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. You can also find this recipe in my cookbook, Something Sweet, on page 38.
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 ❤️
Why you will love this recipe
- Thick and chunky: These cookies are big and fat and won’t spread too much in the oven.
- Chewy texture: You can expect a chewy cookie with crispy edges.
- So many mix-in’s: They’re filled with good things, like loads of chocolate and chopped walnuts.
- No chilling: You don’t need to chill the dough so they could be on your table in less than an hour.
Watch how to make them
I followed the simple recipe (novice baker), and the results were identical to LEVAIN when I was in NY! Delicious and cannot wait to make more. THANK YOU FOR SHARING!
– SarahJump to:
Recipe testing
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)
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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!
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
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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*
- Sea salt flakes
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 1/4 cup or 80 grams 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. Sprinkle sea salt flakes on top.
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.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1 cookie Calories: 340 Sugar: 25.3 g Sodium: 127.7 mg Fat: 16.7 g Carbohydrates: 43.4 g Protein: 4.8 g Cholesterol: 40.4 mg
Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.
Deb says
I made these , difficult to mix/ beat cold butter and sugar , they were a bit dry I think this is because the amount of flour seems quite high compared to other cookie recipes on your blog
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Deb, you do need to use some extra elbow grease to beat the cold butter, but it doesn’t take long for it to soften. These cookies do have a little extra flour which helps to stop them from spreading. If they were dry, I’d make sure you didn’t overmeasure the flour and try baking them for a minute or two less next time.
Nargess says
These look unbelievable! If I can finally bake fat cookies like this, I’d make me so happy ❤️
Could you please tell me how many grams is 2 tablespoons of cookie dough? I measure everything with a scale and 2 tablespoons could be so different to different people.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, I don’t have the gram measurement for the dough I’m sorry, but you can really make these cookies as big or small as you like! You’ll know they are ready when they are golden brown on top.
Anita Kadyk says
Yummy
Jenny says
Hello Jessica
Made this cookie couple of hours back .. it’s amazing think chewy yummy my son Danny absolutely loved it . Thank you
I have been making Cookies since few years never got this kind of result
Thank you 😊
Jessica Holmes says
So happy to hear that Jenny! Thank you for the lovely feedback!
Katie says
These were delicious! I added a little bit of espresso powder to compliment the chocolate and opted to use the extra tablespoon of flour rather than cornstarch. Thank you for the recipe!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Glad you loved them Katie!
Aparajita says
Hi,
I just made them. And they turned out to be delicious. Thank you so much.
I have only one problem that some of them were crunchy but some of them were not so crunchy, a little soft (very little). What is the correct texture? How are they actually should be?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Aparajita, I’m so glad you them! It depends how long you cook them for and your oven, but they will likely have crispy edges and be soft in the middle.
Aparajita says
Okay. Thank you
Diana Eva Kendrick says
What do I do?
I can’t get past
eating the dough…
I chopped uP a thick dark chocolate bar full of whole hazelnuts for cookies)
Jessica Holmes says
That sounds amazing Diana! And I’m familiar with that problem haha!
Cherry T. says
How long do I have to chill the cookie dough?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Cherry, you don’t need to chill the cookie dough for this recipe. However, as per the recipe notes, I do recommend baking a tester cookie to see if is as thick as you would like. If not, you can chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes and try again.
SHAY MATHEW says
Is it safe to double or even tripple this recipe?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Shay, you could double the recipe but keep in mind that the more dough you have, the more likely you are to over mix it. This could make the butter warmer causing the cookies to spread more. Butyou could combat this by chilling the dough – it’s really up to you.
Ginny says
Hi Jess:
Forgot to fill out all the spaces.
Ginny
Ginny says
Hi Jess:
Mde these cookies just now. Came out pretty good. I did cut down on sugar by 1/4.
I had a hard time make the dough. Butter was so cold that it didn’t make a dough, but pebbly or maybe the less sugar???
Thanks for all your recipes. I am making them one by one.
Stay safe,
Ginny
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Ginny! Glad you enjoyed them. The cold butter will make a slighter more firm dough but it will come together as you keep mixing. I actually have a step by step guide saved on my Instagram Highlights you might find useful. Excited to see what you bake next!
Suzie says
This looks so yummy! If I wanted to make it double choc chip cookies and add in cocoa powder, how much should I add? Should I sub out some of the flour?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Suzie, try my Double Chocolate Cookie recipe instead.
Reya S says
hi, looks so good, I need to replace the egg though, what would you recommend?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Reya, I haven’t tested the recipe without eggs I’m sorry.
mubiii says
Hello, love loveeee your recipe, could I use something instead of vanilla extract? Thank you.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi! There’s not really a substitute but you can leave it out.
Geriane says
Can I use all purpose flour instead of plain flour?
Jessica Holmes says
Yes! It’s the same, just different names in different countries.
Libby says
Best cookies ever!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! Thanks Libby!