We have all had that one dish in a restaurant or a bakery in our home city or while traveling where a dish just simply knocks your socks off. When the creativity of the chef or the baker shines through and you simply can’t help but wonder if you can recreate the dish at home.
Some of those experiments sometimes become nearly as good as the original and you feel like you cracked the code on something magical.
The Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies were one such thing for me. And I am not a cookie lover, and I don’t really like sweet things. But this was an exception. These cookies just make you forget all your woes as you bite into them and let the goodness fill your mouth with that perfect bite.
Tips for baking success at high altitude:
This copycat Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookie recipe is adjusted for high altitude. You definitely need to make thicker cookies else they won’t be the copycat.
- Chill the cookies for at least an hour in the freezer before baking. This helps them maintain their chunky shape and they don’t spread out as much. The cookies are thick but not cakey.
- Cream together butter and sugar first. Really. You have to beat it until it resembles creamy texture. If possible
- Not high altitude related but do use the best quality chocolate chips you can buy. They make or break this cookie.
Just like so! Bake the cookies closer to the time you want to eat them. They are best eaten warm.
Other CopyCat Recipes to inspire you:
- Seasons 52 Ginger Mint Agave Soda – Mother Would Know
- Copycat Auntie Anne’s Pretzels – The Redhead Baker
- Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks – Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- French Onion Veggie Burger – Creative Culinary
- Cheesecake Factory’s Chicken Madeira – The Heritage Cook
- Original Chick-fil-A Cole Slaw – Shockingly Delicious
- Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies – Spiceroots
- Classic Crème Brûlée – That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Chocolate chip Walnut cookies
A "copykat" recipe for Levain Bakery cookies " Tested at high altitude
Ingredients
- 1 c butter (2 sticks) cut into small cubes
- 3/4 c brown sugar
- 3/4 c sugar
- 3 c flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 c chocolate chips
- 2 c walnuts chopped
Instructions
In the bowl of your stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugars – both white and brown and the butter cubes, until really creamy
Add in one egg, mix until well incorporated, then add the other egg and mix well again
Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt. Mix until combined.
Add in the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts
Using a very large scoop, divide the dough into 10 equal portions on a cookie tray and cover with a cling wrap
Chill in the freezer for at least an hour
Preheat the oven to 375*F
Spread out the scooped out cookie dough on two baking sheets , 5 on each sheet , leaving some space between them as the cookies will spread out when baking
Bake cookies for 18 minutes, or until tops are browned
Wait a couple of minutes before carefully lifting each cookie onto a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes. Because the cookies are thick, they need extra time to firm up