More Levain Cookie Clones

UPDATE
I was really sad to read the first review of my Levain clone — the one by Kelly, who said hers were too flat. I’ve made the non-baking powder version three times and have had high rising cookies, but given Kelly’s failed batch, I feel like I should just revert back to the baking powder version Lisa started with. The reason I keep straying from it is when I make that recipe, mine look like this.

while the real Levain cookies are scraggly and brown.

So this morning I went back to Lisa’s original version from Art Culinaire and made some more modifications. I kept my bread flour and my European style butter, but paid closer attention to the coldness of the batter and played around with various settings on my oven. One thing I found was that using the convection setting gave me the scraggly bumps I was going for. I tried a few settings on convection – 375 F for 18 minutes (cookies got a little too brown), 350 F for 20 minutes (cookies were just right). then went back to regular non-convection at 375, but baked the cookie in a higher spot in the oven.   Using the same dough used for the flat, bleached looking cooking in photo 1, I used a convection oven and got a cookie that looked like this.

So the method you use for baking really does affect the cookie.

Based on this morning’s tests, here’s a revised recipe. If you are determined not to use the baking powder and have some King Arthur bread flour on hand and a scale to measure it properly, you might want to try the second one that does not use the baking powder.

Levain Copy Cats Version 2

2 sticks (8 oz) European style butter, very cold, chopped up
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar (6 oz) – (Lisa mixes dark and light)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 cups chilled King Arthur bread flour (13 1/2 oz)
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or fine Kosher salt or salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cold large eggs, lightly beaten in a separate bowl
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I can’t leave it out!!)
1 1/2 cups extra dark chocolate chips such as Guittard extra dark (in the shiny red bag)
1 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the chopped up, cold butter until it comes together. It should be creamy and still cold. Add the sugar and continue to beat until it is mixed in. Gradually add the eggs and vanilla and continue beating with the paddle on medium until mixed, scraping sides of bowl once or twice. The coolness from the eggs should make the butter seize up again so the creamy mixture will appear lumpy.
Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix the cold flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. With the mixer on medium-low (or by hand with a heavy duty rubber scraper), gradually add the flour mixture stirring just until mixed. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
Empty the batter onto a large flat surface and make sure all the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Instead of lumping it all together, keep it kind of loose. Divide into 12 raggedy pieces. The dough should be cold before you even put it in the refrigerator, but chilling the dough will help make the cookies taller. I’ve also had good results freezing the dough and baking it from frozen.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. If you are using convection, preheat to 350 F convection.
Arrange cookies (I recommend baking 1 or 2 first to nail down your time) on a chilled, heavy duty cookie sheet. Bake on center rack for 18 minutes at 375 or 20 minutes at 350F convection. Let cool for about 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then remove and finish cooling on a rack. When cool, you can eat OR you can freeze the cookie and thaw them for a better texture.

Note: If all you have are thin cookie sheets, stack two cookie sheets together or stack a chilled cookie sheet on top of a jelly roll pan. This is helpful especially if you do not have a convection oven.

Okay, and back to what I posted the other day after reading Levain Bakery reviews on Rodzilla Reviews.

These are made with the recipe below that does not use baking powder. They’re less bleached looking than the ones with the powder and I wouldn’t call them flat.

Cookie Madness Levain Copycats

8 ounces (two sticks) unsalted European style (83% butterfat) butter, cool room temp
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 cups bread flour (13 1/2 oz)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cold eggs, beaten lightly with a fork in a separate cup**
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups extra dark chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, mix the softened butter and browned sugar on medium just until mixed, making sure there are no lumps of brown sugar.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix the granulated sugar, flour, salt and baking soda. With the mixer on medium-low (or by hand with a heavy duty rubber scraper), gradually add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar. When it’s about halfway incorporated, add the eggs and vanilla, keeping the mixing slow and steady. Add the chocolate chips and nuts.

Empty the batter onto a large flat surface and shape into two tightly packed logs. Break or cut each cylinder into 6 equal pieces so that you have 12. For a more raggedy looking top, break each of your individual pieces in half and turn one half up and stick it onto the other half so that the side where it was broken is on top (and old trick from CI — though Levain says their raggedy look comes from using loosely scooped dough). Arrange on a cookie sheet or a flat plate and put in the freezer for about an hour. When the dough balls are firm and no longer sticky, put them in a tightly sealed freezer bag until ready to use. You can bake them after an hour in the freeze or a couple of days. The ones I baked on Day 2 were slightly taller and fatter.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the frozen cookies on a heavy duty cookie sheet (or if you have thin cookies, stack two and cook on the top) for about 18 minutes or until they appear brown and cooked all over. If using convection, bake about 12 to 14 minutes (but keep an eye on them) Let cool completely, and then freeze the cookies in an air-tight zipper bag. Allow the cookies to thaw before serving. The freezing and thawing contributes to the crumbly yet moist texture. It’s optional, but I think it makes the cookies a little better.

**If you’re concerned about the centers of the cookies being too raw (and I’ve never measured the internal temperature), use pasteurized eggs.

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