Big Fat Double Dark Chocolate Cookies {Almost Levain Bakery Knockoff}
These big fat double dark chocolate cookies are a decadent, homemade, slightly-fudgier version of the famed Levain double chocolate cookies.
The answer to every last chocolate craving, these enormously delicious double chocolate cookies are incredible. A bit intense? Yes. But totally worth it? Also, yes.
If you’ve seen Levain bakery cookies in person (or just around the internet), you’ll quickly notice that their fame comes largely because of size. The cookies are notoriously huge, often slightly underbaked, and loaded with chocolate chips.
My version of these big fat double dark chocolate cookies produces a cookie that is less cakey and slightly fudgier than other knockoff Levain bakery recipes.
They are easily one of my favorite cookies ever. Major brownie-vibes-in-a-cookie happening here.
Double Dark Chocolate Cookie Dough
The cookie dough starts with:
- cold butter
- brown sugar
- granulated sugar
The cold butter is essential to produce the right texture for these cookies: lightly crisp on the outside but soft and gooey on the inside.
Also, bonus, no need to plan ahead or mess with softening butter. Hallelujah.
Because the butter is cold, it will have a tendency to flip and fly around a bit as it first starts mixing, so be sure to cut the butter into pieces before adding it to the mixer and start the mixer on low speed.
Hang in there and trust the process, because with time (4-6 minutes), the butter and sugars will turn into a thick, creamy, well-combined mixture.
What Kind of Chocolate Chips to Use
I’d like to state here (mostly for my posterity, because leading by example matters) that the only appropriate chocolate chips to use in this recipe are semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips.
They are double DARK chocolate chip cookies, after all.
However, also for my posterity (because kindness and inclusivity matters, too), if you choose to use milk chocolate chips, that is a very personal decision and I will *try* and not judge you for it.
For a PB version: try subbing in half (or all) of the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips. Yum!
My favorite chips to use are Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips.
Mix the dough just until no dry streaks remain.
It will be thicker than a traditional chocolate chip cookie dough.
You can scoop and bake the cookies right away. No need to refrigerate the dough!
How to Weigh Out Cookie Dough
To accommodate the fact that these cookies are meant to be huge, the dough is divided into 4 to 4.25 ounce portions.
You can go even bigger than that, if you’d like. Traditional Levain cookies use a whopping 6 ounces of dough for each cookie.
Leave the dough craggy or pat into a somewhat lumpy dough ball. They don’t need to be pristinely rolled into perfect balls.
How to Fix Cookies that Flatten Too Much
Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes until the outside is shiny and set and the inside is still somewhat soft.
These big fat double dark chocolate cookies should bake up…very big and fat.
A lot of different factors can impact how a cookie will turn out exactly, such as: exact oven temperature (most ovens vary), how we each measure ingredients, how long the dough was mixed, brand and variety of brown sugar and butter, and more.
So don’t panic if your cookies come out of the oven a little flatter or a little puffier than what you were hoping. Here are some tips to help!
For a thicker/puffier cookie, try:
- adding another 1/4 cup flour to the dough (it helps to bake one single “tester” cookie first to see how it will bake so you can still alter the dough a bit)
- increasing the oven temperature by 10-15 degrees F
- chilling the dough (if doing this, I recommend scooping the dough into balls before chilling)
If your cookies are TOO puffy, try reducing the oven temperature by 25 degrees and/or next time measuring the dry ingredients with a lighter hand so there is less flour in the dough.
A Favorite Cookie
Even if I did start out with the intention for these cookies to be Levain knockoffs, I’m certain they won’t pass any official test. They’re a bit smaller and a lot fudgier (and less cakey) than most other variations.
And that’s ok by me, because they are incredible. Like, one of my favorite cookies in the history of ever.
And also, rumor has it (ahem) that if you refrigerate the gooey, slightly under baked cookies overnight, the chilled cookies are actually, almost, probably, most definitely the most delicious thing you’ll eat all year. (They freeze well, too – YES SO MUCH DANGEROUS INFO RIGHT HERE IN THIS PARAGRAPH.)
Hundreds of you have made and loved this recipe over the years, too!
Ellen: OMG! Love the deep chocolate gooey richness. I can’t believe how well they turned out. Nine minutes and they looked just like your pictures!! Pretty darn excited about this recipe. Thanks so much! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hannah: I’m sort of famous for my cookies, and I have created a family of cookie snobs. That sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. My toddlers have been known to take a bite of a sub-par cookie and refuse the rest (kind of makes my mom heart happy). But these cookies. OH these cookies! People are talking about them a week later, so it’s safe to say they’re absolutely fantastic. Like a gooey brownie in cookie form? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A few big, fat double dark chocolate cookie notes:
- Smaller Cookies: the cookies can definitely be made smaller. If you do so, adjust the time as needed (and understand the gooey level may be minimized a bit)
- Cake Flour: the cookies won’t turn out the same if using just all-purpose flour. If you don’t have cake flour on hand, here’s a quick and easy way to make cake flour yourself.
