Levain Bakery Cookies Recipe
Bake Levainstyle cookies at home This guide covers the recipe tech for bakerystyle results Learn the secrets to ultimate cookie perfection now
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 29 minutes
- Yield: 6 large cookies
- Category: Cookie
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
- 225g unsalted butter, very cold and cubed
- 200g granulated sugar
- 275g light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs, cold
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 360g plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 225g dark chocolate chunks (or chips)
- 115g walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan/ Gas Mark 4). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the cold, cubed butter with the granulated and brown sugars. Using an electric mixer (or some serious elbow grease!), beat until the mixture is combined and slightly crumbly. It won’t be smooth and creamy, and that’s absolutely fine. The cold butter is what gives these cookies their magic.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla extract. The mixture will start to come together more.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until just combined. Be careful not to overmix. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, which will result in tough cookies.
- Gently fold in the chocolate chunks and nuts (if using) until evenly distributed.
- Using your hands, form the dough into large balls (about ¼ cup each). Don’t flatten them! The cookies should be thick and lumpy. Place them on the prepared baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between each one.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the centres are still slightly soft. They will continue to cook as they cool. Through trial and error, I’ve learned that slightly underbaking them is the key to the gooey centre.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely (if you can wait that long!). Serve warm, and enjoy!
Notes
Bake giant, gooey Levain Bakery-style cookies at home! This easy recipe delivers impressive results every time. A family favourite for good reason.