These are the best cookies in the world, or so say Pam and Connie, the owners of the bakery bakery Levain Bakery of New York, to which I have been lucky enough to go several times on my visits to this fantastic city.
These cookies that are the size of a burger, make them fresh every day and at the end of the day donate to those in need what has not been sold although I tell you that it is quite little because it is a very popular place in the city of skyscrapers.
You can make them smaller, although they will not be like the authentic ones of Levain Bakery and above all you must take into account that they will need less baking time.
So if you go to the bakery, you can see them working in the workman any day, and what they do can be seen through the glass, from the shop where you can buy their cookies, breads and cakes.
The secret to these rich cookies, as I was told at the local, are the ingredients. They use the best and that's what I've done here too and they're taken freshly made, when they're still warm and the chocolate is still melted inside.
They also told me that they use some of the pastry flour because the cookies are very fluffy inside and as I have done although in the proportion that I decided because they did not give it to me is their secret! If you don't find pastry flour you can use normal white wheat flour, but the texture will vary.





Ingredients
- 260g flour
- 170 g of flour for pastry (this flour has less protein and is important for the cookie texture we want to get)
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 230g diced butter - butter should be soft but not too much – we take it out of the fridge and cut it into cubes and let it sit for 10 minutes out of the fridge to lightly temper it
- 145g brown sugar
- 145g white sugar
- 330g dark chocolate nuggets - Levain Bakery girls use 50% chocolate and that's what I've used
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 150g chopped walnuts with your hands
- 2 eggs
Directions
In a bowl mix the dry ingredients: flour, salt, yeast and baking soda and mix. Reserve.
In a large bowl, combine the butter with the two types of sugar.
Add the two eggs at once with the machine running at low speed and mix. Add the vanilla.
To add the dry ingredients we stop the machine and mix enough so that the flour disappears from the bowl.
Now it's the turn of the nuts that we break and pieces s by hand and add to the bowl. Mix with the machine and finally the chocolate chips that we also add to the machine. They use a semi-sweet chocolate and that's the one I used, 50% pure cocoa.
Remove the dough and place it on a tray to finish mixing everything by hand, as if kneading so that the whole dough has the same amount of chocolate and nuts.
Now it's time to form the cookies and we'll do it by hand without squeezing the dough to make it airy and not compact. Each cookie weighs 170 g and we will make them in the form of a ball but without squeezing the dough.
Cool the formed cookies for 1 hour in the fridge and bake at 190 degrees about 16-17 minutes. If you have the cookies longer in the fridge you may need a minute or two more baking to enjoy
Tips and Tricks
- They're huge cookies that can almost be cut like a cake but they're spectacular. You can make them smaller but the texture will not be the same and above all they will not be like those of Levain Bakery.
- Difficulty: easy
- Preparation time: 10 minutes plus 1 hour of rest in a refrigerator plus 17 minutes of baking
- Servings: 8
Hey, Loleta. I've recently started cooking and I don't have as much material as I'd like. In this case I don't have a machine so I don't know if I can do the same steps for Levain Bakery cookies, but with electric rods... Thank you very much in advance for your super generosity and good work in the kitchen. A hug from Gran Canaria.
Hello Romina, for more I would do with rods the butter with the sugar but then I would do everything by hand. With a wooden spatula or spoon and you're done. You'll see how rich. A big kiss and that's it, and you'll tell
Loleta Hello!
Where do you buy the chocolate nuggets?
Thanks :)
I buy them on amazon and they're Belgian chocolate. If you go to my Amazon store tab, you'll see them. It's these
https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0794VMZ8G/?ref=exp_loleta_dp_vv_d
A hug and happy day,
Hello!
At what point does the vanilla extract get?
As the video says when the eggs are added. I've written it too. Thanks for letting me know. A hug and you'll see how rich
Hello, good day, I have made them, they are delicious, but I have the doubt if the butter is somewhat soft in the center? Or so they are, I've never tried the originals. Thanks a lot.
Hello Araceli, they are soft in the center yes, golden and crispy on the edges and soft in the center. They are the most these cookies. Thank you for writing
With yeast powder do you mean baker's yeast or Royal powders? Thank you
Hello Cris, yeast powder or baking powder always refers to Royal type yeast. Baker's yeast is fresh yeast or dried baker's yeast and is neither the same nor good for the same thing. So for cookies you need Royal-type yeast. A pretty hug and you'll tell me. You'll see how rich!
Hey Loleta, excuse me, what's the pastry flour? I don't get it by that name, at least one brand or something more specific per fa :)
Hello Fatima, l,a pastry flour is a flour with a little less protein than white wheat flour, it is a loose flour, whiter and lighter than white wheat flour but if you do not find it use normal wheat flour. They sell it at the supermarket and I sell it using the Gallo brand. One kiss and you'll tell me about the cookies. Use the flour you use you'll get super rich you'll see
https://www.google.com/search?q=harina+de+reposter%C3%ADa&sxsrf=ALeKk01ZAWakIgJT1gtDFZjyWrHI1-3AvA:1605455673867&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0u5K59ITtAhUGxRQKHX7aDvAQ_AUoAnoECBUQBA&biw=1680&bih=806#spd=7087723309724270266
Hello. Is yeast powder Royal? Thank you.
Hello Bryanas, yes the yeast powder is the Royal type yeast. A hug and you'll see how rich
Loleta the flour only so we order it, or will it have another name or characteristic? Here they sell all-purpose flour in the supermarket as little as... and the other one there may be but by another name
Pue uses only all-purpose flour. Here in the supermarket there is white wheat flour and flour for pastry. But if you can't find it, use white wheat flour and nothing else. Besooo
Hello Loleta: The discovery in Canal Cocina, made me follow your recipes and also recently acquired your book: Loleta by Loleta de Ediciones Anaya (2020) I have already made the cookies of Levain Bake and it was highly praised! And I will continue to prepare your recipes for the 6 of us from the family that we are: Father from Malaga, mother and three Brazilian children and Colombian daughter-in-law. Thank you and a hug.
Oh Marly! But what a great illusion please. Thank you very much for your beautiful words. YOU CAN'T imagine the happy thing that has made me read to you. I send you jun besazo
Hello! I made this recipe and I liked it a lot! If I added a tablespoon of peanut butter or hazelnut that I love, would it have the same texture or would I have to change the proportions? Thank you in advance!
Hi Patricia, you would have to change the amount of butter and still the texture would change. A hug and thank you very much for writing,
Hello! Is it possible that hazelnut butter can be used in this recipe?
It is possible but the taste will vary. A hug and thank you very much for writing,