- Cocoa Powder: I have made these using Dutch-process cocoa, Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder, and natural, unsweetened cocoa powder. My favorite versions are when using the special dark or Dutch-process cocoa. But any variety will work (the cookies will be less dark and rich with regular natural, unsweetened cocoa powder and you may find the cookies spread less when using this cocoa powder).
- Cold Eggs + Cold Butter: it’s important that the butter and eggs are cold so these cookies hold their shape and don’t flatten. It takes a while for the butter and sugars to mix together, but it’ll happen. It’s also a reason a stand mixer is best for this recipe.
- One Last Plea for Milk Chocolate? No and no. I’m glad we had this talk. However, peanut butter chips thrown in the batter are goooooood.
See me make the big fat double dark chocolate cookies over on Instagram. 😋
Big Fat Double Dark Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) cold salted butter straight from the fridge, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
- 1 cup (212 g) lightly packed light or dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (106 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, cold from the refrigerator
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups (249 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups (143 g) cake flour
- ½ cup (50 g) dark or Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder (see note)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ to 2 cups (255 to 340 g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cold butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Start the mixer on low (the butter will fly around a bit since it's cold) and gradually increase to medium speed. Mix for 4-6 minutes until the mixture is creamy and very well-combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined and the batter is light in color, 2-3 minutes.
- Add the flour, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together (and so the dry ingredients don't fly everywhere).
- When just a few dry streaks remain, add the chocolate chips or chunk and mix just until combined and there are no dry spots.
- Scoop very large balls of dough (about 4-4.25 ounces for each cookie) and place several inches apart on the prepared baking sheets (five cookies per half sheet pan).
- Bake for 9-10 minutes until set on the outside but still soft in the middle. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets to cool for 5-7 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. These cookies are amazing warm (with ice cream), chilled, or at room temperature.
Notes
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (inspired by lots of knockoff recipes online)
My husband loves these! They are his favorite cookies.
One thing I do is I put the cookies in the fridge for an hour or so. that way they are really cool when they go in the oven it helps them keep their shape. It’s probably the same as you saying everything needs to be cold but it’s how I go about it.
Delicious and Easy Recipe.
My new favorite. I followed the recipe except I cooked them for 9 minutes @ 350. They were soft and oh so amazing. Definitely a crowd pleaser.
I made these for Christmas and they were the best cookies I have ever made.
These were okay – mine didn’t quite set up properly and needed some more flour. The cup measurements and the weight measurements don’t match up. For instance, 1.5 cups of flour weighs about 180 grams, far less than the 213 grams called for in the recipe.
Hi Mallory, I test my recipes using 142 grams per cup of flour. Other sources may use different flour amounts so I recommend using the weight measures given in a recipe that’s been tested.
Can’t wait to try this recipe!! I was wondering how long I should chill the dough prior to baking… any tips and trick appreciated! 🙂
I don’t chill the dough, but you can if you’d like!
I’ve been making these cookies for years! Today I didn’t have cornstarch to make cake flour so I just used all two and a half cups of flour. It has a cookie type hard crust and not the soft crust. I didn’t have enough cocoa powder and added a whole package of chocolate chips and people still loved these.
These are so delicious!… big winner. Thank you.
I put the recipe in a nutrition calculator. Ours made 11 4-oz. cookies. Each cookie has 511 calories (562 each if your recipe makes 10 cookies).
We’ll definitely make these again.
Hello! I don’t have a stand mixer, so can I use an electric hand mixer? Would I need to increase the bearing time?
The cold butter might be a bit tricky with a hand mixer, but if it’s powerful, it should be just fine.
LOOKS AMAZING I TELL MORE SOON I HAVE MADE
look AMAZING I TELL MORE SOON I HAVE MAKE THEM…
All my kids have grown up, and through the years I have made them TONS of cookies. My whole family agrees that this is the BEST cookie they have ever tasted. THESE ARE DELICIOUS!!!
Just made these! They are delicious and taste like the real cookie.
Hi! Have you tried freezing these cookies?how do they turn out thawed/reheated? TIA 🙂
They freeze great!
These cookies are AH-MAZING!!! So gooey and velvety and delicious. I am now OBSESSED with that big, gigantic, bakery style cookie – Mel, can I do this with all of your cookie recipes?!
