These Levain Bakery <Inspired> Chocolate Chip Cookies are a great way to get world class bakery taste from the comfort of your own home – and we are all doing that a bit more lately. I hope they bring you some joy!
Recipe Levain Bakery Cookies (Inspired * Copycat)
When it comes to copycat recipes, there are always slight variations of each recipe depending on who is trying to make it. After all, our taste buds are different and we detect different flavors in each recipe.
But I feel really good that this recipe comes close and does a good job duplicating the flavors of the original.
And with us all stuck and home and not able to travel, this recipe is a way to enjoy those famous New York City chocolate chip cookies, homemade, right from your own kitchen- allowing you to make substitutions and variations to your own liking.
Now the original cookies have soft, almost raw dough like centers to their major size. The bakery has figured out how to allow the cookies to bake AND be huge at the same time.
However, in your own home, you may not want such a large cookie so this is my smaller, puffy inspired recipe that you can pair perfectly with a glass of milk and a good movie.
Please note that if you need just the recipe and no tips, you can scroll to the bottom of the post for an easy to follow recipe card that condenses the measurements and instructions.
- 1-1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1-1/2 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
OPTIONAL
: Walnuts to taste (about a 1/2 a cup chopped is great). I know that they are usually in a recipe like this but not everyone enjoys nuts in their cookies, so I’ll leave this up to you.
RELATED RECIPES: Haystack Cookies, Ritz Cracker Cookies, Air Fryer Stuffed Beignets, Peanut Butter Fudge, Oreo Truffles, Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball, No Fail Chocolate Fudge
Cubing the Butter
If you throw in 2 sticks of butter right with your sugars, you know that its complicated to mix. I cannot tell you how many times that I end up jabbing sticks of butter with my mixers.
Cutting down the butter into cubes allows it to much more easily mix with the sugar quicker.
Making cookies can be a challenge as the oven is warming and the ingredients are getting warm at the same time while you prep, so any time you can make mixing easier and quicker, its a good thing.
Just unwrap your butter, slice, and cube.
How long do you Bake Cookies?
I bake mine for 9 minutes.
Remember that even if a cookie doesn’t seem done, it continues baking out of the heat so don’t get tempted to leaving them in too long or you may be left with a hard cookie once cooled.
Substituting Cake Flour for other Flours
Cake flour is a super fine grain flour and is super light and super soft.
I do not recommend substituting cake flour in this recipe if you want the same results. You can find it right in the flour aisle and its usually in a box.
How to make (Inspired) Levain Bakery Cookies
Preheat oven to 410 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Set aside.
Dry Ingredients
Add both kinds flours, salt, and cornstarch to a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
Wet Ingredients
Add butter and sugars to a mixing bowl and beat until butter is mixed in.
Add egg, one at a time, beating well after each egg.
Combine Ingredients
Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
Dough may be stiff initially, just mix until all incorporated.
Personally I find that a hand mixer works best and then finish up with a spatula for any extra flour on the sides of the bowl.
If your dough is sticky, it could be that its the humidity in your home (I live in the South, I get that a lot here). Once you add the chocolate chips it gets easier to work with.
If you feel like its too sticky, you can pop in the fridge a few minutes to get a bit colder. Cold dough also helps cookies not spread as much on the sheet, so its a great tip for all cookie recipes.
Fold chocolate chips into dough and if wanted, walnuts.
Sizing Cookies
The real Levain Bakery Cookies are MASSIVE- 6 oz. And the large size creates a more doughy center.
You can definitely make them that way by weighing them on a scale and baking for about 12 minutes, then pulling out and letting cool completely. Personally, I do not want a 6 oz cookie or fight with the dough, so I scaled mine down.
To get 24 cookies, as shown here, use a 2 tablespoon scoop to portion cookies onto prepared baking sheet.
These kinds of cookies do not spread out like thin and chewy cookies do.
Bake on 410 for 9 minutes.
Let cool for about 2 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a cookie rack to cool.
Let me know if you made these cookies and what you think!
~Trisha
Levain Bakery Inspired Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1-1/2 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 cup cold butter cut into cubes
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
- OPTIONAL: Walnuts to taste about a 1/2 a cup chopped is great
Instructions
- How to make Copycat Levain Bakery Cookies
- Preheat oven to 410 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Set aside.
- Dry Ingredients
- Add all flour, salt, and cornstarch to a small bowl and mix well.
- Set bowl aside.
- Wet Ingredients
- Add cubed butter and both kinds of sugars to a mixing bowl and beat until butter is mixed in.
- Add egg, one at a time, beating well after each egg.
- Combine Ingredients
- Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
- Dough may be stiff initially, just mix until all incorporated- A hand mixer works best and then finish up with a spatula.
- Fold in chocolate chips ( a spatula works fine) and if wanted, walnut pieces.
- Cookie Sizes
- For 24 cookies, use a 2 tablespoon portion to scoop cookies onto prepared baking sheet.
- Baking
- Bake on 410 for 9 minutes. Let cool for about 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cookie rack to cool.
- If you want to make larger cookies, you can measure out larger scoops and may need to adjust the timing up to 2-3 minutes. Remember that these cookies continue baking once you pull them out, so do not overcook in the oven. The original bakery has a gooey, dough like center and crisp outside due to the size being a 6 oz cookie.
Video
Notes
Substituting Cake Flour for other Flours
I do not recommend substituting cake flour in this recipe if you want the same results.Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Sharing of this recipe is encouraged and appreciated. Copying of full recipe to any social media is prohibited.
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