The story of how a cookie and a city changed my life (plus a copycat recipe)!
BY EVAN CAIN
VICE-PRESIDENT/ CO-EDITOR IN CHIEF/ ARTS AND CULTURE HEAD
New York, New York!
Ah, New York! The Big Apple. The Empire State. The Five Boroughs. The Melting Pot. The Greatest City in the World. What’s not to love? Endless honking up and down the street. The either wonderful or terrible stench of the hot food stands around every corner. Rushing businessmen on the street. The vibrant energy of Times Square. Sunday brunch at The Plaza Hotel, then a walk in the beautiful Central Park. All things that scream soon-to-be-Broadway-actress-living-in-New-York-City (AKA my dream).
I have loved New York City ever since the first time I visited with my family in 2013. Within the first four hours, I was hurling on a curb near 7th Avenue due to a nasty Subway sandwich and some kid’s ear infection medicine. It was hilarious! I mean, picture it: not a party girl coming back from the club at 4’clock in the morning, but a 9 year old girl on the side of the curb in the middle of Times Square during her very first moments of being in the city she dreamed of all her life. An iconic moment she would never forget. The next morning, she pulled it together with a bagel and some Sprite, and joined her family on a walk along the gorgeous Highline. Every sight was so vivid. A walkway of green, flowers, and old railroad tracks turned into modern city scenes and benches for tourists’ enjoyment.
The next day consisted of a wonderful Staten Island Ferry ride to see the one and only Lady Liberty. It was fascinating-inspiring, even-to be able to look up from the boat, floating on a huge pool of water, to see a ginormous, stunning image of a strong woman towering over me. We then explored the Tenement Museum, which was my favorite part of the trip. Something about it just struck a chord in me. The next few days were a little bit of a blur, but acore memory was the iconic American Girl Doll store adventure, when my stepmom, Yaya, bought me my very own doll who looked exactly like me. An American Girl Doll is a special milestone in a little girl’s life. That doll lives in my house to this day and won’t ever be thrown out.
The trip was rounded off with a famous Levain cookie from Levain Bakery on the Upper West Side. The bakery opened in 1995 with the goal of “creating the world's best chocolate chip cookie,” which I believe they have achieved. A Levain cookie is not just a cookie. It’s an experience. A giant, gooey, chewy, delicious experience that everyone should be able to try at least once in their lifetime. No 9 year old girl should be eating one of those softball sized cookies by themselves, but there I was, inhaling every last bit of it. That day was the day I fell in love with the cookie (and the city) all over again.
The next trip was in 2016, which was the year my oldest sister, Nadia, was opening a new chapter of her life: college. We dropped her off at her dorm at Columbia University and she has been living her best life in the Big Apple ever since. The trip also introduced me to my first two Broadway shows EVER!!!
Yaya took me to see “Wicked,” a show I knew absolutely all the words to, and “The Lion King,” a show I would soon play Timon in. The magic of Broadway revealed itself to me during that trip. It was everything. The trip also consisted of a tour of the Empire State Building, another trip to the American Girl Doll store, a trip to Alexander Hamilton’s real house, Brooklyn Pizza (the best pizza), Ice skating at Rockefeller Center, and a personal performance from a waiter at the Stardust Diner who happened to sing “You’ll Be Back” from Hamilton, a song that my sister and I were debating if he was going to sing or not. Another trip to New York I will never forget, rounded off with another famous Levain cookie.
My third trip to New York was in 2017 with my mom and it was a blast. We skated at Rockefeller Center during Christmas time, which is just such a beautiful, once in a lifetime experience. We also saw Dear Evan Hansen with the original cast, one of my absolute favourite Broadway shows of all time (just after RENT, of course). That show sparked every emotion possible in me. I cried for a full hour and a half after the show while eating, once again, a famous Levain cookie from the bakery. It tasted so good, but a little salty from my tears. The next day, we saw Come From Away, a show so unique and inspiring, it made me want to get home and just write, write, write my heart out until I produced a show as wonderful and beautiful as this one. The trip was rounded off with brunch at the Plaza and a stunning walk through Central Park. I am so grateful for all of these amazing experiences. They have shaped me into the driven student and person I am today.
