I feel like Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button narrating a series of chain reacting events that result me enjoying these delicious cookies. Fortunate that it is a happy ending for me and I have nothing to complain about it...
How did I ended up enjoying these cookies? An accident? I don't know. Good karma? I suppose. Surely, there is nothing else I can do but enjoying more of these heavenly cookies...
For November 2014, Yen, Grace and I are cooking with Bobby Flay's recipes for Cook Like a Star. Although I'm a fan of Bobby Flay, I'm not a subscriber of Food Network TV program and only managed to watch a few of his cook shows whenever I'm in America with really really short glimpses. Fortunately, with Bobby Flay in my mind, I started to read about Throwndown! and baked his Throwdown Chocolate Chip Cookies previously.Hey! These are actually nice cookies...
I was pondering while munching Bobby Flay's Throwndown chocolate chips cookies... wondering why did Bobby Flay lost this challenge to the famous Levain Bakery.
Why? Then, my Google search has prompted me this really really really good copy cat Levain Bakery chocolate chips cookies recipe from Brown Eyed Baker. And so, this is why I am baking these cookies...
Hey! These Levain Bakery like chocolate chip cookies are also nice cookies TOO!
What really makes these cookies so special and good? Untypically, these cookies are made with bread flour, cold butter and cold eggs.
Is this untypical combination produce a different texture in cookies? I would say so. These cookies are extremely heavenly when they were freshly baked. On the day when they were baked, they were crispy on their outsides and crumbly in their insides. On the next day, they taste like rock cakes with lots of comforting bites.
I have never tried chocolate chip cookies from the real Levain Bakery before but I can imagine that the real cookies must be as heavenly as these...
Great cookies by accident? Good because there is not a thing that I can do about it... *wink*
Levain Bakery like Chocolate Chip Cookies! Yummy!
Unlike most cookie recipes, this uses cold butter and eggs.
No surprising that this cold egg-y batter will be lumpy.
The naughty me had a taste of this cookie dough and it is so yummy!
I added walnut in 1/4 of the recipe so that I can packed the nut free cookies for my boy's school snack.
Me want cookies!!!
Enjoying this? Yeah! There is not a thing that I can do about it.
Here's the copycat recipe for the famous Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies that I have mostly adapted from Brown Eyed Baker
450g bread flour
3/4 tsp kosher salt
250g unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
90g dark muscovado or brown sugar
90g light muscovado or brown sugar
100g granulated sugar
2 eggs, cold, lightly beaten in a separate bowl
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
250g dark chocolate, preferably Callebaut with 70% cocoa, in the form of chocolate callets or chips
1 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped, optional
Line a baking tray with baking paper; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter on low speed for about 1 min until slight softened as it comes together in one cohesive mass. Add both sugars and continue to beat for another 1-2 min or until the sugar has been incorporated into the butter.
Increase beating speed to medium and add eggs gradually into the mixture while beating and continue to beat for about 1-2 min. As the eggs and butter are cold, the batter will appear to be lumpy. Turn off the mixer and remove the mixing bowl from the mixer. Fold in sifted flour mixture into the butter mixture until well incorporated. Then, stir in the chocolate and nuts until well combined. Chill cookie dough in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
Using a small ice cream scoop or by hand, divide cookie dough into about 2 tbsp sizes and roughly shaping them into balls and place them on the prepared baking tray with about 5 cm apart from each other. While waiting for the cookies to bake, keep the excess dough in the fridge until it is required to shape and bake.
Preheat oven to 375°F / 190°C or 170°C fan forced. Bake for 12-14 mins, or until light golden brown on top. If you are baking two trays of cookies at a time, swap their positions at their mid-baking time. Let cool for 5 mins on the cookie sheet, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Happy Baking
