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Have y’all ever heard of Levain Bakery in New York? They make the biggest, fattest, puffiest cookies around. They’re a bit expensive and hard to get if you don’t live near their bakery. Sure, you could order online, but I’m not one to shell out $22.00 for four cookies. I’ll just make my own, thankyouverymuch.
One of the most impressive things about Levain’s cookies are their size. They’re 6 ounces each and rather than spreading into a big flat circle they bake up into a fat puff of a cookie. I’m pretty sure their recipe contains magic fairy dust, but they don’t share their secret recipe, so that’s just a guess.
I’ve never had a Levain cookie, so I don’t know how these compare. I don’t really care at this point. I’m happy with this recipe. It makes me smile. It makes me laugh. It makes me feel proud. It completes me.
Do you want puffy or do you want flat? Both are tasty, but one certainly looks prettier than the other. However, the flat cookie will always be my favorite. The puffy cookies are good, excellent even, but the flat cookie has my heart. I’ll share my recipe with you later this week. In the meantime, go surprise someone with these humongous cookies. You’ll make their day.
Puffy Chocolate Chip Cookies – Levain Copycat Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp cold butter cut into small cubes
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg cold
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup toasted walnuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat together the cold butter and sugar until barely combined, about 1 minute on lowest speed. Do not beat until creamed or fluffy! Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat until combined.
- Mix together the dry ingredients and add them to the butter and sugar mixture. You should have a very stiff, lightly sticky dough. If needed, add another tablespoon of flour. Add the chocolate chips and nuts and mix until combined.
- Measure out the dough in equal portions depending on the size you want them. Levain Bakery makes 6oz cookies, I made 3oz cookies. Place the cookies on your baking sheet and place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 5 minutes to chill the dough again. This will help prevent the cookies from spreading.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the outsides are lightly browned and the insides are mostly done. Cool on a wire rack.
Nutrition Information:
lightly adapted from Judy’s Kitchen
Whitney says
Only thing I regret is not making the cookies bigger. Fantastic recipe! Nice and fluffy. Exactly what I’ve been looking for! I raised the the rack to the notch above center so the bottoms wouldn’t get to dark. No color at all but they were definitely cooked. Very happy. Thank you!
alison says
best chocolate chip cookies ever!! familiar ingredients but mixed differently than usual. wow what a change. the cookie I’ve been looking for. I was concerned they’d turn out cakey and dry, but they are luscious, the chocolate chips stayed gooey, and oh it’s just so amazing. for the chips I used half cup mini chips and half cup reg. I think that makes a difference as well. thanks for an amazing cookie we already ate the whole batch.
Karly says
Yay! So glad to hear you liked these!!
Maggie k says
They turned out so good, I used table salt instead of kosher (a little less then the recipe called for) and they still turned out! 100% recommend 🙂
Maggie k says
I forgot to add 5 stars
Karly says
Thanks so much, Maggie!
Michelle Kirkpatrick says
I love these cookies but my dough is always crumbly, even when I add less flour. What’s happening?
Karly says
Hi Michelle! I’m sorry you’re having issues with the dough. Is the cookie itself dry or just the dough? If the cookies are turning out how you like, I wouldn’t worry about the dough. If you’re being careful to measure flour properly (spoon into a dry measure and level it off, don’t pack it in), I’m not sure what else would cause a dry cookie. You could try using 1 1/2 cups flour instead of 1 3/4 and see if that works better for you.
Michelle says
Thanks so much! I’ve been using the 1 1/2 cup flour, and the cookies are great! Not dry – i think the butter is melting in the oven? The crumbly dough may be a product of me not mixing the wet ingredients well enough. Should they be perfectly liquid or should I still be able to see butter chunks?
Karly says
Oh, yep, it’s probably just the butter not mixing in quite as much as it could. But if the end result is what you like, I wouldn’t worry about it! Otherwise, just beat the butter and sugar a bit longer. 🙂
Dev Perkins says
I just made them and I absolutely love how thick and chewy they are ?
Tevin says
Love love love this recipe! I’ve made it twice in the last week, but with mini Reece’s pieces – and its absolutely delicious! Everyone has loved them. Definitely a great base recipe that can have whatever you want added! Highly recommend!
Amy Primley says
I think you get puffy cookies anytime you don’t add white sugar.
Kim Bryce says
I just made these they turned out amazing. I used 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips and 1/2 a cup of salted caramel chip.
Rita says
Hi there. Just wondering what makes your cookies so puffy because from what I understand for puffy cookies, you need to use some form of lard. I am worried that if I make these and they come out flat I will be really upset because I don’t care for flat crispy cookies at all.
So how can butter, which makes flat cookies normally, create a puffy cookie? Pls help me understand. Thx.
Karly says
Hi Rita!
It’s not butter that makes cookies flat – it’s the ratio of ingredients and, often, whether or not the dough has been chilled first. The ratio of the ingredients in these cookies + the chilling of the dough makes for a big, fat cookie. If you’re looking for another recipe that always bakes up thick and chewy for me, try my perfect chocolate chip cookies. They’re even easier and they actually start with melted butter and don’t need a chill time. They’re magic.
Mary Ann says
I have not tried these because I am concerned that mixing the cold butter for such a short time with the sugar will result in lumps of cold butter incompletely mixed with the sugar. I’ve read in other recipes that if the butter isn’t soft when blended with the sugar and then the flour, the cookie dough will be dry and crumbly. The idea of chilling the dough before baking does make sense. Can you help me understand why I am wrong?
Karly says
I don’t know the science behind why these work the way they do, but if you scroll up and read the reviews you’ll see that they’re a fan favorite. 🙂
Anna says
Big hit with my in-laws! Thanks for the great recipe 🙂