I’m not sure but it’s worth a try!
I swear I have made these cookies more in the last 2 months than I have every made any cookie ever – included the traditional chocolate chip. These are the absolute most perfect cookie ever! My children are forever grateful to you, Mel!
I love this so much, Corrie!! Thanks for letting me know that!
They came out perfect!!! Chocolate lovers dream
I lived across the street from LEVAIN for a few years – I would love to take people who visited over to get a cookie. I loved the chocolate with peanut butter chips. I am going to try this for my family. I had no idea “Levain” cookies were a known thing. cant way to try.
OMG ooey-gooey delicious! I followed the directions to a T, though I have no stand mixer so doing the cold butter and sugar by hand was quite a task. I cut the butter into 1/4″ slices to make it somewhat easier but jeez louise my FOREARMS! Thanks for the amazing recipe, consider it BOOKMARKED.
I’ve tried this recipe a couple times but my cookies always come out on the dry side rather than fudgy! I’ve tried shorter baking times but haven’t had success! Any ideas what I’m doing wrong?
Hi Rebecca, sounds like you could probably back off the dry ingredients a bit (maybe a few tablespoons less of flour) and that will help.
My cookies were Cakey and don’t have a shine.
I looked though the comments and found that my dough wasn’t sticky at all.
Could you tell me what I did wrong?
If they are cakey, it sounds like maybe the dough was overfloured. Try not to pack the flour into the cup and measure with a light hand. That should help!
Hi, do you think these will work using a combination of good quality, European bittersweet and white chocolate chips?
Definitely worth a try!
I needed something quick and easy, yet impressive enough to serve to guests. These cookies were perfect! And very decadent, perfect with coffee or cold milk
Does anyone have the measurements in grams?
There are conversion options – Google cup to gram conversion and do the math.
Will this recipe also work if i made them into smaller cookies? How many regular sized cookies will i be able to make with this recipe?
Yes, you can make these cookies smaller. I don’t know what you mean by “regular” size cookies, but I’m guessing it will make similar to a standard batch of cookies – maybe 2-3 dozen?
Was searching for a dark chocolate cookie recipe so I can experiment with my new bag of extra dark dutch process cacao… oh yes, this will do nicely! Thank you!!
OMG! Love the deep chocolate gooey richness. I can’t believe how well they turned out. It didn’t seem like there was enough moisture for the dry ingredients, but it came together perfectly. Nine minutes and they looked just like your pictures!! Pretty darn excited about this recipe. Thanks so much!
Made this cookie yesterday and they were delicious! I halved the sugar in the recipe as I don’t really like sweet and it tasted perfect. I baked it for 12 mins, because it was still underbaked on 10 mins.
My only issue is my cookies turn out so soft, even the outer part is so soft and doesn’t have the crisp / harden texture. Any suggestions for that? Thanks!
I would try adding yet another minute to the baking time to see if that helps.
Hi! Planning on making these into 2-bite cookies. How many minutes would you suggest I bake them for? Thank you!
Probably 7-8 minutes.
I’ve made this a dozen times so far, everyone I’ve made them for absolutely loves them. Just took a batch out of the oven and this time omitted the chips all of them and added coconut, lets just say we now have an all time new fav here! These are truly the best chocolate cookies I’ve ever had, thanks so much!
Hi!! Do you think I could use margarine instead of butter?
You could definitely try – the flavor and texture maybe quite different.
So delicious, so decadent, so rich… must balance with milk. Recipe made 10 cookies. Next time I can only eat 1/2 a cookie. The second pan was a little loftier and just right than the first (you know how sometimes the first batch isn’t as good… ). I think you could add 1-2 minutes (may depend on altitude). I can’t really imagine that the Levain cookies are any better than what I made tonight. And also… the dough is so yummy. Definitely 5 stars. I used a Krups mixer, and it took about 8 minutes to get the cold butters and sugars well mixed… and it was a little messy. It was a bit hard on the mixer to keep going once all the ingredients were in. I’m thinking this would make a lovely gift. They sell a package of 4 at Levain’s Bakery for $27.
These cookies are amazing! I followed the recipe exactly (including making my own cake flour) but made them smaller since I needed a lot. Definitely a keeper. Mel, you rock!
Made this recipe early in the week last week then made it again to get the timing of baking them better as I made mine smaller. We have loved this recipe. I ended up making one more time at the end of the week! I have shared the cookies and all have asked for your recipe. I like that they are still great the next day.
These cookies are delicious. I used the Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder and the Toll House chocolate chunks. So good. My husband wouldn’t stop eating them.
