If you love thick chocolate chip cookies with gooey centers and crisp edges, this recipe is for you. Inspired by the famous Levain Bakery cookies, these oversized, bakery-style cookies are tall, rich, and require two hands to eat without the trip to NYC.
After standing in line at Levain and later discovering similar jumbo cookies closer to home, I knew I had to recreate them in my own kitchen minus the nuts (no thank you!) and specialty ingredients. After extensive testing (and a lot of cookies), this recipe delivers everything people love about Levain-style cookies: height, chew, and total indulgence made with everyday ingredients.
What Makes These Cookies So Thick?
These cookies stay thick because of a few key techniques that prevent them from spreading too much in the oven.
First, the ratio of ingredients is designed to support a tall cookie. The dough contains plenty of flour and just the right amount of fat, which gives the cookies structure while still keeping them soft and gooey in the center. I’ll explain more below.
Second, the recipe uses both baking soda and baking powder. Baking soda reacts with the brown sugar to create lift, while baking powder gives the cookies an extra boost so they rise instead of spreading flat.
Another important factor is the large dough balls. Each cookie is made with about 6 ounces of dough, which allows the outside to set while the inside stays thick and soft.
Finally, chilling the dough helps solidify the butter before baking. This slows down how quickly the cookies spread in the oven, helping them keep their tall, bakery-style shape.
The result is exactly what we’re going for: thick, gooey chocolate chip cookies with crisp edges and soft centers just like the famous bakery versions.
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