Name: Levain Cookie
Yield: 5

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 satisfying. Best of all, they’re not complicated or tricky to make.

All the ingredients in this recipe prepped out for straightforward assembly including cake flour, flour, walnuts, vanilla, egg, brown sugar, chocolate chips, butter, baking agents, and chocolate chips.

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.

The wet and dry ingredients in this levain cookie recipe being mixed together.

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: mix 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.