Giant New York Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are a whole world of their own, and I came across these while traveling in New York, at a very well-known bakery that has been named one of the best: Levain.

The line outside is very long, but one bite and you understand why. They're absolutely worth the wait. They're nothing like any chocolate chip cookie I'd tasted before: they're enormous, very soft in the middle and crisp around the edges, full of nuts, with chocolate melting in every bite.

When I got back home I had to try to recreate them (you can't really get the original recipe). I researched lots of different recipes, made a few changes and got exactly the result I wanted.

So come on, let's go to New York together.

Ingredients for about 9 big, thick cookies

• 80 g raw walnuts.
• 350 g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped (this is not the recipe to compromise on chocolate).
• 200 g cold butter, cut into cubes.
• 150 g powdered sugar.
• 130 g brown sugar.
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda.
• ¼ teaspoon salt.
• 2 teaspoons baking powder.
• 2 large eggs.
• 480 g all-purpose flour.

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 285°F (140°C).
2. Toast the walnuts in the oven for about 10 minutes (careful not to burn them, or they'll make the cookies bitter).
3. In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda, and set aside.
4. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with both sugars until combined.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is absorbed.
6. Add the dry ingredients from the first bowl.
7. Add the chocolate and walnuts and mix for about a minute, until evenly spread through the dough.
8. Shape the dough into 80 g balls (did we mention they're big?) and freeze them for 40 minutes.
9. Heat the oven to 385°F (195°C). Arrange the cookies far apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 18 minutes.

Good to know

• You can halve the size of the cookies, but remember they'll need less time in the oven.
• You can swap some of the dark chocolate for milk chocolate (the cookies are sweet, so dark chocolate suits them better, but it's up to you).

Enjoy!