3/10/10

levain bakery cc cookie

levain cc cookies round 2 7

Can I share a food obsession with you? Have you heard of Levain Bakery in NYC? To me, they have some of the best cc cookies. They are thick, really thick cookies loaded with chocolate chips and walnuts. A couple years ago I tried to clone their chocolate chip cookies, thought I was pretty close and then closed the book on it. Until now when I tried to clone them again, this time using a different type of butter: European butter. I think I am a tad bit closer to perfecting a clone-like version of this infamous chocolate chip cookie. The European butter did make the cookie taste far better. European butters have a higher butterfat content--so naturally anything with a higher butterfat is good for baking. levain cc cookies round 2 6

What do these taste like? First off, they are huge, can't tell from the photo, but they are about 4-5 inches across and 2 inches thick; they are like a shortbread, but moister cookie dough, a tiny bit dry, very buttery tasting, nice crispy outside, and with the addition of the European butter now it's not so dry.

Also made them into bar shapes (using a pan), then did a step further by dipping them in dark chocolate.
Seriously, it was that good, one could just open a bakery and JUST sell those choco-dipped bars. levain cc cookies round 2 3

levain bakery cc cookie (clone)
inspired from Levain Bakery NYC & CookieMadness.net
print recipe

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted European butter, (cold & shredded like cheese)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 ts vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour (13 ½ oz)
3/4 ts sea salt
1 and ¼ ts baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda
12 ounces (2 cups) good quality semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts

If using dough right away, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
(It’s best to chill, though; I chilled overnight (note: keep in mind this is a very dry dough, and will be hard to mix once you put the chips and nuts in; I used my hands Take the butter and using a cheese grater, shred the butter into a bowl, put it back in the freezer until ready to use.

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars just until just combined.
Don’t overbeat. Add the egg and vanilla and beat just until incorporated.
Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
When thoroughly mixed, add to batter and stir just until blended.
Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
Divide dough into 12 big 4 oz lumps.
Mold into giant golfballs; do not press flat!
Keep them as balls on the cookie sheets. Bake on ungreased cookies sheets (one sheet at a time). (I chilled my dough balls for 20 minutes BEFORE baking).

Bake times (how I’ve done it the past few times; pick one if you dare):
Put the cookies in a 375 degree oven and set timer for 8 minutes.
When timer rings, without opening oven or removing cookies, reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until cookies appear set.
OR I did mine at 365 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until done. (Mine were done in 18 minutes) Makes 12 (mine made 13)

56 comments:

  1. First, I love the new picture in your header! Second, these look amazing and I'd like one now please.

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  2. The bar cookie with the chocolate is seriously the work of an evil genius!!! I need to try that!

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  3. Oh my gosh, you're totally teasing me! They look incredible. I love biiig cookies! Nice job!

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  4. They look really thick and delicious. I'd love one right now!

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  5. I love big, thick cookies!I've played around a lot with the baking soda/powder combo to get it just right. I have also found (like you) that forming them into balls by hand really helps! They look AMAZING! Nice work Dawn~!

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  6. Oh man, those bars look brutal. I want them all, now, for dinner.

    I also want high butterfat butter! Although that's kind of a strange thing, "high butterfat butter". You'd think butter would be all butterfat...

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  7. Dawn,
    Your cookies look way better than Levain's. I want one of your cookies not theirs. Yummy plus!

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  8. Que buenas galletas. Te quedan de miedo. Un saludo

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  9. I know they won't give out their recipe but this looks wonderfully similar..yum!

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  10. Oh my gosh you dipped them in chocolate...I may die. Beautiful looking cookies!

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  11. I feel immense triumph when I nail a dish I had and enjoyed and reproduce at home. Have another cookie, you deserve it!

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  12. oh great..no I have to go on the hunt for some fancy schmancy butter. When me and good butter meet..its not a good thing, we will see if it even makes it into the cookies! LOL

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  13. *droooooool* Is it Easter yet????? I can't wait for lent to be over, so I can have a nice big spoonful of chocolate. hahaha...

    I usually prefer my cc cookies thick and chunky. Mmmmmm...

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  14. I can't wait to try this new version - looks delicious......

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  15. These look outrageously delicious! I love that you dipped them in chocolate. I've never seen that done before. Bravo, these rock:D

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  16. I think the best way to eat a cc cookie is when they are thick and loaded with chocolate. Yours look like perfection to me. I think we need to get together to taste test these...quality control and all....with a bottle of wine.

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  17. Oh. Dawn. I left the munchkin with my husband and went straight to the kitchen to make these. There's *no* way these make it to the weekend :-)

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  18. You had me at chocolate dipped.

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  19. I've never had them, but I'm obsessed nonetheless. Is that weird? Copy cat or no, these look divine. One with chocolate dip, please.

