My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie

I always hate it when people post things on their blog saying such and such is the best. What is the best? Especially when it comes to cookies, people's "best" cover a wide spectrum. Some people like their cookies crispy, others chewy, and others go ga-ga over the cake-y versions. When it comes to chocolate chip cookies in particular, I'm in the chewy category. I'm not going to say Lisa's Levain Bakery copycat Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe "evah", but it is my favorite.

This recipe is one of several attempts to copy the recipe for chocolate chip cookies from Levain Bakery. The cookies from this bakery are touted as "The most divine chocolate chip cookies in Manhattan" by the New York Times. Having never sampled any cookies from Manhattan, I've no idea the accuracy of that statement.

I've never actually had a cookie from Levain Bakery. I probably never will. I've no intention or desire to travel to New York, let alone Manhattan. Oh sure, I could purchase some online and have them shipped to my house, but $22 for four 6 oz. cookies, I think I'll live blissfully in ignorance.
Whether or not this recipe yields a precise replica of the Levain Cookie, I don't really care. All I know, is I love the cookies from this recipe. While the Levain Bakery's cookies are 6 oz, I make mine about 4 oz. This means that the recipe only makes 12 cookies.

I don't think I've ever been able to eat an entire cookie in one sitting. (If you click on the photo you can see that the cookie is about 4 inches in diameter, and almost an inch thick at the highest point in the middle.) If they are too big for individual portions, why not make them smaller? Their size is the key to their deliciousness.

Because the cookies are so enormous, the insides remain slightly cookie dough-like. I love me some cookie dough, but I'm not a fan of salmonella, particularly when it is attacking my own digestive track. This cookie provides a solution to that problem, with the added bonus of having the more fully baked cookie around the edges.

I made these cookies last year for my husband's family reunion, and it was requested that I make them again this year. This time around I used semi-sweet chocolate chunks instead of chips. I have no idea which version I like better as I didn't get to test a single cookie from this batch. People snatched these cookies off the dessert table before lunch was even served.

Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies from Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives
makes 12 cookies

2 sticks ‘cold and cubed’ unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3 1/4 to 3 1/2 c flour (dough should be moist, kind of like cold cookie dough in a tube.)
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
3/4-1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups good quality semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (I usually use half semisweet and half milk chocolate AND, a little birdy told me they use Guittard)
1 cup walnuts (Toast the nuts for more flavor)

Preheat oven to 350 F. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle, cream butter and sugars til well blended and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat til well incorporated. Add flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chunks and nuts. Transfer dough to clean work surface and gently mix dough by hand to ensure even distribution of ingredients. Divide into 12 equal portions, **about 4 oz each.. Place each on sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake in the preheated oven 16-23 min depending on how gooey and raw’ish you like the middles (I bake mine at 375 for 18-20 min, as I prefer a less raw interior), until very lightly browned, taking care not to overbake. Let cool on rack and store what you don’t immediately eat, in an airtight container. To freshen them after a few days (if they last that long), give them a quick nuke in the microwave for 5-10 seconds.