I looked at a lot of online knockoff or copycat recipes for these cookies. All the recipes were pretty much the same, but I decided to go with my own slightly different conglomeration. But the main thing all of the recipes had in common, was that every author almost guaranteed that these would be the best chocolate chip cookies you would ever taste. And I have to admit, they are totally amazing. These babies make it completely clear why Levain Bakery has helped put New York City on the map. And why you should spend absolutely no time deciding to whip up a batch at your earliest convenience.

When you look at the ingredient list, almost all of the ingredients are exactly what you would expect to find. Ok, not the use of cold butter or necessarily a bit of cornstarch, or even the use of cake flour. But there certainly aren’t any peculiar ingredients, like half a cup of parsnip puree or anything like that. Pretty standard ingredients found in many baked goods. So what makes these cookies different? Well first of all, they’re big cookies. And I bake mine half as large as the Levain Bakery offers. And these cookies are pulled out of the oven before the center gets fully set. And the ratio of nuts and chocolate chips to dough is greater than called for in most of the chocolate chip cookie recipes I have previously made. And believe me, I have made a lot of chocolate chip cookies over the years!

So are these now my favorite chocolate chip walnut cookies? You bet your sweet – – – they are! And I believe they will become your favorite too. They are just that delicious. And very easy to prepare, especially if you have a #10 ice cream scoop.

Now you know I don’t have any advertisements on this site. And I am not specifying any brand of scoop that I think you should purchase. But if you do a lot of cookie baking, or make meatballs, muffins, and cupcakes, to name a few uses for ice cream scoops, you should own a few scoops in different sizes. Makes life a lot easier when you have the right tools. Remember, Christmas is coming. And I know my Mr. Santa always loves hints at about this time of year. And being the good wife, I never fail to help him out! And usually my hints are for gifts that most people would find unromantic. But I figure, that’s their problem. Anything that makes my life easier or more pleasant is a gift I would never think to discourage. Besides, romantic gifts are overrated in my opinion. Give me practical gifts. Like a round trip ticket to Iceland, for example. That and a new frying pan are practical gifts I would never consider turning down! 

So as always, make life pleasant for those around you. Create a home atmosphere that is comfortable, cozy, and inviting. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t appreciate a smile or a kind word. Simple gestures, but very effective ways to spread joy to those you love. Peace and love to all.   

1 c. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

¾ c. light brown sugar

½ c. granulated sugar

2 lg. eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1½ c. cake flour (fluffed)

1¼ c. unbleached all-purpose flour (fluffed)   

1 T. cornstarch

1 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. coarse sea salt

2 c. walnut halves, roughly chopped

2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (a 12-ounce bag) (I prefer Guittard semi-sweet baking chips)  

Place the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars on medium low speed until smooth and completely blended, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat just until the eggs are incorporated with the butter/sugar mixture.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk the cake flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Add to the wet ingredients and mix only until combined. Add the walnuts and slowly mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips, and again, mix only until combined.

And now the hard decision has to happen. Do you want cookies the size that made the Levain Bakery in NYC famous? Or do you want to make a smaller version for us normal folks. My choice – smaller. But for those purists out there, I’m providing both ways to enjoy these marvelous cookies.

Purist (8 cookies per batch) (these would make some humongous damn cookies!)

Divide the dough into 8 equal parts, about 6-ounces each. Line two half sheet baking pans (roughly 18 x 13-inches) with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.  Use your hands to shape the dough. The cookies are meant to be roughly shaped. Place 4 on each pan. Do not flatten the dough. Refrigerate for about an hour. Start heating your oven to 400 degrees after the cookies have been cooling in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes.

Bake in the pre-heated 400 degree oven for 11-13 minutes on regular bake or a bit shorter time on convection bake. The cookies are done when the top is a bit golden and the bottom is also golden. The top should look done, but the cookies should not be fully set. Do not over bake.

Remove from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack. This allows the inside of the cookies to bake a bit more and helps prevent breaking the cookies while they are being transferred to the cooling rack. They should still be plenty gooey inside. Serve slightly warm if possible.   

Bigger than normal chocolate chip cookies, but half the size of Purist (16 cookies per batch)

Divide the dough into 16 equal parts, about 3-ounces each. (Or as equally portioned as possible.) Drop dough onto parchment paper or silicone mat lined baking pans about 3 inches apart. (I used three half sheet (roughly 18 x 13-inch) baking pans. Six cookies on sheets 1 & 2. Four cookies on sheet number 3.) Do not flatten the dough. (I round the dough in my #10 ice cream scoop and proceed from there. Cheating I know, but I’m lazy!) Refrigerate for about an hour. (To make life easier on myself, and because I don’t have room in my refrigerator for 3 sheet pans, I plop the balls of dough close together on one of the parchment paper lined pans. Then I refrigerate the whole mess. When I’m ready to bake the little darlings, I take 6 from the fridge and place on another of the parchment paper lined baking sheets. The others dough balls I just leave in the fridge until I am ready to bake them off.)  

Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven. I found, after baking each of the three pans of cookies a different way, that 6 minutes regular heat and 4 minutes convection heat worked the best for me. But you may find your oven works differently than mine. Just don’t overbake the cookies. So anywhere from 9 minutes all convection, or 11 minutes regular oven should work out fine for you. Just be aware, the top should look done, but the cookies should not be fully set.   

Remove from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack.

Store the completely cooled cookies in an airtight container on your kitchen counter. Then you will always be reminded that they are there just for lifting the lid. You don’t want them to go stale after all!