If I could go back to New York every week, I would, but traveling is expensive and inconvenient. Although it’s something I love to do and have dreamed of doing throughout my entire life, I understand that I won’t be able to just drop all of my responsibilities and projects to fly out anytime I want to. Traveling takes planning and organization, which is something that takes time. So, I must wait for my chance to fly to New York again. But for now, I can recreate little moments that are near and dear to my heart that remind me of the greatest city in the world. A recipe! A recipe to recreate the best chocolate chip cookie in the world. And that’s exactly what we did.
Yaya’s Copycat Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie
Recipe by Claudia Valenzuela
This recipe is supposed to yield 12 cookies at 6 ounces each, which is HUGE because the Levain Bakery cookies are beasts. A true Levain cookie is heavy, gooey, large, slightly underdone, and each is about 900 calories. Yikes! Typically, we do not make them that big, but I don’t like to lose the lava gooeyness that the Levain cookies are known for, so we keep them on the bigger side. I’d say a ¼-cup scoop minimum should yield about 18-22 cookies depending on how big you decide to make them.
TOOLS
Large mixing bowl
Parchment paper
Large cookie sheet
Electric stand mixer with paddle attachment
Large rubber spatula
Food scale (if making six-ounce sized cookies) OR
Extra-large scooper ¼ cup or larger for the “smaller sized” cookies
INGREDIENTS
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups bread flour
1-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1-1/2 cups butter (3 sticks) melted and cooled
2 cups brown sugar (packed)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips - I mixed large bittersweet chips and semi-sweet Chips
1 1/2 cups roasted, chopped pecans – you can roast the pecans in advance (see tips below)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the two flours, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda together in a bowl and set the dry ingredients aside.
Using an electric stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth - about 3 minutes.
Add the eggs and egg yolks – beat one at a time - to the butter and sugar mixture and mix for about 2 minutes, and then add vanilla extract, mix for another minute.
With the stand mixer on the lowest setting, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. DO NOT OVER MIX.
Once incorporated, stir in the chocolate chips and roasted pecans.
Remove paddle attachment, using a large rubber spatula, give the dough a few final mixes to mix in any remaining unmixed flour and to further incorporate chocolate chips and pecans.
Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes but one-hour is ideal. If you chill longer or overnight, you may need to bring the dough out and sit on the counter for 30 minutes so that it remains cool but soft enough, so you are working with it and still scoop.
Use a scale to measure 6oz balls or for smaller cookies use 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop out large-sized balls of dough – be generous!
Place the dough balls on a cookie sheet, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Do not crowd the cookie sheet.
Bake for 19 minutes. Rotate midway through baking.
Bake one cookie sheet at a time for best results. Be patient, it's worth it!
Keep the remaining cookie dough covered and chilled in between baking.
Let the cookies set for about 10 minutes before serving.
Serve warm!!
TIPS
Storing cookie dough – You can store the cookie dough balls in the fridge for up to 3 days. Be sure they are in an airtight container or bag.
Freezing cookie dough - You can freeze this cookie dough after you scoop and shape them into ready-to-bake portions. I typically bake what I need and freeze the rest. They are easy to pull out and pop in the oven. If you freeze them then add 2 to 3 minutes to the bake time.
Storage - Freshly baked cookies, once cooled, can stay in a sealed container or Ziplock bag at room temperature for 3 days.
Reheat - To give room temperature cookies that freshly baked taste and gooey yumminess, put them in a 350-degree oven or toaster oven to warm through for 5-10 minutes.
Roasted pecans – set your oven at 400. Add whole or pecan halves to a small cookie sheet. Roast for 7-10 minutes or until you start to smell the pecans. Keep an eye on them because they can quickly go from perfect to burnt. Let them cool for 15 minutes. Then roughly chop. Measure out pecans needed for the recipe. Any extra can be stored at room temperature and used next time, or in our case they get eaten up while sitting on the counter still warm.
Ice cream sandwiches – due to the size of these cookies, my kids think they make a great ice cream sandwich, which they make all the time.
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