Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

Monday, November 7, 2011

Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

Have you guys heard of the Secret Recipe Club? If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you’ll notice my monthly posts about it. Being part of the club has been so much fun. I have been loving getting assigned new blogs every month that I have never seen before. It has been a lot of fun and I recommend considering signing up yourself.

This month, I was assigned Bluebonnets and Brownies. If you haven’t seen Amber’s blog, seriously, go check it out. I had a really hard time narrowing down which recipe I wanted to make this month. After playing with a few ideas, I decided on the Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies.

I’ve never had a Levain cookie, but I’ve heard amazing things about their cookies. And honestly, if the cookies that came out of my oven are anything like the ones from the bakery, then they’re worth the praise.

You all know I’ve always been a HUGE fan of Alton Brown’s The Chewy. But honestly, these might be my new favorite chocolate chip cookie. For starters, they’re huge. I used the ice cream scoop that I use to portion cupcake batter for the cookie dough. And just look at how many chocolate chips and walnuts are in each cookie. They’re perfectly chewy on the inside and crisp around the edges. I can’t say enough about these cookies. Seriously, go make them.

Two Years Ago: Baked Pork Chops with Parmesan-Sage Crust
Four Years Ago: Pumpkin Cookies

Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

Yield: 20-24 large cookies

Ingredients:

2 sticks (1 cup) chilled butter
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large cold eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup cake flour
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup 60% bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup toasted chopped walnuts

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl combine flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and corn starch. Whisk for a solid 1-2 minutes until all dry ingredients are well mixed and there are no lumps in the flour mixture.

Cube 1 cup (2 sticks) of chilled butter into 1″ pieces. Put white and brown sugar in a stand mixer bowl or large mixing bowl and mix until well combined and almost all lumps have disappeared. Add cold cubed butter and continue to mix at medium speed. Add eggs, one at a time, continuing mixing until well incorporated.

Add flour mixture to sugar/egg mixture in increments until fully incorporated. Remove from stand mixer and mix in chocolate chips and walnuts by hand.

Refrigerate cookie dough overnight.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, distribute dough onto baking trays lined with parchment paper. For trays with 6 dough balls, bake about 14-15 minutes, 12 minutes for trays with less dough balls. As is the Levain style, the cookies should be removed from the oven when they look slightly underdone. They will continue to cook as they cool.

Recipe from Blue Bonnets and Brownies, originally from Parsley, Sage, Desserts, and Line Drives