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If you love thick chocolate chip cookies with gooey centers and crisp edges, this recipe is for you. Inspired by the famous Levain Bakery cookies, these oversized, bakery-style cookies are tall, rich, and require two hands to eat without the trip to NYC.
After standing in line at Levain and later discovering similar jumbo cookies closer to home, I knew I had to recreate them in my own kitchen minus the nuts (no thank you!) and specialty ingredients. After extensive testing (and a lot of cookies), this recipe delivers everything people love about Levain-style cookies: height, chew, and total indulgence made with everyday ingredients.
What Makes These Cookies So Thick?
These cookies stay thick because of a few key techniques that prevent them from spreading too much in the oven.
First, the ratio of ingredients is designed to support a tall cookie. The dough contains plenty of flour and just the right amount of fat, which gives the cookies structure while still keeping them soft and gooey in the center. I’ll explain more below.
Second, the recipe uses both baking soda and baking powder. Baking soda reacts with the brown sugar to create lift, while baking powder gives the cookies an extra boost so they rise instead of spreading flat.
Another important factor is the large dough balls. Each cookie is made with about 6 ounces of dough, which allows the outside to set while the inside stays thick and soft.
Finally, chilling the dough helps solidify the butter before baking. This slows down how quickly the cookies spread in the oven, helping them keep their tall, bakery-style shape.
The result is exactly what we’re going for: thick, gooey chocolate chip cookies with crisp edges and soft centers just like the famous bakery versions.
Testing Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies (What Actually Matters)
Testing these cookies was no joke! I experimented with different flours, fats, and leavening combinations to figure out exactly what creates that tall, bakery-style cookie with a soft, gooey center.
Here’s what I learned…
Flour: All-Purpose vs Cake Flour
Many people swear that cake flour is the secret to thick cookies, so I tested batches with both all-purpose flour and a mix of all-purpose and cake flour.
Cake flour does create a slightly lighter texture, but the cookies were almost too soft and cake-like for our taste. We preferred the structure and chew from all-purpose flour, which gives the cookies that classic bakery cookie texture without requiring a special trip to the store. No cake flour needed!
If you’d like to experiment, you can substitute ¼ of the flour with cake flour for a slightly softer cookie.
Fat: Butter vs Cream Cheese
Butter is the traditional fat in chocolate chip cookies, but it contains some water that evaporates during baking. Much like the flour, I tested batches with all butter and other batches with a small amount of cream cheese to increase the fat content and create a slightly richer texture.
Both versions were delicious, but the difference was subtle so we prefer all butter. If you’d like to try it:
How to Substitute Cream Cheese for Butter
- Replace 2–3 tablespoons of butter with softened cream cheese
- Add 2 extra tablespoons of flour to keep the dough balanced
It adds a slight tang and richness, but we still prefer the all-butter version for classic flavor.
Leavening: Baking Soda vs Baking Powder
Leavening also plays a big role in how tall cookies bake up.
- Baking soda reacts with acidic ingredients (like brown sugar) to create carbon dioxide bubbles that help cookies rise.
- Baking powder contains baking soda plus an acid, allowing it to create lift even without additional acidic ingredients.
Because these cookies are extra thick, baking soda alone didn’t provide enough lift. Using both baking soda and baking powder gave the cookies the structure and height we wanted.
Think of baking powder as the spotter helping lift a heavier weight—it gives the cookies the extra rise they need to stay thick and bakery-style.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Let’s dig into all the ingredients you will need. They actually aren’t too different from your typical chocolate chip cookies so here is your grocery list:
- All Purpose Flour: Provides the structure for the cookies while keeping them chewy and sturdy.
- Baking Soda: Helps the cookies spread just enough while contributing to browning and flavor.
- Baking Powder: Gives these thick cookies extra lift so they bake tall instead of flat.
- Cornstarch: Keeps the cookies thick and soft, creating a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances the rich chocolate flavor.
- Unsalted Butter: Adds richness and flavor while helping create crisp edges and soft centers.
- Brown Sugar: Adds moisture and chewiness, giving the cookies their signature soft interior.
- Egg: Binds the dough together and adds structure and richness.
- Vanilla: Enhances the overall flavor and brings warmth to the cookie dough.
- Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips: Provide the perfect balance of sweetness and rich chocolate flavor throughout every bite.
The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card down below.
How to Make Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies
You make these cookies just like any other, but at the end, I use a food scale to weigh the dough into giant balls. Here are the basic steps:
- Dry Ingredients: Whisk all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Wet Ingredients: Beat the butter and sugars in a stand mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Then add the egg and then the vanilla. Beat until smooth.
- Combine: Turn off the mixer and scrape the sides. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until you can turn it up to medium without exploding flour all over the place. Add the chocolate chips and mix them in.
- Chill: Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, up to overnight.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Weigh: Use a food scale to measure out 6 ounces of dough. Roll it into a ball and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
- Bake: Bake for 10-11 minutes. Place on a cooling rack and eat them as soon as you can! I recommend letting them sit for at least 10 minutes if you can. So hard!
Why These Cookies Use Cornstarch
Cornstarch is a little trick that helps create thick, bakery-style cookies with a soft center. It works by softening the proteins in the flour, which keeps the cookies tender while still allowing them to hold their shape.
In a recipe for extra thick cookies, that’s especially important. Cornstarch helps the cookies stay tall and soft instead of spreading thin.
How Big Should Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies Be?
For truly thick bakery-style cookies, use 6-ounce dough balls. It might seem huge, but that size is the secret to getting the tall, gooey-centered cookies everyone loves.
I resisted weighing cookie dough for years, but using a kitchen scale makes a big difference. When each dough ball weighs the same, the cookies bake evenly and come out perfectly every time with no underbaked centers or overbaked edges.
If you want cookies that look and bake like the giant bakery-style ones, 6 ounces of dough per cookie is the sweet spot. It’s big, but trust me, and it’s exactly what makes these cookies turn out just right.
Pro Tips for Levain-Style Cookies
A few small techniques make a big difference in keeping these cookies thick and bakery-style.
- Start with butter that is softened but still cool to the touch. It should leave a fingerprint when pressed but not feel warm. Butter that’s too soft can cause the cookies to spread, while butter that’s too cold won’t cream properly with the sugar.
- Next, cream the butter and sugars for 2–3 minutes until light and fluffy. This helps create structure in the dough so the cookies rise properly instead of flattening.
- Two other ingredients help give these cookies their signature thickness. Cornstarch keeps the cookies soft while preventing them from spreading too much, and generous add-ins like chocolate chips (and nuts if you like them) add volume to the dough, which naturally helps the cookies stay taller as they bake.
These simple steps are the secret to cookies that bake up thick, soft, and gooey in the center every time.
Storage, Freezing & Make-Ahead Tips
To store the cookies, let them cool completely and then store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for 2-3 weeks. You can keep them in the refrigerator for even longer.
To freeze cookies, again cool completely, then place in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze for 2 hours. Transfer cookies to a freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Make these cookies up to a week ahead of time using the storage instruction above. You can also make the dough, form it into balls, and then store either in the fridge or freezer. Bake as written in the instructions adding a few extra minutes if the dough balls are frozen.
Why Didn’t Mine Stay Thick?
If your cookies spread too much, one of these common issues is usually the culprit:
Butter was too warm.
Butter should be soft but still slightly cool. If it’s overly soft or melted, the cookies will spread.
Dough wasn’t chilled.
Chilling the dough for 20–30 minutes helps solidify the fat and keeps the cookies thicker while baking.
Dough balls were too small.
These cookies are designed to be large 6-ounce dough balls. Smaller cookies spread more and won’t bake up as thick.
Flour was measured incorrectly.
Too little flour leads to spreading. Spoon flour into the measuring cup and level it, or weigh it for best results.
Warm baking sheets.
Always place dough on cool baking sheets so the butter doesn’t melt too quickly in the oven.
They are the thick chocolate chip cookies that dreams are made of! Slightly crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside, thick and chewy, and just what a chocolate chip cookie recipe should be! Until I make it back to NYC again, I’ll be making these Levain copycat cookies at home to hold me over!
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