Levain Bakery’s best chocolate chip cookies
I found the perfect copycat recipe via Modern Honey for Levain's chocolate chip chunky style cookies, that are honestly so good, it was almost as if I had just got them from there.
Levain Bakery -- NYC's most famous cookies, as you can tell -- started as a retail baker that was opened in 1995, located in the Upper West Side. It was all anyone could keep telling my mum and I, when we first moved here in 2011. The story behind their chunkiest cookies is that they were fueled by their competitive swimming and triathlon competitions that they created an ultimate chocolate chip walnut cookie to give them energy whilst training. That cookie is what I have re-created and it tastes damn delicious and pretty much like the real thing. I don't often have this delectable treat; mostly because of the long wait lines, and the fact that it is quite a rich cookie...after all, they did want energy fueled cookies to help with training. That said, when I do have one, it is a special treat and something I savor with every bite. It can usually last me a day to get through.
Needless to say, I had to try this copycat recipe I found from Modern Honey, to see if it matched the test. Well...it pretty much did. I would give this a 95% match rating. I was between two recipes at the time; this one and another I came across on Delish. I feel both would probably be very similar, but what I didn't quite feel sold on with Delish's was that you freeze the cookie dough before baking, and they had a little more all purpose flour in their version. I guess I'd need to give theirs a try next, in order to do a fair comparison, so that will be next on the docket soon enough!
I tweaked a couple of things in my take of Modern Honey's recipe. I felt some things weren't necessary, and to be honest, it happened by mistake. I didn't realize I had missed two notes (yep, it happens, even to the best of us), and it turned out for the better. The first being the sugar content. You do not need as much as you think, and in fact I was worried when I realized, because I opted for dark chocolate chips only, but the recipe doesn't state which, so if someone was to add semi sweet or sweet then boy oh boy, these would be hella sweet. As a sidetone for you all, I always go with dark chocolate (chips, chunks or bars) for baking, because you add sugar to most, if not all, recipes. It can be overkill, and honestly, a little healthier where possible, is better. With that said, I didn't add any granulated sugar, where the recipe actually calls for 1/2 a cup. Instead I stuck with the 1 cup of brown sugar only. Turned out perfectly sweet enough, even with the dark chocolate chips. The second mistake that turned out for the best is the walnut quantity. The recipe calls for 2 cups roughly chopped, but I felt 1 cup went a long way, and honestly I don't know how I would have mixed it all together with 2 cups. I think if you're a fan of walnuts in baking, then add what makes you feel comfortable, but for me, 1 cup felt a lot, and we love walnuts. Also the mixing starts to get tougher once you chuck in the chips and walnuts, so I'm still trying to wrap my head around how it would have all meshed together without a loose mass of walnuts and chips at the bottom of the bowl.
Cake flour is an important ingredient in this recipe. It isn't a common household flour, because you can do most with all purpose flour, which it's easier; however, cakes and delicate crumbly cookies often call for cake flour, due to its lower protein content, and helps lighten your cake crumb, making it super soft and delicate. If you're thinking those super soft, airy, crumbly vanilla sheet pan cakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles, you're on the right path. Now, you don't necessarily need it for this, because if you don't have, you can substitute with more all purpose flour, but you will certainly see a difference in the lightness, cake-like ness, which is what this cookie is all about. I made the leap, and invested in some cake flour, to get these right, and I'm glad I did.
Another ingredient that is an easy substitute, is corn starch. I didn't have any, instead using baking powder, which is a suitable substitute in this case. That was the one note I took from Delish's recipe when comparing the two, and figured if they used it, I could. I won't know the true true difference, until I make these with corn starch in the future, but if mine taste near damn good to Levain's, then I think either or works well. What is key to the whole process is the chunkiness. You want to make sure you envelope them into big enough balls, do not be scared of the size you are mounding. I know it can seem off putting, like you're about to get it wrong or go way too big, but that's the whole point! The recipe said that you would be able to fit only 4 on a large baking sheet, but I managed to fit 6 balls on a bakers half sheet (18x13").
Now, you're baking these at high heat. So it goes fast. The oven temperature is 410F, and they're in there for approx 9-11mins. Again, like I always state, make sure to watch the development of the baking time, making sure that you don't need more or less than 9-10mins, because all ovens are different and the temperature only acts as a thermostat so it is never going to be accurate. You want to achieve a golden top, with nice brown edges, but do not go too far. You don't want them to crisp too much. When removing from the oven, do not be tempted to try one immediately. We know all we want to do when something is fresh, is to devour it. But these are the one rule I would say definitely do not! You will end up having a cookie completely crumbled in your hand, before it even reached your mouth. Due to the cake flour, the baking soda and powder (or corn starch), and size of these cookies, the center is still settling when you take them out. The whole point to keeping the inside moist and soft is that high heat quick baking approach, so it needs to cool for at least 15mins. Be generous with the cooling time.
These homemade cookies take me back to Spring/Summer memories living here in NYC on the Upper West Side, home to Levain, and something that isn't that far from me, yet there's a simple pleasure in recreating something you like and enjoy in your own kitchen, as a novice baker. It's a challenge to make something taste like an establishment's, but it is one thing following a copycat recipe to the actual version. Levain definitely has a strict no recipes known or published, so there's no real way of knowing whether the copycat versions are the true thing, but one thing is known, vanilla essence is never used at Levain, and all bakers seem to know that fact! So the next time you want a little taste of Levain, otherwise known as Manhattan's very own famous cookies, then give these a try and enjoy investing in some cake flour.
Your future sheet pan cakes will thank you later!