Levain Cookie Recipe is a copycat of the famous bakery-style cookies. Thick, massive, and stuffed with chocolate chips and walnuts, they’re famous for good reason!
Author’s Notes
The Night I Fell for The Famous Levain Cookie Recipe 🍪
I first went to a Levain Bakery in Chicago a few years ago on a work trip with friends. We ordered a bunch of different cookie flavors, grabbed some Jeni’s ice cream from a nearby shop, and went back to the hotel to eat until our stomachs hurt.
It was one of the best nights, and I was instantly obsessed with those cookies.
A few months later, I surprised my husband with a trip to Chicago so I could take him to all the spots I’d loved before. First on the list was Levain Bakery. We grabbed all my favorites again, plus a few new ones to try. Their classic chocolate chip walnut cookie was a must, and it quickly became my husband’s favorite.
He told me I needed to recreate the chocolate chip walnut Levain Cookie Recipe when we got home, and after a lot of testing, I finally perfected the copycat. These cookies are huge, thick, chewy, and downright delicious. Best of all, they’re not complicated or tricky to make.
Levain Cookie Recipe Ingredients
| Ingredients | Tip |
|---|---|
| Butter | Let the melted butter cool fully before mixing so the cookies stay thick. |
| Brown sugar | Soft, fresh brown sugar makes a big difference in cookie texture. If it’s clumpy, it can affect how the cookies turn out. |
| Cake flour & all-purpose flour | The mix of these two flours gives the cookies their bakery-style texture. Do not swap flours or use DIY cake flour. It will not work the same. Use leftover cake flour in my all-time favorite chocolate cookies! |
| Baking soda, baking powder & salt | Using both leaveners gives lift while keeping the dense bakery texture in this Levain Cookie Recipe. Salt balances everything out. |
| Chocolate chips & walnuts | Use good-quality chocolate chips and coarsely chopped walnuts so you get some in every bite. Toast the walnuts first for better flavor and texture. |
How To Make Levain Cookie Recipe
- Melt butter: Melt, then cool completely so it is no longer warm.
- Mix wet ingredients: Stir butter with sugar, then mix in egg and vanilla until smooth.
- Add dry ingredients: Stir in leaveners, salt, and flours just until combined.
- Fold in mix-ins: Gently mix in chocolate chips and walnuts.
- Portion dough: Form large dough balls using a measuring cup or scale.
- Chill dough: Cover and chill 45 minutes to 24 hours for the best texture.
- Bake cookies: Bake on a lined sheet pan until edges are lightly browned and centers look set.
Storage
Freeze the Dough, Not the Baked Cookies
Baked cookies can dry out, but freezing the dough keeps this Levain Cookie Recipe thick and chewy.
Freeze the shaped dough balls until solid, then store in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen, adding a few extra minutes until the edges are lightly browned and the centers are soft.
More Amazing Cookie Recipes:
Levain Cookie Recipe
Video
Equipment
- Large sheet pan plus a silicone liner
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, but not hot
- 1 cup light brown sugar tightly packed (fresh/soft sugar)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup cake flour see note 1
- 2/3 cup chocolate chips I like milk chocolate best, Levain uses a mix of semi-sweet & dark
- 1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts see note 2
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Let it cool for about 5 minutes. Hot butter will melt the sugar and cause greasy cookies. Once cooled to room temperature, whisk or use an electric hand mixer to mix in the brown sugar until fully combined. Add the egg and vanilla and whisk until smooth and creamy.
- Add the baking soda, baking powder, and salt and whisk until smooth. Add the properly measured cake flour and all-purpose flour, mixing just until combined. The dough will be thick, but should not be dry. Do not overmix. Gently fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
- Use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to divide the dough evenly to form 5 large dough balls. Place on a parchment paper lined pan in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a sheet pan with a silicone baking mat and do not use foil. I have found parchment is too thin and can cause the bottoms to brown too quickly. Place 3 dough balls on the pan at a time, spacing them well apart. Bake for 13-20 minutes, erring on the side of underbaking for soft, chewy cookies. The cookies will continue to set as they cool. Visual cues: The tops should look set, not wet or gooey.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and work quickly to gently press the edges of each cookie inward using the back of a metal spatula. If desired, press a few extra chocolate chips or walnuts onto the tops. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 10 full minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack with a metal spatula. If you like a salty-sweet finish, sprinkle a few flakes of salt on top while the chocolate is still soft.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
