These Copycat Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies are extra large, extra thick cookies with a soft, gooey inside and loaded with chocolate chips and walnuts. The supersized cookie takes a chocolate chip cookie to a whole new level of indulgence! They are based on Levain Bakery’s signature chocolate chip walnut cookie that has been around for over 25 years! I adapted this recipe from Modern Honey with a comparison to the Levain bakery’s cookie and couldn’t be happier with the results!
Copycat Levain Cookies Ingredients & Smart Substitutions
- Butter: Using cold, unsalted butter helps the cookies get nice and chunky without flattening out too much. If you are looking to get the same texture, richness, and flavor as the famous bakery’s cookies, make sure the butter is cold. If using salted butter, you may want to lessen the amount of salt in the recipe.
- Sugar: Both light brown sugar and granulated sugar have a purpose in these cookies. The brown sugar adds moisture, a caramel-like flavor, and a chewy texture. The granulated sugar adds sweetness and gives the outside a lovely crispiness.
- Flour: Get out some cake flour and all-purpose flour for the cookies. Cake flour is lower in protein than all-purpose flour, so it helps give the cookies a little bit of a cake-like texture. The all-purpose flour gives the cookies a little structure. They work perfectly together in these cookies! However, if you don’t have cake flour, you can make your own. Or, use 3 cups of all-purpose flour. The cookies may have a denser texture, but will still be good!
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch helps the large cookies stay together, but still have a soft, chewy texture.
- Chocolate Chips: It’s hard to have chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips! I added semi-sweet chocolate chips. But, you could try other candy chips like milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate chips, butterscotch, or your favorite. A combination of a couple would be delicious, too!
- Nuts: Since this cookie is based off of a chocolate chip walnut cookie, I stuck with chopped walnuts. However, other nuts would be good, too, like almonds, pecans, or your favorite. If you don’t want to add nuts, just leave them out and enjoy your massive chocolate chip cookies!
The Secret To Thick & Chewy Cookies: Chilling The Dough!
I encourage you to NOT skip the step of chilling the cookie dough. Chilling the dough helps make cookies thicker and chewier. In addition, it stops the cookies from spreading too much in the oven, so they stay nice and puffy. Plus, chilling the dough makes the flavors taste better and the dough easier to handle. Overall, it helps you bake the best cookies!
How To Tell When Copycat Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies Are Perfectly Baked
Since these cookies are so thick (not complaining, though), it’s hard to check them for doneness just by the looks of them. Your best bet is to use an internal thermometer. When inserted into the cookies, the temperature should read anywhere from 175°F (for a fudgier cookie) to 200°F. The edges should be set. Keep this in mind when you make more thick and chewy cookies like my Thick and Chewy Caramel Coconut Cookies and Thick and Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.
How To Store Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Once cooled and set, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They will last up to 2-3 days. If you keep the cookies in the refrigerator, they can last up to a week.
Freezing Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
You can freeze these chocolate chip walnut cookies before they are baked or after. Here is how:
- To freeze after being baked, let the cookies cool completely. Then, store them in a freezer-safe container, making sure to label and date the container. Let them thaw at room temperature when ready to enjoy.
- To freeze the cookie dough, scoop the dough onto a lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for about an hour, or until frozen. Once frozen, store the cookie dough in a freezer-safe container for up to three months, labeling and dating the container. When ready to bake, simply bake from frozen, adding a couple of minutes to the baking time.
For more tips, check out my Guide to Freezing, Baking, and Storing Cookies.
Copycat Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks / 227 g) unsalted butter, cold, cubed
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (170 g) cake flour
- 1 ½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups (364 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups (234 g) walnuts, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add cold butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Mix on medium speed until light and creamy (about 3-4 minutes).
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, scraping the side of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined.
- Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Divide the dough into 9 equal portions (about 6 ounces each). Shape each portion into a rough ball, but do not flatten them. Place the dough balls onto the lined baking sheet and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes, up to 24 hours.
- When ready, preheat oven to 400°F and line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place the chilled cookie dough balls on the baking sheets, spacing each about 3 inches apart (about 4 per sheet).
- Bake for 10-11 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown around the edges, but the middle is still slightly underbaked.
- Allow baked cookies to rest for 10-15 minutes before enjoying.
