Rich and gooey Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies that have a molten cake-like texture. Insanely good!
I need to bake insanely rich cookies once a year and what better time of year than Christmas. Levain Bakery cookies are some of the best and most hyped-up cookies in the world. Well, they’re super famous in New York City, let’s put it that way.
Thanks to Modern Honey, I was able to obtain a copycat version of this cookie with some modifications. Generally speaking, I tone down the sugar slightly in my desserts and prefer using very dark chocolate so the cookies aren’t too sweet.
Since I can’t be in NYC this year, I opted to bake these cookies. I love giving most of the cookies away to friends and family. Everyone loves them!
What is Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies?
Levain Bakery is famous for its thick, rich, and gooey cookies. Each cookie weighs about 6 ounces and has a soft and gooey interior. They’re incredible and rich, and perfect for the holidays.
Currently, Levain Bakery sells four different types of cookies. Their Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies are my favorite and I have the recipe on my blog.
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, but rather half if I’m hungry.
I recommend splitting a cookie into halves or thirds because they’re really rich and high in calories.
In my opinion, this recipe makes 16-24 servings depending on the crowd you’re feeding.
What kind of cocoa and chocolate chips should I use in this recipe?
For cocoa:
Use unsweetened and dark! Also, make sure it’s a high-quality cocoa powder. Some of my recommendations are Scharffen Berger, Guittard, or Ghirardelli.
For chocolate chips:
I prefer using bittersweet or extra dark chocolate – it’s the same thing. For this recipe, I used extra dark Guittard chocolate chips. Feel free to use bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips for this recipe.
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 Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip 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 tbsp all-purpose flour plus 2 tbsp cornstarch. - I used extra dark chocolate chips in this recipe as I don’t like painfully sweet desserts. Feel free to use bittersweet or semisweet chips.
- In general, I prefer my baked goods not painfully sweet, thus these cookies are just right using bittersweet chips and less 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 and high in calories. Half a cookie is a meal. I was pretty ful after eating just half a cookie. Although the result is 8 large cookies, these cookies can easily be shared between 16-24 people.
- If you have leftover cookies that are baked and you want them warm and gooey, simply microwave a cookie for about 15 seconds, check, and then microwave them for a little longer if you wish.
Ingredients you’ll need for Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Unsalted Butter: Butter should be cold and cubed.
Eggs: Eggs should be at room temperature.
White Sugar: You will need granulated white sugar.
Light Brown Sugar: Light brown sugar has a subtle molasses flavor which is so nice in cookies. This results in a soft and chewy cookie.
All-purpose flour: This is essentially white flour.
Cake flour: Finding cake flour may be tough, so here’s a substitute… 1 cup all-purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch = 1 cup cake flour.
Cocoa: Use unsweetened cocoa for this recipe.
Chocolate Chips: I prefer bittersweet (or dark) chocolate chips, but feel free to use semisweet as well.
Basics: Baking Soda, Salt.
Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies are:
Rich
Gooey
Like “Molten Cake”
Outrageously Delicious
Soft
Melts-in-your-mouth
Indulgent
Perfect for the Holidays
How to make Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe step by step?
Prep
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk, Set aside.
3. 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. Now add 1 egg at a time.
4. Mix well until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
6. Add the flour to the butter/sugar mixture in 3 batches.
7. Mix, but do NOT over mix.
8. Add chocolate chips. Fold them in and mix well. It’s an arm workout.
Refrigerate & Bake
1. Now using a large ice-cream scoop.
2. 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.
3 Wrap the cookie dough balls with plastic wrap and refrigerate them for 12 hours.
4. 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 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Do NOT overbake them so they remain gooey. Note: I baked 4 cookies, and froze the remaining 4 cookies for another time.
5. Once the cookies are out of the oven, LET THEM COOL FOR 10 MINUTES. They will firm up slightly. Indulge. It’s like molten cake.
Pin & Enjoy!
More Holiday Desserts!
- Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
- The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Bundt with White Chocolate Glaze
- Cranberry Orange Cheesecake
- Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted grass-fed cold butter cubed I like Kerrygold
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar don't use dark use light
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 organic eggs
- 1 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/3 cups dark chocolate chips I like Guittard 63%
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk, Set aside.
- Cube cold butter.
Make the Batter
- In a large bowl, combine the butter, light brown sugar, and white sugar.
- 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.
- Now add 1 egg at a time.
- Mix well until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Add the flour to the butter/sugar mixture in 3 batches.
- Mix, but do NOT over mix.
- Add chocolate chips. Fold them in and mix well. It’s an arm workout.
Refrigerate & Bake
- Now using a large ice-cream scoop.
- 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.
- 3 Wrap the cookie dough balls with plastic wrap and refrigerate them for 12 hours.
- 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 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Do NOT overbake them so they remain gooey. Note: I baked 4 cookies, and froze the remaining 4 cookies for another time.
- Once the cookies are out of the oven, LET THEM COOL FOR 10 MINUTES. They will firm up slightly. Indulge. It's like molten cake.
A foodie who is passionate about living a healthy-ish lifestyle, cooking, and traveling. You'll find a mix of everything here and lots of seasonal content. I moved from Jersey City leaving behind my family & friends to beautiful Southern California for love. I'm adjusting to the laid-back SoCal lifestyle and learning a lot about myself along the way. Come join me on a soul searching journey and I'll tell YOU "what's cooking" through my love for food, fashion, and travel.
These cookies are amazing! Perfectly gooey, not over sweet, and pairs well with a dollop of ice cream! My daughter loved them as well!
Yes, Vika. I didn’t find them too sweet either. It would go so well with ice cream. Thank you!
Soooo good!!! Literally perfect and better than Levain’s cookies! I love how soft and light they are. They don’t taste too sweet so you get a tooth-ache and they’re sooo soft, almost cake-like! Thanks for bringing a piece of NY for me since I’ve moved to CA!!
Omg ! The besttttt cookies ever !! A must must try extremely simple !