, like eating a dense muffin top. Using the cold butter also made it difficult to not overheat the batter, as the instructions warn against, but then the butter doesn’t distribute evenly.
I always use light and dark sugar in my cookies, but these just had too much sugar and the sweetness overpowered the chocolate flavor. Don’t get me wrong, my family happily ate them, but they prefer my recipe.
Jessica Holmes says
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy them Kathryn. If they were cakey, you may have added too much flour.
Cha says
This is perfect! I made this for my boyfriend, and he loved it!
Jessica Holmes says
So happy to hear that!
Ching Ching Lim says
Hi Jess, I tried it last week and it was awesome! I love it! Thank you for this simple and easy to do recipe. Can I use bread flour instead of the plain flour since I ran out of the plain flour? Thanks
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you like them! I haven’t tried them with bread flour myself. Since it has a higher gluten content it might change the texture.
Brenda says
Can you use bittersweet chocolate with semi sweet?
Jessica Holmes says
Yes absolutely!
Anastasia says
Delicious! I tested this out and it was pretty good, think of making it again. I’ll propably double the proportions next time to have more left. Thanks for this amazing recipe! love it
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them Anastasia!
Patty G says
Thanks for this recipe! I made them yesterday and there’s just 1 cookie left! I reduced sugar to 110grams and still think they are super sweet. If I added less sugar do you think it would change the consistency?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Patty, so glad you enjoyed them! Yes I probably wouldn’t go much less than that – but it’s all personal preference!
Sandy says
We LOVE this cookie recipe. I’m always looking for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe and this by far is the easiest, and best I have tried so far! It is even better after a day, it becomes more chewy but it’s such a challenge not to finish it upon baking so we really need to double or triple the recipe. Thank you so much!
Jessica Holmes says
Aw love hearing that Sandy! So glad you love them as much as I do!