These giant cookies have a perfectly crispy exterior and ooey, gooey center! The Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies are a whopping 6-ounces! I decided to create my vegan and gluten free copycat version because everyone should be able to enjoy a ridiculously large chocolate chip cookie (especially now with everything going on in the world). Personally, chocolate chip cookies, warm out of the oven have been my comfort food since the quarantine started. Perhaps, these should be called the Quarantine Cookies?
Everyone should get to experience eating a cookie the size of their head at some point in their lives, so why wait!?! I love making a big batch and freezing the pre-rolled cookies so I can bake them off a few at a time so I can have warm cookies whenever I want! It's pretty much the perfect set up.... I know...
If you love this classic cookie, I promise you won't be disappointed with these! They are so soft and gooey in the center with perfectly crisp edges! The trick is chilling them before baking so they spread more slowly!
I hope you give these Levain Bakery Style cookies a try! They are epic!
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, (I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread)
¾ dark brown sugar
½ coconut sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp water)
¼ cup oat milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups gluten free all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur)
1 cup gluten free oat flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 cup Hu Gems, or dark chocolate chunks
1 cups Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips
Method of Preparation:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. Set aside.
Measure the all-purpose flour, then remove 2 tablespoons. Replace those two tablespoon with the two tablespoons of cornstarch (this makes a cake-like flour).
In a medium bowl whisk together the all-purpose flour, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, corn starch and salt.
In a small bowl combine the flax meal with 3 tablespoons of water and stir to combine. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients. The flax “egg” should be gelatinous when you add it to the cookie mixture.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until it comes together and is lightly creamed, 2 minutes on medium speed.
Add in the coconut sugar and brown sugar and beat to combine, 1 minute on medium speed.
Add the flax “egg”, vanilla and oat milk, mix on low to combine. The mixture might look a bit curdled, but don’t worry – it will come together when the dry ingredinets are added.
Add the dry ingredients all at once, and pulse until the flour is almost completely incorporated, but a few streaks remain.
Mix in the chocolate chips and sprinkles with a spatula, mixing just until the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough.
Divide the dough into 10 even pieces, roughly 4-ounces each. Shape the dough roughly into a ball, do not roll it perfectly smooth. Place the cookie dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Place the cookies 2-inches apart on the baking sheet. Press the cookie down slightly, they should be about 1 ½-inches-thick.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, (can bake longer if your prefer a less doughy center) since there is no raw egg, you don’t have to worry about the inside being too gooey! The cookies will continue to bake on the baking sheet once removed from the oven, so keep that in mind when pulling them out!
Allow to cool on the sheet tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely (If you can wait that long..).
Enjoy!