Using a scale and your weight measures, I was able to knock these cookies out in 30 minutes. So gooey and delicious! Most of these are going in the fridge to be enjoyed chilled. Thank you for such a fun recipe!
Have you tried freezing these? My girls are wanting to freeze cookie dough to bake later. Nothing like a cooking hot out of the oven! We have some hot cookie snobs in the house.
Yes, dough freezes great (so do the baked cookies).
If I were to make this in smaller/normal size, how many do you think I could get out of this recipe?
Probably about 2 dozen.
Just wanted to follow up… I made these for Christmas and they were a hit! I made them smaller and half of them I put an Andes mint on top when they came out and allowed it to melt. Both were wonderful. Thanks!
Any recommendations for high altitude baking with these bad boys??
Hey, Mel, would putting this recipe in a 9×13 pan and cutting them into bars be permissible? Or a total travesty?
Haha. Definitely worth a try!!
Hi did you try it? I have batter ready to go but I’m too lazy now haha
I haven’t tried making these yet, but after just returning from NYC and having the real thing I am anxious to do so. These were by far my favorite sweet I had while there.
I’ll report back…
I’m interested to know which chocolate cookie is your favorite? I have only ever tried the thick and chewy one bacon from 2008, I make them for my cookie madness over the holidays. Wondering if these or the one bowl fudgy ones are better? Thanks!
I don’t know that I have a favorite because I love all of them…but if I had to pick, I’d probably go with the one bowl fudgy cookies. We make them most often!
They come out perfect, i also tried using air fyer too and it was perfect.
I think these cookies are amazing!! So much that Ive made them 3 times in the last 2 weeks. They are awesome, just like everything on your blog!! Thank you!!
Thanks so much, Hollie!
Can I use softened butter to make these if I refrigerate the dough before baking? I don’t have a stand mixer, so I just imagine that it would be difficult to combine by hand 😀
I haven’t tried it, but I think that should be a good compromise.
I used softened butter and froze them before baking and used a cookie scoop They were nice and tall and fluffy after baking
I’m in Denver, 5280ft up!! I am dying to make these today, should I adjust sugar and flour? Normally you up the flour, add a bit of water to it, and reduce sugar. Thoughts?
I don’t have great advice for high altitude adjustments on these cookies since I live at a lower elevation, but if those changes have helped in the past, I’d say it’s worth giving it a try.
I’m excited to try these, I am an ardent lover of dark chocolate and gooey cookies. Just a question – wouldn’t the same effect be realized if you used room temp butter and then just chilled the shaped dough balls in the fridge before baking them? This is what I always do with my cookies so they don’t spread. Just wondering since it seems like it would make the dough making a little easier.
You could definitely try that – probably would accomplish the same thing. 🙂
Whoa! I just made these for the teachers at my kiddos school for parent-teacher conferences and then had to make another batch for us so that I could have a couple at home. I added Reese’s Pieces (1/2 c) along with the chocolate chips (1 c) and they are perfect! I want to try them with salted caramel chips…next time. They are gooey and sooo chocolate-y! Amazing!! I’m now so sad that I have waited so long to try these.
I’m glad you liked them, Amanda! Hope they were a hit at the school!
I used the recipe as the base for a s’mores cookie. Some friends and I tried an amazing cookie on a business trip in San Jose. I added one cup of mini marshmallows that “aged” out of the bag for 24 hours, then dipped the top of each cookie in crushed up graham crackers. Aging the marshmallows allowed them to keep their individual shape instead of spreading into a sheet of marshmallow. They were perfect! And kept really well for 3-4 days. I can’t wait to make them again!
Oh my gosh, those sound amazing!
These are incredible!
I’m sort of famous for my cookies, and I have created a family of cookie snobs. That sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. My toddlers have been known to take a bite of a sub-par cookie and refuse the rest (kind of makes my mom heart happy). But these cookies. OH these cookies! People are talking about them a week later, so it’s safe to say they’re absolutely fantastic. Like a gooey brownie in cookie form? I was so stoked to see my Walmart started selling Dutch process cocoa, so these will become a new favorite at our house. Thank you!
Haha, that is straight up awesome about your toddlers. Talk about a good skill to foster in your kids. 🙂 I’m so happy you loved these! Feel honored they made the cookie snob cut. Haha.
I’ve recently resorted to bribing people with treats to come to ward choir practice (no shame)… I’ve decided to try a new cookie recipe each week and I just made these this morning. I’ve never had Levain cookies but these are incredible! I love the crisp outside and super soft inside My boys can’t appreciate the little details yet, but they love them too!
I would totally come to your choir practice for these cookies!
My favorite recipe of yours so far!! And I love them all 🙂
Yay! Thanks so much, Beth!