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  20. big ol' blob of a great cookie, dawn. and wow--chocolate-dipped chocolate chip cookies? be still my heart!

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  21. Good gracious! Kicking it up a notch with the dipped cookie bars, is certainly an understatement!! These look unreal!

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  22. Scrumptious cookies!!!

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  23. you are making me so hungry!

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  24. HOly Crap girl! Looks beyond incredible!

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  25. I love big, thick, moist cookies - these have me drooling. I've never tried baking with European butter.

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  26. Sweet mother of God - talking about kicking it up a notch with chocolate covered chocolate chip cookies! These look sick (as in the good sick) hehe

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  27. Popped in from Jessica's to say hi! Those look amazing!

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  28. Do you think they would still be good if I left out the nuts? Hubs is allergic, but these babies look AWESOME!

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  29. Looks so good. This is how I like my cc cookies. I am not a flat cc cookie fan at all. I made mine with vanilla pudding in the mix. It really helps the batter and cookie.

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  30. Oh yum! I love CC cookies, and I like them fat and chewy. I was just watching FLN this morning and they were following French butter from grass to table. It sounded heavenly ;)

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  31. I have not had the pleasure of eating cookies and other goodies from this bakery but I can see that you have achieved the second best thing!

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  32. I'll have a few of the chocolate dipped ones please!

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  33. You had me at "they're like shortbread!"

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  34. Oh! Wow. Adding this to the list of spots to hit up in NY.

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  35. These look delish...fantastic and lovely blog
    cheers and fantastic weekend....

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  36. chocolate dipped? You sure did kick it up a notch!

    ***
    I don't know how the blog was taken down. I don't know if she removed it (she can always change the url and open it up again- ugh!) or if blogger removed it. I do know it helped to call her ass out on what she was doing wrong.

    Can you believe I also got an email from someone else who said that they thought I handled the situation immaturely, was classless and I overreacted. She wasn't stealing or robbing, she was "sharing". Then she went on to say that blog was full of fattening recipes and I should consider healthier varieties. THEN she said that because I linked to the other blog, she subscribed to it because she liked what she saw. So I let her have it.

    I swear the nerve of some people! She was probably the woman's mother who was supporting her daughter's plagerizing acts.

    On another note I hope you gets yours in the end :-)

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  37. I like my cookies thick like that!
    This coco dip, I would like to try~~

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  38. Two inches high? That is quite a thing of beauty. And dipped in chocolate, it's a decadence that far surpasses any other CCC in history. Wow.

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  39. I'll take 3 bar shaped ones dipped in chocolate. love when you kick things up!

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  40. We'll be polishing off the second batch shortly. Thanks for sharing such an addictive recipe :)

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  41. I love their chocolate chip cookies! Is there a recipe for them in their cookbook? I think I saw a copy floating around Butterfield market the other day. I'll take a look for you next time I'm over there.

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  42. These look incredible. How important is it that the butter be shredded? I don't have a proper food processor, so do you think these would be okay if I cubed the butter or something instead?

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  43. lauren: i used a cheese grater to grate my cheese, do you have one of those?
    if not, i guess you could cube it, maybe make sure it's room temp though.

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  44. I do have a grater, yes. Awesome! I just wanted to be sure. I'd hate to cube the butter and then have them come out badly. Thank you!

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  45. Love that you made bars and dipped them in chocolate! What a great idea!

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  46. I just found your site and I am loooooving it. Did I miss how you made the bars? What size pan did you bake them in and for how long? How many bars does one batch make and about how much chocolate did you use to dip them in? I'd hate to have a chocolate shortage!
    Thanks!

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  47. I am making these for the third time now. They are DEFINITELY the best chocolate chip cookies in the world! xo

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  48. I hope it's ok with you if i Use thie post in my Copycat Club monthly round-up. Will be posted Jan 7/11. see more details on my blog Buttercream barbie

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  49. Oh my goodness! I CANNOT wait to make these!! Thank you so much, and what a rockin' blog you've got going here.

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  50. Just made these to use up some of the eggs in my fridge that are getting toward the end of their shelf life...HOLY HEAVENLY. Thank you, girl, for this deliciousness. Now the hard part is gonna be not eating them all before I have a chance to give them to friends... :D

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  51. I just made these...
    and I have finally found the PERFECT chocolate chip cookie recipe! I have searched high and low, left and right, trying so many recipes that always fail to live up to my thick & gooey standards. Thank you so so so much for finally ending my search :)

    Note: I halved the recipe and used regular, salted butter. I also did not chill the dough beforehand, although I did chill the dough balls for about 15 minutes before baking. They turned out absolutely perfect; crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and thick and amazing.

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  52. Thanks for the awesome recipe! I made them and they're fantastic!

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