Levain Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies are world-famous, and this copycat recipe allows you to make them right at home for a fraction of the price! Loaded with chocolate and walnuts, these cookies aren’t overly sweet and weigh 6 ounces each!

These NYC Levain Cookies have had a strong cult following since they were developed in 1995. In this post, we’ll dive into why we think that is and why we think this copycat recipe is a solid stand-in when you can’t make it to the bakery in person and don’t want to pay to have them shipped.

These cookies generally cost $29 for four cookies. This recipe makes 12 cookies for a fraction of the cost. The best part is that they really aren’t even that hard to make!

Ingredients in Levain Cookies

We did a lot of research for this cookie recipe, and the end result is a dough that is relatively simple to make with pantry staple ingredients, butter, and eggs. The recipe is adapted from Joshua Weissman‘s Chocolate Chip Cookies because we felt that he was on to something with the extra egg yolks in getting that gooey center.

Cake Flour + All-Purpose Flour – This gives the cookies their signature build while adding height and tenderness.

Cornstarch – An ingredient we use in many of our cookie recipes because it helps create a soft and chewy cookie.

Cold Butter – That’s right, you don’t have to remember to pull your butter out of the refrigerator in time to make these; you’ll simply cut it up and cream it with the sugars while it’s cold. Just make sure you cream for 4 minutes and scrape the sides of the bowl down every minute or so. The cold butter is going to help give these cookies their height and allow us to chill the dough for a shorter period of time.

Toasted Sugar (optional)- This is a process, so I won’t fault you for skipping it and using granulated sugar instead. When you toast sugar, it develops a unique caramelized flavor that adds beautifully to these cookies. The process also reduces the sweetness of the sugar, so if you prefer a sweeter cookie or don’t have a lot of time, use granulated. But if you have a few hours one day, toast up a whole bag of sugar and then store it away to use in cookies like these for a unique flavor profile.

Eggs – This recipe does use two whole eggs and three additional egg yolks. It seems like a lot, but it’s the key to the different textures and dimensions within these cookies!

Vanilla – Rumor has it that the bakery doesn’t actually include vanilla extract in their cookies, but I couldn’t find anything that supported this. Maybe I’m not digging deep enough, but honestly, vanilla belongs in chocolate chip cookies, so we’re adding it! If you want to go real extra, use vanilla bean paste!

Walnuts – I highly recommend toasting the walnuts before using them in the cookies. This gives them a much better flavor, and the cookies taste better overall than if you were to use walnuts right out of the bag. Pecans are a great alternative to walnuts too!

Chocolate – We like to use a mix of chocolates to add complexity. Try using a blend of chopped semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate and some dark chocolate chocolate chips. You can use all chocolate chips or all chopped chocolate if desired.

How To Make Copycat Levain Bakery Cookies

1. Toast the walnuts by spreading them out onto a rimmed baking sheet and then transferring them to the oven. Stir them halfway through and then remove them from the oven to allow them to cool.
2. Whisk together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, salt, cornstarch, and baking soda in a medium bowl.
3. Cream the cold butter with light brown sugar and toasted or granulated sugar. Mix until smooth.
4. Add in the eggs, one at a time followed by the egg yolks.
5. Mix in the dry ingredients from earlier until smooth.
6. Fold in the cooled chopped walnuts, chopped chocolate, and chocolate chips until just combined.
7. Portion out the cookie dough and transfer them to parchment-lined baking sheets, and then chill in the fridge.
8. Bake the cookies until golden brown.

Levain Bakery Cookie Recipe Helpful Baking Tools

Baking Sheets – We found that for the best results, the cookie sheets should be chilled for 15 minutes with the dough. So if you portion out four cookies on a baking sheet and chill for 15 minutes, then pop them in the oven, you can prep the other cookies while the first batch chills, and then they should be ready to go in the fridge when the first batch goes in the oven then they go in the oven when the first batch comes out. This recipe makes 12 cookies, so you’re looking at three batches/cookie sheets in total.

Kitchen Scale – To make sure the cookies are uniform in size, it’s best to use a kitchen scale. This is also the best way to ensure that your ingredient measurements are correct by using grams instead of cup measurements. This is our favorite kitchen scale (affiliate link).

Large Cookie Scoop – These cookies are 6 ounces each, and while a kitchen scale is necessary to make sure your weighted measurement is correct, the dough is fairly soft, and using a cookie scoop will help portion it out and shape it. We used our Vollrath No.8 Scoop (affiliate link) and made sure it was a heaping scoopful instead of leveling it off. Most scoops hit the 6-ounce mark, but we took away or added a little cookie dough if needed.

Stand Mixer – I highly recommend using a stand mixer for this chocolate chip walnut cookie recipe instead of mixing by hand or with a hand mixer. Since this recipe uses cold butter, it is much more difficult to cream properly, so a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (affiliate link) is the best way to get the job done.

How to store Levain Bakery Cookies

Once baked and cooled, these cookies can be stored in an air-tight container for up to four days.

How To Freeze Cookies

How To Freeze Dough: Portion the dough out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet (the balls can be close together) and flash freeze for 1 hour. Transfer to a freezer bag and remove any excess air and freeze for up to 3 months. Remove from the bag before thawing in the fridge, so the dough doesn’t stick to the bag. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes once thawed.

How To Freeze Baked Cookies: Let the cookies cool completely after baking, then flash freeze for 30 minutes on a baking sheet to make sure the exterior bits of chocolate is firm and reduce the risk of making a mess. Transfer the cookies to a freezer bag and remove as much excess air as possible before freezing for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature a nuke in the microwave for 15 seconds before enjoying.

More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:

• Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies – Robust coffee flavor, deliciously colliding with chocolate!
• Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies – A recipe we tested until it reached absolute perfection!
• Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies – Sweet, chewy cookies with a deep, nutty flavor!
• Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies – Filled with THREE kinds of chocolate chips!
• Chocolate Chip Sheet Pan Cookies – The perfect recipe for delivering dessert to a crowd!