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

Cookies, Dessert

1 comment »

23 Responses to “Banana Split Cupcake”

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1

stephchows — September 15, 2009 at 12:47 pm

Great cupcake hero entry!!! yum!
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2

oneordinaryday — September 15, 2009 at 2:04 pm

You’re right – it’s a freaking cute cupcake! I especially love that frosting and how you got it to look like a scoop of ice cream. Nicely done!
This is my first CH and I can’t wait till the voting begins! : )
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3

Amanda — September 15, 2009 at 2:49 pm

Wow, what a yummy looking cupcake! Great idea!
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4

oneparticularkitchen — September 15, 2009 at 4:14 pm

This is ADORABLE!! I love it!
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5

Xiaolu — September 15, 2009 at 5:08 pm

Gorgeous cupcake, Jen! I love how the cherry stands out. How do you get that black background if you don’t mind me asking? I’m pretty new to this food photography thing 8)
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6

Amy Kingman — September 15, 2009 at 5:41 pm

Yummmm!!!!!
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7

Jen — September 15, 2009 at 5:51 pm

Xiaolu – It’s actually just my black table. I’ve also had luck using a plain black piece of construction paper (most of my backgrounds are the 12×12 scrap-booking papers) or a black towel to get the background all black.

Here is an example using paper, and one using a towel.
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8

Xiaolu — September 15, 2009 at 5:59 pm

Thanks! That’s really helpful.
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9

Joanna — September 15, 2009 at 8:28 pm

Yum! Great idea 🙂
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10

Stephanie Wagner — September 15, 2009 at 10:44 pm

Awesome idea!
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11

bcallegra — September 16, 2009 at 2:04 am

Very creative and it looks great!
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12

The Novice Chef — September 16, 2009 at 3:15 am

What a cute idea! I love it!! And I know my nieces would be in love!
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13

nutmegnanny — September 16, 2009 at 3:33 am

Great idea…they look delicious!
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14

jesstyler — September 16, 2009 at 4:08 am

holy deliciousness! I NEED one of those! 🙂
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15

Kerstin — September 16, 2009 at 4:48 am

How creative, I love them! So cute and tasty with that cherry on top!
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16

Ingrid — September 16, 2009 at 3:14 pm

Very cute looking! I like your idea.
~ingrid
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17

lifeoftheparty — September 16, 2009 at 7:25 pm

These cupcakes are pure genius… you’ve definitely got my vote!
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18

Jigginjessica — September 17, 2009 at 12:34 am

Cute idea! What a great entry!
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19

thegreatpantryraid — September 17, 2009 at 7:37 pm

Wow – super cute! A lot of work, I’m sure, but such a big payoff! Great job!
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20

Kami — September 17, 2009 at 8:32 pm

So stinkin’ cute!
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21

Caroline — September 19, 2009 at 6:23 am

Very cute, indeed and loving the pineapple in the frosting. I can just imagine how delicious this would taste. What a great idea.
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22

Keiara Wells — September 19, 2009 at 5:57 pm

MMM, it looks fantastic! I’ll have to try this one 🙂 xox
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23

Sweet and Savory — October 15, 2009 at 5:55 am

These cupcakes are precious besides, I am sure, being delicious. What a great idea.

Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies