Raise your hand if you have never had a cookie from Levain Bakery.  Well, if you raised your hand and you’re ever in New York City, you’ve got to pay them a visit.  There is some kind of cookie magic going on there, and the cookies are seriously incredible.

First, they are huge.  And when I say huge, I mean that I bought three (3) of them and nearly needed a hand truck to get them to the car.  Honestly, these cookies are more like a meal than a dessert.  Three of them could feed a crowd but, be forewarned, sharing them is not easy.  Just when I thought I could not eat another bite, my hand reached into the bag, broke off another piece and, in a heartbeat…cookie gone.  They are served warm, soft, and gooey…but a really good kind of gooey.

Surely someone could crack the code and tell me how to make these in my very own kitchen.  Enter…Lisa at Parsley, Sage & Sweet.  She has been working on this recipe for a while, and I think she’s got it!  (or, at least, she is V-E-R-Y close!!)  I read her blog page, where she offers lots of tips and suggestions for making the Chocolate Chip Walnut and the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip cookies.

The results:

Really yummy cookies!!

In addition to following Lisa’s recipes:

1)  I added 3/4 tablespoon of cornstarch to the dough.

2)  I froze the portioned cookies for 10 minutes before baking them.

Next time, in addition to the above changes, I will:

1)  Measure out 6 oz. of cookie dough for each cookie, instead of the 4+ oz. each that I measured.  I think it’s worth the smaller yield of 8 cookies vs. 12, and I think it will produce a more authentic cookie.

2)  Remove them from the oven while they are still a bit wet on top.  I may have over-baked them while waiting for the tops to get golden, so they weren’t quite as gooey as the originals.

Although these cookies were truly delicious and well worth every last decadent calorie, I’ll make the changes, whip up a second batch, and see what happens.

Or…I’ll just hop a train and head over to 167 W. 74th Street, where cookie perfection awaits.

“A”

Note:  I froze the mounds of dough on a smaller cookie sheet to save space, but when I baked them, I did so on a larger cookie sheet and gave them plenty of room to grow.

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