Copycat Levain Bakery Lemon Cookies from Salted Sugared Spiced

Copycat Levain Bakery Lemon Cookies - made dough July 13, 2024 from Salted Sugared Spiced 

1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar

2/3 cup (134g) light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

Zest from one large lemon

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon paste (I used Nielsen Massey)

2 1/4 cups (293g) all-purpose, unbleached flour

1 cup (118g) cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

16 ounces (453g) white chocolate chips

1. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter for approximately 1 minute.
2. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, approximately 4 minutes.
3. Add egg, egg yolk, lemon zest, and lemon paste. Beat until well combined.
4. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to the mixing bowl. Beat on low-medium speed until the dry ingredients are just combined.
5. Fold in the white chocolate chips. 
6. Roll in 8 balls, slightly more than 6 ounces (171g) each. Break each ball in half and press sides into each other to create a round ball with a top of the craggly edges.
7. Place balls of dough onto a platter or baking sheet. Cover and chill for 60-90 minutes.
8. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees (F).
9. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Note: You will bake only one sheet at a time.
10. Place 4 balls of dough on a baking sheet.
11. Turn a baking sheet upside down. Place the baking sheet with the balls of dough on top of it. Insert onto the middle rack of the oven and bake for 17-18 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. Rotate the baking sheet midway through the baking process and check for doneness at the 16 minute mark.
12. Remove from the oven and let the cookies remain on the hot cookie sheet for at least 8 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
13. Bake the remaining cookie sheet.
14. Let the cookies cool completely.

I have yet to try Levain Bakery's Lemon Cookies since they only recently released this offering and I haven't been back to New York City or Levain Bakery in years (why no, I'm not bitter about that at all <<<< lies)

So I was glad to find this copycat recipe for it. Since I haven't tried the real thing, I can't tell you how faithfully this replicates Levain's. However, I can tell you, this is an excellent cookie. Like, I regret only withholding one cookie for the taste test and shipping the rest off in military care package. Y'all, I don't even care how selfish that makes me sound, lol.

I loved this cookie. It made getting the pricey bottle of Nielsen Massey lemon paste completely worth it. The texture was crisp at the edges but also somewhat throughout the cookie without sacrificing the chewiness of it. The lemon flavor paired with the white chocolate was perfection. Remember that I'm not a big white chocolate fan either but it worked tremendously well here. Freaking delicious.

So delicious, in fact, that I bought a Costco-sized bag of lemons so I can make this recipe again. And again.