Some people love their chocolate chip cookies a little crunchy, while some love them a little gooey. With today’s bakery style chocolate chip cookie recipe, you get the best of both worlds! The outside of these great big cookies is gently browned, giving both a little crunch and a lovely toasty flavor, while the inside stays gloriously soft. It’s a killer combination made famous by the Levain Bakery in New York. We’ve tested a variety of knock-off recipes and developed our own favorite recipe for thick, bakery style chocolate chip cookies.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Here’s why this recipe is so great:
- It’s easy to make, with no fussy ingredients you might not keep on hand (like cake flour, self rising flour, or cream of tartar).
- These are nice big cookies that look as impressive as they taste – they’d be perfect for a special event or a bake sale!
- The combination of melty gooey inside with crunchy outside is simply delicious – and you can adjust the bake time to your perfect preference. Bake a minute or two shorter if ooey gooey underdone cookies are your thing, or a bit longer for a fully cooked inside that’s still soft and delicious.
- Customize your perfect chocolate experience: Use milk, semi sweet, or dark chocolate chips or chunks – or a combination of all three (my favorite!).
How to Make Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies
For this cookie recipe I adopted a mixing method shared by Cupcake Jemma. It’s a little different, so I’m sharing some photos so you’ll know what to look for as you mix up the dough. The goal is to avoid over mixing. You will need a stand mixer to make this cookie dough. Here’s the process:
- Start with cold butter straight from the fridge cut into small cubes.
- Mix the butter and sugars together for about a minute until it comes together. Don’t mix it too long; there should still be some chunks of butter visible.
- Add in the chocolate chips and mix 15-30 seconds until the chocolate is distributed.
- Now you’ll add in the rest of the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder) and mix for about 30 seconds until you get a dry, sandy texture.
- Finally, add in the eggs and vanilla and mix another 30-60 seconds until everything comes together in a loose dough.
- Grab a handful of dough (about half a cup) and gently push together into a ball. Do not roll the ball smooth – an uneven texture contributes to the final appearance. This recipe will make 12 large cookie dough balls.
Chill and Bake
This recipe does require you to chill the dough for two hours before baking. I know that’s a bummer – but chilling dough really does help cookies taste better! It allows you to use less flour AND gives the flavors a chance to develop, making a better final product. Once you’ve shaped the dough balls, place them on a lined cookie sheet and tuck them into the fridge for 2 hours (or longer) until firm. Finally, bake at 375 degrees for around 20 minutes until beautifully golden brown on top – don’t worry, they’ll still be soft inside!
Why 375 Degrees?
Many Levain knockoff recipes call for a much higher baking temp, like 425. When testing that, I found that the edges of the cookie got very dark while the insides stayed really underdone, like hot cookie dough. Baking at 375 degrees for a little bit longer still gives the crisp outside and soft inside without making you feel like you are eating a completely raw cookie.
Thick Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cold Butter cut into cubes
- 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 2.5 cups Chocolate Chips
- 3.5 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Coarse Salt table salt is also ok
- 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
- 2 large Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Want more project ideas? Sign up to get my favorite easy crafts and recipes straight to your inbox!
Instructions
- Cut cold butter into cubes, then place in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix with brown sugar and granulated sugar for about a minute until combined. There will still be lumps of butter.
- Add the chocolate chips and mix for 15-30 seconds until chips are distributed.
- Combine flour, salt and baking powder. Add to the stand mixer and mix for about a minute until combined and sandy in texture.
- Add the eggs and vanilla to the stand mixer and mix 30-60 seconds until a loose dough forms.
- Press together 12 large dough balls (about 2.5 inches in diameter, scant 1/2 cup of dough). Do not roll them smooth. Place on a lined cookie sheet and chill for 2 hours (or more).
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Bake cookies six at a time for 18-22 minutes until tops and edges are set and golden brown. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes on the cookie sheet.
Gretchen says
I was super skeptical as I’ve never heard of a cookie recipe that puts ingredients in this order. BUT – it worked.
I made a few modifications based on other cookie learnings for fabulously thick cookies:
– used 1.5 cups brown sugar – no granulated sugar
– used room temperature eggs and butter
– used Bobs 1:1 gluten free flour blend (I’m gluten free, no other reason)
– added an egg yolk
– mix of mini, semi-sweet and dark choc chips (personal preference)
These came out SO thick, and so delicious. My kids, who consume ALL THE GLUTEN, were over the moon over these. Great job Autumn!
Dara says
My GOODNESS these look Delicious! Thank you!
Kimberly Hashagen says
Hello, I have a question. I was looking on your blog to where you lived because I live in New Mexico and want to make these, but we need to adjust for high altitude of such. On another note, I love your blog. I started following it when I started sewing two years ago and have made all of your items Dresses, tops etc. thank you for all the work that you put in
Autumn says
Hi! I live at 4600 ft. Good luck!