If the title “better-than-your-bakery chocolate chip cookies” wasn’t so long, that would be the true name of this recipe. Loaded with chocolate chips, these jumbo cookies have a gooey center when fresh and hot, and a soft thick center when cooled. Inspired from the famous Levain Bakery and Crumbl cookie stores spreading wide, these cookies will save you quite a few dollars and I think they taste just as good (dare I say, even better).
After just having my first baby, I learned very quickly that there were 3 very important priorities in my time at home: snuggles, a solid nap time routine, and most definitely COOKIES. I would be embarrassed if I told you how many batches of cookies I made in a single day…okay fine I’ll tell you. Four! I put on my most precise baker’s thinking hat and got to work to find the most incredible cookie recipe.
Here’s the thing about cookies just to be fair. They’re are lots of different styles out there of just a chocolate chip cookie. You have your soft and chewy, thin and crispy, thick and cake-like…I could go on. I also absolutely believe that there are different cookies for different kinds of occasions. Some cookies work better with ice cream sandwiches and some work better with a glass of milk. That’s to say, I tried to find comparable styles to make the competition fair. When I liked different things about each of them, I decided to pull in what I loved and leave out what I didn’t, and as a result, this recipe was born. So where does this recipe fall?
When making the full 6 oz jumbo size, these loaded cookies make you feel all the warm cozy feels. They’re impressive enough on their own to make the perfect gifts. I like to put a single cookie in a cellophane bag, tie it with a cute ribbon and note, and ta-dah. It’s the perfect ‘thinking of you’ gift. They’re so big no one is wondering why you gave them just one cookie – because it’s basically 5 cookies in 1. They make amazing smaller cookies as well though. It’s still my go-to recipe that I make a little smaller when I need to feed a crowd.
What makes this recipe work so well? First, the secret to a long lasting soft cookie is corn starch. It also helps add stability to the cookie and is what helps it keep it shape. Many recipes use cake flour in the Levain Bakery copycat recipes which has a very similar effect as just adjusting the flour ratios and adding more corn starch. I’ve found in trying both methods (cake flour vs not) I can’t tell a difference, so anytime I can simplify the recipe, I go that route.
Other aspects that helps keep this cookie so stable are the cold ingredients and the mass amount of chocolate chips. Because the ingredients we are using are cold, there is no need to chill the dough (yay for simplicity again!). As far as the chocolate chips, you can also choose to add nuts to this. In fact, the original Levain cookie has them! My family usually opts out of nuts, so I didn’t jump at including them in my recipe, but if you’re a walnut fan, I recommend it! Feel free to also mix up the chip types. I added butterscotch chips to one version and we fell in love with that too. So don’t be afraid to get creative! Enjoy!
Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
- ¾ (150 g) brown sugar
- ½ (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups (360 g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled or weighed
- 3 TB (22 g) corn starch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (optional*)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F for jumbo cookies or 375° F for smaller cookies.
- Place cubed butter and sugars into a stand mixer and blend well until butter and sugars are fully incorporated.
- Add vanilla and eggs one at a time until blended well with the sugar-butter mixture.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (except chocolate chips). This is optional to mix in a separate bowl first, but I like to make sure all the dry components are evenly balanced and mixed to prevent an uneven blend when it hits the wet mixture. Combine the dry mixture with the wet, and mix on low until the two are just combined. You don't want to over mix this portion. Over mixing can cause flat cookies.
- Add chocolate chips and walnuts* and pulse gently until mixed in.
- Weigh out dough balls to be about 6oz each (about ¾ cup per ball). Place 4 cookie balls on each sheet (8 balls total) and bake for 10-12 minutes.* (See note for smaller cookies)I typically do no not usually NEED to chill mine, but chilling does ensure that it holds a great thick shape.
- Let the cookies rest on the pan for at least 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
- These will stay fresh in an airtight container for several days (but edible for much longer). These also freeze great. Let cool completely, then put them in an airtight bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. You can also freeze the preformed dough balls as well for an easy way to have fresh hot cookies to pull out whenever!
These cookies are AMAZING! So easy, and SO good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. ????
Yay! So glad you love them! They are a favorite for us too!
I was hesitant about these, as I prefer a fluffy soft cookie to a thick, heavy cookie. I don’t exactly know how she did it, but this had the flavor and satisfaction of a bakery cookie, but the texture was still soft and leaned into my liking somehow. I’m converted. Delicious!
We made these today with leftover candy from our neighbors for beggars night. And homemade caramels leftover from caramel apples Earlier this week. White and semi sweet chips, m&m’s, snickers, Milky Way, 3 musketeers, and caramels. So. Yummy!
That sounds delicious Arriel! Fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing!
Hi! Just wondering if I need to change cooking time or temperature if I’m cooking frozen cooking balls you suggested! Thank you!
No need to change temperature – they will just need a few more minutes! I often leave them out a bit before just popping them in straight frozen, especially if they’re larger. There’s just more of a contrast between a more done outside and a doughy inside if you pop them in frozen, so if you like that then go for it! 🙂 Otherwise just let them sit out a bit before cooking and plan to bake a couple minutes longer because they’ll still be colder. Just start watching them after 10 minutes. Hopefully that helps. Happy baking!
I’m in love with this recipe. I was little skeptical cuz usually all of the recipes I made cookies come super flat. I made this cookies last week and oh my god! Amazing, my family loves them so much. I’m
Looking forward to make the star bread and some other recipes.
If using cake flour instead of AP flour and corn starch, how much would you use? I have a bunch cake flour in my pantry I want to use up.
Great question Deanna! To substitute in cake flour, use 2 cups all purpose flour and 1 cup cake flour in this recipe. Then omit 2 TB of the corn starch (so just adding 1 TB). Happy baking!
Thank you so much!
These are some huge cookies but SO GOOD. I’ve made them a few times and they’ve come out perfect every time. My family loves them! Lo’s recipes never fail me.
How many ounces do you make your smaller cookies?
I make them about 2 oz, a standard size cookie scoop. A medium sized cookie would be about 4tbsp. I love that size too! Nice and generous, without being ginormous 🙂
Baking Temperature and baking time for 110g and 120g cookies?