Copycat Levain 2-Chip Cookies
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS:
Like in life, there is plenty of room for all types of chocolate chip cookies. There are butter-forward crunchy cookies, perfect for snacking. Or thick and chewy cake-like cookies that feel super decadent with every bite. How ‘bout a cookie that’s crispy on the outside and just barely cooked on the inside? Or the ones loaded with puddles of melted chocolate? There are cookies baked with chopped chocolate bars that find their way into each nook and cranny, or ones baked with a hundred mini chocolate chips pressed into the top of the cookie like artwork. Regardless of which kind of chocolate chip cookie is your favorite, you need them all in your life, especially THIS ONE.
Adapted from the original recipe from @janespatisserie, these are the best copies of the coveted Levain Bakery originals that I’ve ever seen. I subbed in cake flour for half the all-purpose flour, which bakes up a softer, more delicate cookie…a textural quality I prefer when eating a cookie that has more height than most of my heels.
Don’t bake these on an empty stomach. Between the mandatory dough freezing step that’s critical for producing the perfect cookie spread and the essential 30 minute post-baking rest on the sheet tray necessary to keep them from crumbling in your hands, it’s gonna be awhile before you dig in. But trust me: THESE ARE WORTH THE WAIT.
Copycat Levain 2-Chip Cookie
Ingredients:
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (125g)
- ½ cup well packed light brown sugar (100g)
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar (75g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 cup cake flour (150g)
- ¾ cup packed all purpose flour (125g)
- heaping ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips (150g)
- ¾ cup milk chocolate chips (150g)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 390F. Line a sheet tray with parchment or a silpat.
- I strongly suggest measuring the ingredients with a small food scale. It will guarantee the perfect cookie every time.
- Cream butter and both sugars in a stand mixer for 3 minutes, no more no less.
- Add vanilla and egg and mix until incorporated.
- Add flours, salt, baking soda & baking powder and quickly mix until just incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Add chocolate chips to the batter and mix once more.
- Scoop 8 equal sized cookie balls, about 115g each. This is the equivalent of ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon. Transfer to a plate. Freeze for at least an hour, or up to month.
- When ready to bake, remove from the freezer and place on a parchment lined sheet tray. Bake from frozen for 14 minutes, but take the sheet tray out at the 10 minute mark, and slam (aka drop) the sheet tray on the counter two or three times and then continue baking. This helps with the spread. This will be loud. That's ok. Warn your family. They'll forgive you when you present the final product, I promise.
- Remove from the oven after 14 minutes and let the cookies sit undisturbed on the sheet tray for an additional 30 minutes before digging in. This is really important: they continue to cook on the tray after baking as they cook, and this part helps them from falling apart.