Last Updated on March 17, 2026 by Kiersten James

Thick Levain-style chocolate chip walnut cookies with crisp edges, gooey centers, and oversized bakery texture made with rich chocolate chunks and walnuts.

Levain-style chocolate chip cookies are thick by design, not by accident.

This dough is built to hold height, bake dense, and stay soft in the center instead of spreading flat.

The result is a chunky, bakery-style chocolate chip walnut cookie with crisp edges, heavy interior, and oversized pockets of melted chocolate and nuts.

This recipe takes a classic chocolate chip cookie base and restructures it for Levain-style size, texture, and density.

Why You’ll Love These Levain Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Built to bake tall instead of spreading flat
Dense interior with molten chocolate pockets
Walnuts add structure and balance the sweetness
Crisp edges with a soft, heavy center
Oversized bakery-style cookies that freeze amazingly well

Quick Allergy Check!

For my beloved friends who have different dietary needs, I see you and want you to feel safe.

These Levain-style chocolate chip cookies contain the following allergens:

Gluten
Dairy
Eggs
Walnuts

Ingredients You’ll Be Using:

All-purpose flour: Extra flour is what allows the dough to hold its height. Levain-style cookies require more structure than standard chocolate chip cookies to bake thick instead of spreading flat.

Brown sugar: Adds moisture and density. Increasing the brown sugar shifts the texture from crisp to chewy and helps the cookies stay heavy and soft in the center.

Granulated sugar: A smaller amount of white sugar controls spread and balances sweetness without flattening the dough.

Extra egg yolk: The additional yolk increases richness and softness without adding extra liquid. This helps create a dense interior rather than a cakey texture.

Cornstarch: Cornstarch softens the crumb while reinforcing structure. It prevents the cookies from baking up dry or brittle despite their size. (Adding cornstarch to flour in a 1:8 ratio is a makeshift way to make cake flour at home!)

Cool room temperature butter: Butter that is too warm causes excessive spreading in the oven. Cool butter creates a stable dough that bakes up nice and tall.

Chocolate chunks: Chunks melt more slowly than chips and create large pockets of chocolate. This is part of the Levain-style texture and visual structure.

Walnuts: Add bulk and fat absorption. This increases thickness and reduces spread. They also balance out the sweetness of the chocolate.

Large dough portions: Oversized dough balls are structural, not aesthetic. Size is what allows the cookies to stay soft in the center while fully baking on the outside.

Tips for the Best Levain Style Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

They stay tall!

These cookies are designed to bake thick. If they spread too much, they lose the bakery-style texture. A tall shape means the centers stay soft and gooey while the edges bake.

Dough structure

Chocolate chip dough relies on flour and fat balance for height. If the dough feels soft, it will spread instead of baking tall.

Chocolate chunks win here

Use chunks, not just chips. Chips melt fast and flatten the dough. Chunks hold shape and create large chocolate pockets.

Walnut impact

Walnuts add bulk and absorb fat. If you skip them, the cookies will spread slightly more.

Mixing, Shaping & Baking

Mix just until the flour disappears. Overmixing develops gluten and makes the cookies come out dense instead of thick. The dough will be drier and crumblier than a normal cookie dough due to the extra flour required for height. As long as it squeezes into a formed shape, you’re good, and it’s not too dry!

Stacked, uneven dough creates that craggy bakery top. Smooth dough bakes much flatter and loses texture.

Pull the cookies from the oven when the edges are set, but the centers still look underdone. The interiors will finish baking on the cookie sheet.

Spread control

If the cookies spread too much, chill the dough longer to bring the temperature down, or add 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour.

Freezing Unbaked Dough:

Shape dough balls
Freeze on a tray, then transfer to a bag
Freeze up to 2 months

TO bake from frozen:

Follow the same instructions, but add 3 to 4 minutes to the bake time.

How to Make Levain Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Equipment I Use:

Stand Mixer
Whisk Attachment
Baking Sheet

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cool room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups chocolate chunks or chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Overview:

Set up your oven: Move a rack to the middle of the oven and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. (You don’t have to preheat the oven yet because the dough will have to be chilled first.)

Cream the sugar and fats: Using the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until just combined, not fluffy.

Whisk the dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cornstarch. Set aside.

Combine ingredients in the mixer: To the stand mixer bowl, add the egg, extra egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix on low speed until combined, then turn the mixer off. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Fold in the flour and mix-ins by hand: Next, using a wooden spoon or stiff rubber spatula, fold in the dry flour mixture a little at a time until no clumps of white flour remain. Fold in the chocolate and walnuts. Do not overmix.

Form the massive dough balls: Scoop the dough into 1/2 cup portions (about 5 to 6 ounces each). Tear each dough ball in half and stack the pieces on top of each other. Do not smooth them out.

Chill dough: When refrigerating, you can place the dough piles close together on one baking sheet to save space while bringing the temperature down. Chill the dough for at least 45 minutes, ideally longer.

Bake: Preheat the oven to 375°F. For Levain-style jumbo cookies, place dough balls about 4 inches apart, and no more than 4 cookies per baking sheet. This will give them enough room to spread and bake evenly.

These cookies are large and dense, so overcrowding the cookie sheet traps heat and forces them to spread flatter and bake unevenly instead of staying thick and chewy.

Bake at 375°F for 12 to 15 minutes, until edges are golden, but the centers still look slightly underdone.

*The centers will look underbaked and very, very soft when you take them out. This is what you want. The cookies will finish baking on the cookie sheet after they are removed from the oven.

Allow the cookies to rest undisturbed on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack after that time and allow to cool completely.

Storage & Freezing:

Store baked cookies in a plastic bag at room temperature for up to 4 days. Placing a piece of sandwich bread in the bag with the cookies will preserve texture and freshness.

To Freeze: Wrap baked cookies individually in plastic wrap, then place wrapped cookies in a freezer storage bag for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter as needed.

More Chocolate Chip Recipes

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (9×13 Pan)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffins