"Freedom From Want" by Norman Rockwell

Mar 12, 2016

Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is from The Domestic Rebel. She has a very imformative posting about walnuts, along with this recipe.

We love these cookies!
These Copycat Levain Bakery Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies are INCREDIBLE! Thick, chewy, soft and bursting with walnut pieces and chocolate chips, they're so easy to make and taste just like Levain's from NYC!

{Copycat Levain Bakery} Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies & My Walnut Harvest '14 Recap with Diamond Nuts!
Author: 
Recipe type: Cookies
Prep time:  
Cook time:  
Total time:  
Serves: 10
 
These buttery, soft & chewy cookies are XXL-sized and packed with plenty of brown sugary & vanilla flavor, gooey semi-sweet chocolate chips, and toasted walnuts for a cookie experience you won't forget! One of my favorite cookie recipes yet!
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt (I recommend cutting the salt amount in half. The cookies were pretty salty.)
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 
  • 1 cup Diamond of California Shelled Walnut Pieces, toasted* (Leave the walnut halves whole. Do not chop them up.)
These Copycat Levain Bakery Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies are INCREDIBLE! Thick, chewy, soft and bursting with walnut pieces and chocolate chips, they're so easy to make and taste just like Levain's from NYC!
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Lastly, beat in the cornstarch, baking soda, salt and flour until a soft dough has formed. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnut pieces gently.
  2. Refrigerate the cookie dough for AT LEAST one hour, up to overnight. This is MANDATORY and chilling the dough is necessary to produce thick, fat, chewy cookies that do not spread. Don't skimp on this step! (I would recommend putting the dough on plastic wrap and covering it over, then putting it in the refrigerator. When I refrigerated it overnight in a bowl, I had a very hard time getting the dough out of the bowl. It would be so much easier if it was seperate.)
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with silicone liners or mist the sheets lightly with cooking spray. Portion ¼ cup sized balls of dough (or two Tablespoon-sized cookie dough scoop's worth of dough) into huge balls of dough and place them onto the baking sheet. (I measured the dough into a 1/4 cup measuring cup. I got 18 cookies.) Bake for approx. 12 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking time. Cookies will be lightly golden on top and may appear slightly undone; this is normal as they will continue to set up as they cool. Do NOT over-bake them! Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for about 5-10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. Serve cookies warm or room temperature, if desired. For the full Levain Bakery effect, serve them warm!
  5. **TO TOAST WALNUTS: preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the walnut pieces on the baking sheet in an even layer. Toast for about 5-10 minutes, turning walnuts every so often, until fragrant and nutty. Keep a close eye on them as they can burn quickly. Allow to cool before stirring into dough.**