The Great Choc-Chip Cookie Comp: Levain Bakery

Ever since I started to acknowledge my love for chocolate chip cookies, I began looking for the BEST cookies sold in bakeries across the US. That’s when I found Levain.

Levain bakery is known for GIANT, gooey, thick chocolate chip cookies. I used to DREAM about the day I got to taste these cookies, and when I finally took a trip to NYC to taste them, I wasn’t disappointed. 

I wanted to find a way to incorporate a “Levain” style cookie in this comp, and that’s when I found Delish.com’s “Copycat Levain Bakery Cookies.” The perfect recipe for me to add to the mix.

These are made in perhaps the most unconventional order I’ve seen so far. For starters, it begins with cold butter; this is used to prevent the cookies from spreading too much, giving that stacked, “scone” look. Once you mix the butter with the sugars, the “mix-in’s” go next.

The chocolate chips and roughly chopped walnuts get coated in this buttery, sugary mixture, and then the dry ingredients get added in. Once they’re mixed, the dough takes on a crumble, cookie powder of sorts. The eggs, oddly enough, get added in last; this is to prevent excess mixing to keep the cookie structure stacked tall.

These cookies are SUPPOSED to be 6oz; they’re supposed to be massive, after all. However, for the sake of having enough dough for the family to try, as WELL as enough to save for the future, I made these cookies 3 oz instead and adjusted the baking times accordingly. 

After chilling and poppin them in the oven, the cookies were LARGE and IN CHARGE, ready for rating.

The Look: They looked pretty close to the OG Levain cookies, which was impressive. They’re big, golden, and look LOADED with chocolate chips. The bottoms got a little browned, but that could’ve been due to my “smaller” cookie shape. 8.5/10

Crunchy Chew: These cookies aren’t “chewy” per say, but they’ve got that crispy outside and gooey inside. These are a liiitttle cakey for my taste, but SO close to the perfect consistency. 8.5/10

Chip to Dough Ratio: These cookies included walnuts, and for the sake of this review I felt it best to include them. However, had the walnuts been replaced with MORE chocolate chips, the ratio would’ve been perfect. The chocolate chips were DEFINITELY prominent…just could’ve used a wee bit more. 9/10

Overall Taste: I LOVE the gooeyness, and the dough itself is the perfect vehicle to highlight the chocolate chips. However, the dough itself isn’t THAT exciting; a bit cakey and a bit plain. But overall still a yummy cookie…and the size definitely earns it bonus points. 8.5/10

Wow Factor: The process of making the dough definitely spices things up, and between the massive size and both the chocolate chips AND walnuts, these earn quite the brownie points in my book. 9/10

FINAL SCORE: 8.7/10

These land…somewhere in the middle. I LOVED a lot of elements of these cookies, but also saw a LOT of bits I could improve upon. Overall, a SOLID flavor and SOLID cookie!