Video
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These are great! The only reason I didn’t give e5 stars is because when you print the recipes it asks you how many cookies do you want to make and it will modify the recipe. I am a baker so I bake using weights not by cups and i was halfway through baking when I realized that when you increase the recipe it does not change the weight of sugar, flour, etc. I’m glad I caught it before I made some really bad cookies lol
Can’t wait to try these! Any changes to the time and temp for convection oven? I typically do 25 degrees lower and same time.
I made these cookies and they are awesome! I am making them again today for a party. Thanks for posting this recipe!
My input is it really needs 2 teaspoons of good pure vanilla as the dough is rather flat tasting without. The ingredients will make or break this recipe. I used Plugra butter, unsalted. Organic brown and cane sugar. King Arthur cake and AP flour. Big dark chocolate chips (Aldi makes really good dark cc’s, they were out of the Belgium dark chocolate chunks I usually use). I used a combo of mixed nuts, macadamias, almonds, cashews pistachios, pecans, all coarsely chopped in the food processor. I made 16 round dough balls. Baked 400 F, convection for 12 minutes (175 degrees internal temp). Really good cookies. Thank you Amanda.
Didn’t work for me
Can you provide more information? This is a heavily tested recipe, and should work perfectly in your home. So I’d love to know why “didn’t work for me”. Thanks!
These are very soft and moist cookies. I was surprised to see no vanilla was added to these. That’s the only thing these are missing otherwise they’re the perfect consistency.
Delicious – added 2 tsp vanilla. Was a bit hard to get them done – set and done on edges but still raw in middle. Put in air fryer on reheat at 300 defrees for several minutes and perfect then. I did 9 jumbo cookes as recipe calls for, but may make them smaller in the future so they get done.
These are nowhere near bakery style cookies. I’m far from an amateur baker and wanted to try something a little different from my go to cookie recipe. I followed this recipe to the letter and at 13 mins at 400 degrees (the cookies were just starting to brown) I pulled them and let them rest for the better part of an hr. The inside is raw and they still flatten out like a regular cookie. Thankfully I only baked two because the others I baked at 350 and temped them to 175 degrees when they were done. Not sure how the author’s pic looks so different than how these turn out. It’s a good recipe for regular style cookies but def not bakery style!
Hi there! I really appreciate you taking the time to try the recipe and leave feedback.
That said, based on what you shared, it sounds like something definitely went wrong in the process. These cookies were specifically developed to mimic the thick, gooey, golden-outside-soft-inside texture that Levain Bakery is known for—and I’ve made them (and heard from hundreds who have made them) with great results when the directions are followed closely.
Just a couple of things to note:
These cookies are intentionally pulled before fully baking through—the residual heat finishes the centers as they rest. That soft, slightly underbaked center is the bakery signature.
If your cookies flattened, it may have been due to the butter being too soft or warm, or the dough not being chilled long enough—both will impact structure.
Baking at 350°F will absolutely change the outcome, and not for the better. The stated baking temperature is 400°F, and that is what helps create that golden exterior while keeping the inside soft.
If you’re getting “regular cookie” results, I promise it’s not the recipe’s fault—it’s likely due to the fact that you changed the recipe so dramatically. I’d love for you to give them another shot!
The butter was cold and cubed right from the fridge. I halved the recipe (which made 5x 5.5 oz dough balls) and baked the first 3 at 400 degrees. At 11 mins they were not even brown which is why I did them for an additional 2 minutes. I do not have an issie with the remaining 2 that i baked at 350 degrees and cooked to 175 degrees. While they were not “bakery style” they came out fine. I also chilled the dough for about 90 mins, about 30 mins of that time was in the freezer. Furthermore, there was an extensive baking test that included that recipe and while the results produced a good taste it did not produce a thick “bakery style” cookie compared to the others.
Hi again! Thanks for the follow-up. I totally understand how results can vary—every kitchen, oven, and even ingredient brand can make a difference in the final bake.
That said, this recipe has been meticulously tested and refined, not just by me, but by thousands of bakers who’ve had success replicating that signature thick, gooey, bakery-style cookie. It’s a recipe I stand behind 100%. When you make changes (as you have stated you made several in your comments) I cannot guarantee success.
Of course, no single method will be perfect for everyone—and if 350°F gave you results you were happier with, awesome!
Baking is part science and part preference, and I’m all for finding what works best in your own kitchen.
Wishing you all the best on your cookie adventures!