Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies (2024)

Published: Dec 13, 2019 · Modified: Jul 24, 2023 by Nisha · This post may contain affiliate links · 38 Comments

Outrageously delicious, Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies are New York's number one cookie. They are chewy, gooey, and rich! The best time to make them is around the holidays.

You can take the girl out of New York City, but you can't take New York City out of the girl. Since I now live 3000 miles away, I decided to bake the copycat version of Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies. Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies are NYC's number one cookie!

The original Levain Bakery cookie recipe hasn't yet been released, however I found numerous copycat versions online. I made slight alterations to come with a gooey, chewy, soft, chunky, and perfectly sweet chocolate chip walnut cookie. Another favorite chocolate chip cookie is my New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie which are so soft and chewy.

How many servings does this recipe make?

You'll end up with 8 super-indulgent cookies, but I can assure you they're super-rich and decadent. I personally can't eat an entire cookie in one sitting, bur rather half if I'm hungry.

I recommend splitting a cookie into halves or thirds because they're really rich.

In my opinion, this recipe makes 16-24 servings depending on the crowd you're feeding.

Can I freeze the cookie dough for later?

Absolutely! And you should! I can't imagine baking all 8 cookies at once.

Freeze the tennis ball-shaped cookie dough - cover each one in plastic wrap and freeze.

When you're ready for your next cookie, place the cookie dough in the fridge 12 hours prior to baking.

Bake as usual and your cookie will taste incredible.

Tips on making Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies:

• Levain cookies don't contain vanilla extract, you don't need it.
• This recipe calls for cake flour and all-purpose flour. If you don't have cake flour, just use this substitute:
  1 cup of cake flour = 1 cup all-purpose flour minus 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoon cornstarch.
• I used 2 cups of chocolate chips and 2 cups of walnuts. I prefer more walnuts to chocolate, hence going forward I will use 1 ½ cups chocolate chips and 2 ½ cups of walnuts.
• Instead of semisweet chocolate chips, I used bittersweet chocolate chips resulting in a less sweet cookie.
• In general, I prefer my baked goods not painfully sweet, thus these cookies are just right using bittersweet chips and less sugar.
• Make sure you use light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar. Dark brown sugar contains more molasses so use light brown sugar.
• The cookie dough should be refrigerated for about 12 hours before baking. This results in a chewier and tastier cookie.
• The cookie batter makes 8 large cookies. The cookie dough should be split evenly into 8 balls that are the size of a tennis ball. Alternatively, you may measure each cookie dough ball where each one should be 6 ounces in weight.
• I baked 4 cookies and froze the remainder of my batter shaped in tennis size balls. The next time I baked these cookies, I placed my frozen cookie dough into the refrigerator for 12 hours prior to baking.
• Levain Bakery cookies are incredibly rich. My husband and I split one cookie, and we were both quite full. Although the result is 8 large cookies, these cookies can easily be shared between 16-24 people.

Levain Bakery chocolate chip walnut cookies are:

Indulgent
Decadent
Mouthwatering
Gooey
Delicious
Perfect for Christmas

How to make Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies step by step?

Prep

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Chop walnuts. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. Cube cold butter.

Make the Batter

1. In a large bowl, combine the butter, light brown sugar, and white sugar.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream the ingredients together until well combined. This process will take 4 minutes. Start at a slow speed and gradually speed up.
3. Here is the result.

4. Now add 1 egg at a time.
5. Mix well until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

6. Add the flour in 3 batches.
7. Combine the flour and the butter/sugar mixture. Do NOT over mix.
8. Here is the result.

9. Add chocolate chips and walnuts.
10. Fold them in and mix well. It's an arm workout.
11. Result.

12. Now using a large ice-cream scoop.
13. Scoop the cookie batter onto a plastic wrap. You want to form 8 large balls that resemble the size of a tennis ball. Yes, tennis ball. Alternatively, you can weigh them and form 8 balls. Each ball should be 6 ounces.
14. Wrap the cookie dough balls with plastic wrap and refrigerate them for 12 hours.
15. The next day, place the cookie batter onto a baking tray. Make sure the cookie dough is at least 2 inches apart so they can spread. Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. I baked my cookies for 19 minutes exactly. Do NOT overbake them so they remain gooey. Note: I baked 4 cookies, and froze the remaining 4 cookies for another time.

16. Once the cookies are out of the oven, LET THEM COOL FOR 10 MINUTES. They will firm up.
17. Indulge. Seriously, outrageously good.

Pin & Enjoy!

More Holiday Desserts!

• Cranberry Orange Bundt with White Chocolate Glaze
• Cranberry Orange Cheesecake
• Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies
• The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Fudgy Cranberry Walnut Brownies
• Cranberry Orange Cake
• Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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