After much research, video-watching, and calibrating for altitude, I’m happy to report that I’ve crafted a recipe for possibly the best chocolate chip cookie I personally have ever made. And also (definitely) the biggest. They’re delicately crispy on the outside and have a gooey, doughy interior studded with crunchy pecans and pools of melty chocolate. Say hello to Giant Bakery-Style High Altitude Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies.
And why, you may wonder, do I need another chocolate chip cookie recipe when I already have a perfectly delicious one here on the blog? I’m so glad you asked.
A while back I was reading through baking articles and ran across one about a cult-status Chocolate Chip Walnut cookie from the New York bakery Levain. These cookies have been called the best in the world by more than one well-respected source. People wait in line for hours to buy them. Each cookie weighs more than a quarter-pound, is as big as your hand, and costs $4. So decadent it’s almost horrifying.
Definitely a must-try, right?
With no hope of a trip to NYC any time soon, I became obsessed with recreating these at home, at altitude. You know how you get something in your head and start thinking about it so much it keeps you up at night? That was me with these cookies (yes, I’m that person mulling over pros and cons of cake flour at 3am).
Friends, these cookies are MASSIVE. Each dough ball is roughly the size of a baseball. I measured, and they’re six ounces – that’s about 3/4 cup of dough -EACH. Here’s a visual of a measure of dough for a standard chocolate chip cookie versus one of these behemoths. I know. So awesomely naughty.
(I admit they’re a lot. I do completely recommend making these giant cookies at least once. However, if you find them overwhelming, you can always halve the dough balls to make slightly smaller cookies).
For those who might already be familiar with Levain’s cookies, know that my recipe is a little different from some of the other copycat recipes floating around the internet. More inspired by, let’s say.
First, I really have come to love salted butter in chocolate chip cookies. At altitude, it adds just the right amount of extra seasoning and creates a well-balanced flavor.
Secondly, I don’t love walnuts, so I decided to sub toasted pecans, which I adore for their crunch and buttery flavor. If you’re in a hurry, you don’t even have to toast them.
Lastly, I used extra-large chocolate chips, in order to foster large pools of chocolate in each bite. A couple of roughly-chopped dark chocolate bars would also work well.
And then, of course, I made some tweaks for altitude. A little more flour, a little less sugar and a smidge less baking soda.
I mean, you could conceivably have one for dinner and be completely satisfied, maybe. An idea to keep in your back pocket for days muddled with long Zoom calls. And bonus? These are whiz-bang easy to make. You can go from pulling out ingredients to stuffing one in your mouth in less than an hour.
Besides the size, what makes these different from classic chocolate chip cookies?
- Cold butter and eggs. Starting with chilled ingredients helps the dough hold its shape – important when using a lower-protein blend of flour.
- The recipe uses half all-purpose flour, half cake flour. This creates a fine, tender crumb.
- Cornstarch – just a dab helps create a smooth, super-velvety texture.
- No vanilla! Apparently Levain doesn’t use it in their version, and I gotta say … I don’t miss it.
- Lots of nuts. I don’t usually go for nuts in my chocolate chip cookies, but these are so rich that they really benefit from a little crunch. Plus, the nutty flavor pairs beautifully with the chocolate. (See the recipe notes for how to make a nut-free version).
A few tips
- When forming the dough balls, use a very light touch. These are not supposed to be perfectly round, compact cookies. They’re more freeform, with almost the texture of a … drop biscuit? Limited handling of the dough keeps them loose and light, which facilitates that lovely gooey interior.
- It’s hard to eyeball portions this large. If you want to make sure your cookies are fairly uniform, I suggest using a kitchen scale. Six ounces for the full-size behemoth cookies; three for smaller ones.
- When I say let the cookies cool undisturbed for at least 15 minutes, I’m not exaggerating. They will fall apart if you try to sneak them any earlier. (Hint: smaller ones are more forgiving)
Last week I dropped a few off to one of my besties. I’d barely returned home before she texted me, “Those were the best cookies I’ve ever had.” Her husband demanded she get the recipe immediately.
And then I gave some to another friend and her husband called her from work the next day to make sure she hadn’t eaten them all while he was gone. Ha.
Point is, if you and your partner/roommate/child are experiencing any pandemic-related tension, a batch of these could be a nice balm. Because what says “I love you” better than a cookie the size of your face?
Print
Giant Bakery-Style High Altitude Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 12 mins
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: About 9 large or 18 medium-size cookies 1x
Description
These decadently massive, lusciously gooey Giant Bakery-Style High Altitude Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies have a crisp exterior with a nutty crunch.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, cut into chunks
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, cold
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour*
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 cups extra-large chocolate chips, chopped dark chocolate, or standard semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1.5 cups chopped toasted pecans or walnuts (see Notes for a nut-free option)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 410 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter chunks with the sugars on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture until just combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts (or other additions, if using).
- Gently scooping with a large ice cream scoop or your hands, divide the dough into eight equal portions, being careful not to squeeze and compact the dough balls – you want a fairly loose texture here. You can eyeball the dough balls, or weigh them – they’ll be around 6 ounces each. (Alternatively, if you want smaller cookies, make 16 portions of about 3 ounces each).
- Place the dough balls on the baking pan, four to a sheet (or eight to a sheet, if making smaller ones). Bake one sheet at a time for about 12 minutes (9-10 minutes for smaller ones). They should be dappled brown on the top with crisp-looking edges, but still seem slightly underdone. If you prefer a less-gooey cookie, you can leave them in another minute or two.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for at least 15 minutes before removing.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
… if you have difficulty finding cake flour or want to use what you have on hand, you can use 3 cups total of all-purpose flour.
if you prefer a nut-free version, you need to make up the volume of the nuts with another ingredient, or the texture of the cookies will be affected. You can add another 1.5 cups of chocolate chips of your choice (white, milk, dark, or semisweet), or another add-in such as raisins or other dried fruit (cranberries might be yummy).
Ok, we moved to Alma this summer (10,600 ft) and I’m so thankful I found your website. I just made these cookies and I have to say they are killer. My husband doesn’t like nuts, so I made them with the 2 cups of Hershey’s Special Dark large chocolate bars cut into chunks and 1 1/2 cups of regular chocolate chips. Such wonderful chocolatey goodness! I baked them in a convection oven, and thankfully set the timer for the first batch for 10 minutes. They were a little ‘crispier’ than we like, so I baked the rest for 8 minutes and they were perfect. I just looked again at the yield, and I thought for sure they were ‘large’, but I guess they were medium (yield of 16), but they are still huge! I didn’t take the time to weigh them, but if I had, the baking time would have been right on. I’ve made your high altitude brownies, cornbread and pie crust – all excellent! Thanks for doing all the work to get the recipes perfect! Can’t wait to try the rest of them (but I’d better do more exercising!) 🙂
They are definitely decadent – that’s what makes them so amazing. 🙂 So glad you are enjoying the recipes!
Follow up to the previous review – I used my whole wheat flour – soft white wheat berries freshly ground. Makes me feel like they may be a little healthier than using store bought all purpose flour. I did purchase and use the cake flour as well.
Hi. How would you modify for Denver’s altitude. I have a sea level Levain recipe, which calls for 3/4 tsp BP (which I was ready to cut down to 1/2 before I found your website). Logic would suggest adding more BP for Denver’s lower altitude, ,, so not sure what to do. Thanks so much, Anita
Anita, just do this recipe as is. I’m in Colo Spgs and it worked fine for me.