These Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies are thick, oversized cookies loaded with chunks of chocolate and baked until golden on the outside with a soft, gooey center. Each cookie is extra-large— roughly the size of your palm—giving you that signature thick Levain Bakery-style cookie.
My daughter introduced me to making these cookies at home after making them herself, and baking them together quickly became one of those recipes worth repeating. The giant size and warm, gooey chocolate center make these feel much more like a bakery treat than an everyday chocolate chip cookie.
Why I Love These Cookies
Ingredient Notes
- Chocolate Bars: Chop the chocolate into chunks rather than using chocolate chips. This gives you different-sized pieces and big pockets of melted chocolate throughout the cookies. Use your favorite semisweet or dark chocolate.
- Butter: Use the butter cold, straight from the refrigerator. Cold butter helps these oversized cookies hold their thick shape while baking.
- Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the outside of the cookies develop that golden finish.
- Brown Sugar: Adds moisture, richness, and helps create the soft, chewy center.
- All-Purpose Flour: Measure the flour carefully so the cookies don’t become dry. For the most accurate results, weigh the flour if you have a kitchen scale.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and brings out the chocolate flavor.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Give the cookies lift and help create their thick bakery-style texture.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds warm vanilla flavor to the cookie dough.
- Eggs: Add moisture, richness, and structure to help these extra-large cookies hold together.
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below
How To Make Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Add the cold butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until the butter breaks into small clumps and combines with the sugars.
- Add the chopped chocolate and mix until evenly distributed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined. The mixture will look crumbly, similar to breadcrumbs.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Add the egg mixture to the dough and mix just until the dough comes together.
- Divide the dough into large balls, about 120–125 grams (4¼–4½ ounces) each.
- Place the cookie dough balls on a tray and freeze for at least 3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F with an empty baking sheet inside the oven as it preheats.
- Carefully place the frozen cookie dough balls on the hot baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between each cookie.
- Bake from frozen for 17–20 minutes, until the outside is golden and set while the center remains soft.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for several minutes before transferring or serving.
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below
Tips I Found Helpful
- Keep the butter cold: Use it straight from the refrigerator. Cold butter helps the cookies stay thick instead of spreading too much.
- Chop the chocolate into different-sized pieces: This gives you small bits of chocolate throughout plus larger melted chocolate pockets. 🍫
- Don’t worry about the crumbly dough: Before adding the eggs and vanilla, the mixture should look similar to breadcrumbs. That’s normal.
- Weigh the cookie dough: For evenly sized bakery-style cookies, portion each one to about 120–125 grams (4¼–4½ ounces).
- Don’t flatten the dough balls: Keep them tall and thick before freezing to help create that signature oversized shape.
- Freeze before baking: Give the dough at least 3 hours in the freezer and bake the cookies directly from frozen.
- Give them plenty of space: These are huge cookies, so leave plenty of room between each dough ball on the baking sheet.
- Don’t overbake: Take them out when the outside is golden and set but the center still looks soft. They’ll continue to set as they cool. 🍪
Frequently Asked Questions
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Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies are thick, oversized bakery-style cookies loaded with chopped chocolate and baked until golden on the outside with a soft, gooey center.
Ingredients
- 2 bars chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup butter, cold
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Add the cold butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until the butter breaks into small clumps and combines with the sugars.
- Add the chopped chocolate and mix until evenly distributed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined. The mixture will look crumbly, similar to breadcrumbs.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Add the egg mixture to the dough and mix just until the dough comes together.
- Divide the dough into large balls, about 120–125 grams (4¼–4½ ounces) each.
- Place the cookie dough balls on a tray and freeze for at least 3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F with an empty baking sheet inside the oven as it preheats.
- Carefully place the frozen cookie dough balls on the hot baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between each cookie.
- Bake from frozen for 17–20 minutes, until the outside is golden and set while the center remains soft.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for several minutes before transferring or serving.
Notes
Use cold butter straight from the refrigerator and avoid flattening the dough balls. For consistent cookies, portion each one to 120–125 grams (4¼–4½ ounces). Freeze the portioned dough for at least 3 hours and bake directly from frozen. Remove the cookies when the edges are golden and set but the centers are still soft.
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This cookie recipe is very easy and makes delicious HUGE cookies! They are gooey on the inside and crispy on the outside and delicious to eat while still warm