Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies (Copycat Recipe)
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Inspired by the iconic bakery cookie, these Levain-style chocolate chip cookies are giant, gooey in the middle, crisp on the edges, and impossible to resist.
I’ve gotten so many requests over the years for a copycat Levain chocolate chip cookie, and I finally decided to give it a go. After plenty of taste-testing (both at the bakery and in my own kitchen—tough job, I know), I’m happy to say this version, adapted from Stella Parks’ Serious Eats recipe, nails it. Crisp at the edges, gooey in the middle, these giant cookies are every bit as irresistible as the bakery classic.
Like most chocolate chip cookies, these benefit from an overnight chill in the fridge before baking. But if you can’t wait, they can be baked straight away. Just bake only as many as you plan to enjoy fresh—they’ll keep for a day or two once baked, but nothing beats them warm from the oven. Bonus: You can freeze the dough balls for cookies on demand anytime.
What You’ll Need To Make Copycat Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Butter, sugars & vanilla: The butter makes the cookies rich and tender, while the mix of light brown, dark brown, and granulated sugars adds moisture, caramel flavor, and crisp edges. Vanilla deepens the flavor.
- Eggs: Give the dough structure and moisture so the cookies hold together while staying soft and gooey inside.
- Flour, leaveners & salt: Flour provides the base, while baking soda and baking powder give the cookies lift and that signature craggy top. The salt is essential—it sharpens the flavors and balances all that sweetness. I like using a high-protein flour like King Arthur all-purpose, which helps the cookies keep their thick, chunky shape.
- Chocolate & nuts: The mix-ins—big pools of melted chocolate and crunchy walnuts or pecans for balance. If you skip the nuts, the cookies will still be delicious, just a little flatter.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1. Cream the butter and sugars. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or beaters), combine the butter, brown sugars, granulated sugar, vanilla, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat on medium until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping as needed.
Pro Tip: Let your mixer run the full 5 minutes here—this extra aeration is key for thick, lofty cookies. And scrape all the way to the bottom of the bowl so no stubborn butter sticks around.
Step 2. Add the eggs. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating for about 30 seconds after each and scraping the bowl. The mixture may look curdled—this is normal.
Step 3. Add dry ingredients and mix-ins. Add the flour and mix on low until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and nuts, then mix briefly on low until evenly distributed.
Pro Tip: When you add the mix-ins, the dough becomes very thick, and you’ll notice the mixer has to work hard to combine everything—that’s normal.
Step 4. Portion and chill the dough. Divide into 8 equal portions (about 5½ oz each), shape into balls, and place on a plate or tray. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days. (They can also be baked right away.) When ready to bake, place up to 4 cold dough balls on the sheet, spaced apart.
Step 5. Bake and cool the cookies. Bake in a 350°F oven until puffed and golden brown, about 22 minutes. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a rack. They’re best fresh, but keep well for a day or two.
Note: My tweaks to the Serious Eats version were simple but purposeful: I swapped in half dark brown sugar so the cookies taste rich and complex even if you skip the overnight chill, trimmed the chocolate chips to a single 12-ounce bag (no need to open a second bag for a few ounces), and slightly reduced the nuts for a more balanced cookie. These little changes don’t alter the spirit of Parks’ recipe—they just make it more practical and home-baker friendly.
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies (Copycat Recipe)
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- ¼ cup (packed) light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1¾ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour (preferably King Arthur), spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, best quality such as Ghirardelli
- 1½ cups coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with beaters), combine the butter, brown sugars, granulated sugar, vanilla, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on medium speed for about 30 seconds after each addition and scraping the bowl as needed. The mixture will look a bit curdled at this point; that’s normal.
- Add the flour, then mix on low speed until just combined. Add in the chocolate chips and nuts and mix on low speed until evenly distributed.
- Using a large spoon, divide the dough into 8 equal portions (about 5½ oz/155 g each) and shape into balls. Place on a plate or tray. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. For maximum flavor, refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days. If you can’t wait, the cookies can be baked right away—they’ll still be delicious.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set a rack in the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Arrange up to 4 cold dough balls on the prepared sheet, leaving plenty of space between them (these cookies spread a lot, so bake them in batches). Bake until the cookies are puffed and golden brown, about 22 minutes.
- Cool the cookies directly on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a rack to finish cooling. The cookies taste best freshly baked, but will keep well for a day or two.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze the dough balls on a baking sheet or tray until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag or airtight container for up to 2 months. Bake straight from frozen, adding a few minutes to the baking time. Baked cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months; thaw at room temperature (and warm in a 300°F oven for about 5 minutes to refresh, if you like).
- If you’d rather not use nuts, it’s totally fine to leave them out—the cookies just won’t rise quite as high. (You can also replace the nuts with more chocolate chips.)
- Although the recipe calls for semi-sweet chocolate chips, you can mix in milk and/or dark chocolate for a more layered flavor.
- If you only have one type of brown sugar in your pantry, feel free to use it for all of the brown sugar in the recipe. Just know that using only light brown sugar will give you a less complex flavor if you bake the cookies right away (though they’ll still be good!), and using only dark brown sugar will make the cookies noticeably darker in color than a typical chocolate chip cookie.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Hi, Jenn –
Is there anything special about the size of these?
Will this recipe still be as good if I make the cookies small?
Thanks!
Hi Laura, The size doesn’t impact the taste of the cookies but it does change the texture: the oversized bakery-style cookies are what create that dramatic contrast of crispy edges and a soft, gooey center. You can scale down, but I’d suggest keeping them fairly big so you still get some of that contrast. Just reduce the bake time and watch closely so they don’t overbake.
I’m predicting 5 stars, but have a question before making them – is the taste compromised in any way by making them smaller?
Great question! You can definitely make the cookies smaller if you’d like—they’ll still taste just as good. The main difference is texture: the large, bakery-style size is what gives you that great contrast of crisp edges and a gooey center. If you do go smaller, I’d keep them on the larger side so you don’t lose too much of that contrast. And you’ll also need to reduce the bake time and keep an eye on them so they don’t overcook.
This recipe sounds awesome, but I would prefer to use oil instead of butter. How much would you recommend?
Hi Gay, I’m sorry I don’t recommend using regular oil here. I do think you could try coconut oil (same amount) though. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it. 🙂