Please, if you’re going to be bothered by the sheer massiveness of these cookies, you may want to stop reading right now. I’ve given you fair warning. These are cookies for the cookie monsters of the world. And those are my people.

How it Began...

On a somewhat mild day in February, Seth and I were in Manhattan enjoying a multi-hour walk across the city, our usual activity when visiting, when we made our way to the famous Levain Bakery. Famous for its massive, decadent chocolate chip walnut cookies which I’ve seen photos of for many years, but never the real thing in person. And since they’re not gluten free, I simply wanted to see the shop, and stay away from the goods. I know. How sad...

However! My cookie-loving soul brightened recently when I learned (through Instagram of course) that Levain was now making a gluten free version of their famous cookie. 😮

My heart almost burst when I found out that their GF cookies were still available during our NYC visit. The only caveat? These gems were only being sold at a specific location. So, our hours-long trek had a destination!

After a leisurely brunch nearby, we made our way to Levain, got in line, waited (with baited breath), mentally prepared for the awesomeness to come, then ordered (two for each of us), paid, received the cookies, and then sighed a big sigh of relief. That. Cookie. Was. Awesome. Giant. And gluten free. 😉

About to eat the GF chocolate chip cookie at Levain Bakery.

How it Continued...

We came back from New York, went back to work, and I just couldn’t shake that feeling. I missed those cookies! I wish I had bought more than two (how about a dozen?). I wish I had taken more photos. I wish I had not finished them on the car ride home.

What now? Why not just go back and buy more? Well, due to living a pretty normal life I work full-time and can’t hop an Amtrak (or flight) every time my Manhattan (and cookie) cravings surface (and that’s often). But! I am a capable baker and knew that it couldn’t be impossible to potentially re-create the Levain gluten free cookies at home. Mission Not Impossible. My project research began.

For what felt like a few weeks (I think it was just days), I researched how to make these infamous cookies. I wasn’t seeking a gluten free recipe, I was merely looking for the best recipe that replicated the cookies I was craving daily. I’d worry about that gluten free part later, because that’s what I do. I rarely seek (or select) gluten free recipes. I adapt them to be GF.

Eventually, I found a recipe that had glowing reviews, easy instructions, amazing photos of the finished product, and an overall positive attitude. This person was equally obsessed with the Levain cookies and had set out to make the copycat version, but not gluten free. So, I knew what needed to be done. 😏

How it Went...

Whoah. Now that’s a cookie.

Let’s get to the details on how it all went down and how I have now made my favorite chocolate chip cookie. I say that word, “favorite,” a lot, but this time I mean it. Well, I mean it an extra lot this time. ;)

Source: Recipe by Melissa Stadler of The Modern Honey. Find (and save) the recipe, here.

I followed the instructions as written, but used Cup4Cup Gluten Free Flour instead of regular (and used Cup4Cup again instead of the recommended cake flour).

No other changes were made. I adapted this non-GF recipe to be gluten free.

GF Baking Process + Tips:

- Follow the instructions that request using cold butter cut into small pieces for mixing with the sugar. Trust! It works beautifully.

- There’s no vanilla in the recipe and that’s OK. On the other hand, there is cornstarch. It’s the trick that makes them thick!

- I used Guittard Super Cookie Chips which are extra-large semisweet chips. They melted perfectly. If you prefer your cookies with chips that don’t melt as much, then I’d recommend the Guittard standard chocolate chips (not a wafer or bar). Prefer pools of chocolate? Use Guittard semisweet baking bars (several of them) and chop them up before incorporating into the dough.

- The recipe requests chopped walnuts which I purchased at Wegman’s. If you can’t find them pre-chopped, buy a bag and chop them yourself!

Beautiful cookie dough. Chips, walnuts, and all. I snuck a bite before baking. ;)

- The recipe states the dough will make eight cookies which is exactly how many I made. Pre-oven, the balls of dough more closely resembled baseballs in size. Very. Big.

- Due to the size, I only baked two cookies per baking sheet. I didn’t want them to run into each other. Even though they are advertised as not spreading much while baking, they do, so better to be safe than sorry. It’s worth the extra effort!

- Gluten Free Cookies, I’ve found, spread more in the oven than their non-GF friends. And even though this recipe, when made GF, yields a very thick cookie, it is bigger (wider) overall than the non-GF one since the dough spread slightly more while baking. It’s OK.

Fresh from the oven! Lots of space for each cookie.

- Cook time! Recipe states between 9-12 minutes. My final bake time was approximately eleven minutes. Since they’re supposed to be undercooked/gooey in the center, I leaned toward less than the maximum time.

Just watch them closely because you want the edges to be more golden than the center so that the middle is as “underdone” as it’s supposed to be.

Moments after being pulled from the oven.

- You must let these cookies rest, on their baking sheet, once out of the oven. They will be too soft to move and they need to “firm up” for about 10-15 minutes. Trust me. Don’t move them too soon or there will be pieces of cookie and chocolate all over the floor.

- Once they are ready to be moved (yahoo!), I’d recommend biting into one immediately. It’s the best cookie moment, ever.

Final Review:

My family absolutely loved these cookies - Seth is still talking about them! They adored the flavor, texture, size, and general fun-factor. Who doesn’t love eating a gigantic chocolate chip cookie?!

Personally, what I loved about the cookies, besides the amazing taste and texture, was that they were quick to prepare and bake making them a sweet option for weeknight baking. ;)

No waiting necessary! Use your cold butter, make that dough, form the baseball-sized cookies, and get baking! The hardest part, by far, is letting them rest and the Herculean task of not eating all of them in one sitting.

Another surprise? The cookies were delicious even a few days later which is a miracle. Gluten free baked goods don’t often have a great shelf life, but these were totally different.

Days later, when only small bites were left of one cookie, it was still delicious and made me even more eager to bake another batch knowing that they were more or less “shelf-stable” past day one. Now that’s a gluten free cookie-baking success.

What’s Next?

I have a feeling I’ll be baking these specific Levain Bakery-style cookies often and sharing them with anyone and everyone who appreciates a delicious, thick, ultra-chocolatey, and giant chocolate chip cookie. Because those wonderful cookie monsters are the best people. And those are my people. ❤️

Eat, well.

Mollie

Mollie Bakes: Calling All Cookie Monsters