These thick and gooey chocolate chip cookies have a crisp exterior and are filled with semisweet chocolate and walnuts in every bite.
I'm sure many of you are familiar with the incredible Levain chocolate chip walnut cookie. While they did open a location in Boston, for a long time I was only able to get one during a trip to New York and I've always wanted to make a version for myself to have at home. This isn't quite a dupe, but it is absolutely heavily inspired by their delicious, fan favorite cookie adapted for your home kitchen.
I normally am not someone who goes for a thick cookie, I typically go for a medium and chewy cookie. There are some important exceptions though. With this cookie, you'll find that the exterior is crisp while still being buttery, and the inside is gooey while not being too underbaked.
To get the exact texture and bake right, it only took two rounds. For the dough though, it took many, many rounds of different chilling and bake temperature tests to get it just right. Eventually I landed on an extended chill in the fridge and baking at 350. For me, baking at a higher temperature left me with too much crunch on the exterior, however it was still delicious so you can absolutely play around with this a bit yourself to get your cookies just right!
I will always share if it's unnecessary to use a stand mixer for a recipe. For this one, while you can use a hand mixer I highly recommend using a stand mixer if it's an option. We use a high ratio of flour and mix-ins so to get everything properly incorporated without overmixing, a stand mixer really is the key.
To make your dough, you'll start by browning butter. First you'll brown one stick (8 tablespoons or 113g) of unsalted butter, stir in an additional 2 tablespoons and then let this butter come back to room temperature. I like to do about 20 minutes in the fridge and then 20 minutes out at room temperature. You can always do this step ahead though by browning and then chilling your butter, and then just let the butter come back to room temperature when you're ready to bake.
The ingredients in this cookie are intentionally simple. There really is nothing you wouldn't see in your typical cookie recipe. If you can get vanilla bean paste, I think it adds a really nice vanilla flavor to the cookie but vanilla extract works great too. For the chocolate, I like to use half chocolate chips and half roughly chopped chocolate and as always this is baker's choice. The walnuts are also an important piece to this cookie. I am not usually one for chopped nuts in a cookie, but the walnuts have the perfect texture paired with the crisp cookie exterior and melty chocolate.
Once your dough is made, you'll form it into 8 large portions. About 1/3 cup or 100g per cookie. I like to form the dough into a ball, break it in half, then smoosh the halves back together with the "broken" sides now on the outside, which you can see in the photo below. This helps to give the textured top like what you see in some bakery cookies. From there, you'll chill the dough uncovered for about 2 hours, and then you can bake right away but ideally you'll cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight before baking.
These cookies are best enjoyed when fresh baked but they will stay fresh for a few days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature. If you do have them after a day or so, the best way to refresh them is to place into the oven for a few minutes to warm up. You can also freeze the dough for about a month and bake from frozen - I share guidance for this at the end of the recipe.
As I mentioned, while these aren't meant to be an exact dupe of the Levain cookie (partially due to the addition of brown butter), the size does play into the texture similar to how it does at the bakery. While you can make these in a smaller size than directed, know that it will impact the bake and the texture of the center though I'm sure they'd still be delicious. These are ever so slightly smaller than the bakery's cookies but still larger than your average homemade chocolate chip cookie.
While I will never turn down a trip to one of my favorite bakeries, I do love that this gives me the option to enjoy a cookie as delicious as this with all of the carb details I need to dose my insulin properly - something that can be hard to do when visiting a local bakery that doesn't provide those details. I hope you enjoy making these at home as much as I did!
Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (113g) + 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, separated
1/2 cup (96g) light brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (72g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
1 3/4 cup (210g) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz (1 1/3 cup) semisweet chocolate - half chips, half chunks
3/4 cup (90g) walnuts
Prep time: About 30 minutes
Bake time: 13-15 minutes
Chill time: 2 hours or overnight
Servings: 8 cookies
Equipment:
Heavy bottomed non stick pot
Cookie sheets
Stand mixer with paddle attachment
Spatula
Parchment paper
1/3 cup measuring cup, or scale for portioning your dough
Cooking instructions:
Brown your butter. Place your 8 tablespoons (113g) of butter in a pot or pan (I recommend using a nonstick heavy bottomed pot) on the stovetop on a low to medium heat. After it melts, you'll hear it begin to crackle. Stir the melted butter and watch it carefully as it can burn easily. You'll start to smell a nutty aroma (you'll know it when it happens). Once you see the color turn to a light brown or amber, remove your pan from the heat and transfer your butter and all of the brown bits at the bottom into a large, heat proof bowl. Stir in your extra two tablespoons right away until melted (together the final weight should be about 125g), and then in order to get your butter to room temperature place your butter into the fridge for about 20 minutes and then leave it out for about 20 minutes. You can also brown your butter ahead of time and just bring it to room temperature before you start with the next steps.
Into your stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment secured, add your room temperature browned butter, and your light brown and granulated sugars. Mix on a medium to high speed for a minute or two until lightened in color. Scrape down your bowl and paddle attachment.
Add in your vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract) and your egg and additional egg yolk. Turn your mixer back on at a medium to high speed for about two minutes until your mixture lightens more and is slightly fluffy. Scrape down your bowl all the way to the bottom and the paddle attachment.
Into a separate bowl, measure out your dry ingredients - all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix together. In a separate bowl, measure out and add in your chocolate chips, and your roughly chopped chocolate bar. Measure your walnuts as well before chopping them up, and add to your bowl of chocolate.
Add your flour mixture into your stand mixer and turn your mixer on at the lowest speed. Once a shaggy dough forms, add in your chocolate and walnuts. Turn your mixer back on at the lowest speed and continue mixing until your dough forms and your chocolate and walnuts are evenly distributed.
Measure out your dough into scoops that are 1/3 cup in size, or about 100g each. This should make about 8 cookies. Add them to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and place into the fridge to chill, uncovered, for 2 hours. You can bake at this point, but preferably after your 2 hour chill, cover the dough with plastic wrap or place into an airtight container and chill for at least 6 additional hours, up to 24 hours or overnight.
When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. If you need to use two cookie sheets, be sure to bake just one cookie sheet at a time. Bake for about 13-16 minutes, or until golden brown on the top. Allow your cookies to cool for 15-30 minutes right on the warm baking sheet and then enjoy!
Your baked cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container for a few days at room temperature, but they will taste best fresh baked and enjoyed the same day you made them. To reheat your cookies, I recommend putting them into a 350 degree oven for a few minutes. You can also freeze some or all of your dough for about a month to bake later. To do this, place your scooped and sugar rolled cookie dough onto a baking sheet and into the freezer for 12-24 hours. Then, transfer your frozen dough to a plastic bag or airtight container and store in the freezer. To bake from frozen, set your oven to 350 degrees and bake as instructed, knowing you may need to add a couple of minutes to the overall time.
Carb and serving info:
Servings: 8 cookies
Carbs per serving (1 of 8): 60
Carbs for full recipe: 482
Carbs from chocolate: 136
Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.