Levain Bakery Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies #12 from A Bountiful Kitchen

Levain Bakery Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies #12 - made dough April 7, 2017, modified from A Bountiful Kitchen

I’m back with the Levain Bakery copycat cookies for their chocolate chip cookies, not to be confused with my copycat attempts at their chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Since chocolate chip cookies was on offer for the treat bags for my niece’s fundraising donors, I allowed myself free rein to try new chocolate chip cookie recipes. I can usually tell if one will turn out and I have enough tricks in my arsenal to make sure it’ll be good enough for a goodie bag even if it’s my first time trying a recipe.

I’ve already posted most, if not all of the tricks, but to sum up:

Start with cold butter (and only butter, no margarine!), especially if you’re using a stand mixer. Butter warms up in the mixing/creaming process and if you start with room temperature butter, all the subsequent mixing can make your butter too warm and your dough oily.

Always portion out the dough balls then chill or freeze. Bake from frozen dough. This helps prevent them from spreading too much.

I added my own twist to all the new recipes I tried by substituting ¼ cup turbinado or raw cane sugar for ¼ cup of the granulated sugar. You don’t have to do that if you don’t have turbinado sugar on hand but I like it for the slight grit it gives the cookies as well as it seems to cut a little bit of the sweetness.

As always, err on the side of underbaking the cookies. If the edges are golden and the middles are just barely not raw anymore, it’s time to take the cookies out. Let them cool completely to get the best texture. I used to like chocolate chip cookies 10 minutes out of the oven but with my switch to thick, chewy, underbaked cookies, I find I like the texture best when it’s firmed and set up. An hour should be just right, if you can wait that long. The chips are still soft but the texture has set.

As copycats go, this made for a great chocolate chip cookie, although I don’t know that I would consider it a Levain copycat per se. But that’s partly because I’ve made so many copycats and it’s been awhile since I’ve had a Levain original chocolate chip cookie so my taste buds are confused. When I was in New York, I became so enamored of their chocolate chocolate chip that it eclipsed the regular chocolate chip cookie in my sensory memory. Still and all, I liked this cookie and I’d recommend it. Just watch that baking time. 

1 cup butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup cake flour
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips

1. Cream butter and sugars on medium speed until blended and creamy, 2-3 minutes.
2. Add eggs, one a a time, and vanilla, beating briefly after each addition until just combined.
3. Scrape down sides of bowl. Combine cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and whisk together. Add half of dry ingredients to butter mixture and beat until just combined. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. Do not overbeat.
4. Fold in chocolate chips by hand. Portion dough into generous golf-ball-size dough balls or into 6-ounce portions for true Levain copycats. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space chilled or frozen dough balls on baking sheets,
6. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until edges are golden and top is barely set. Let cool on cookie sheets for 15 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.