These unbelievably thick and gooey vegan Levain chocolate chip cookies are just as addictive as the famous bakery version – with NO eggs or dairy!
New York City’s Most Famous Cookie
My first introduction to Levain chocolate chip cookies came just about a month ago.
As soon as I saw the legendary soft and chewy cookies, packed with melty chocolate in each bite, I fell instantly in love.
How had I never heard of these before???!
The New York City bakery was slated to open a new location in Georgetown – their first shop ever outside of NYC – and suddenly everyone I knew was talking about their classic chocolate chip walnut cookies.
Also try this Vegan Chocolate Mousse
Enlisting my non-vegan friends as taste testers, I set about to recreate the beloved dense and gooey texture of the original bakery-style cookies in a dairy free way.
We went through a few trials to get them perfect, but the final results were totally worth it.
Trending now: Vegan Donuts
The Tricks To Soft Cookies
These vegan Levain cookies are the opposite of my Crispy Cookies.
So I employed the same baking tricks as I did with the crispy cookie recipe, just in reverse this time.
I used brown sugar because it has more moisture than white and is more acidic, meaning it reacts with baking soda to produce air that helps the cookies rise.
And I baked them at a higher temperature than my other cookie recipes, because this reduces spreading.
To achieve the softest, fluffiest chewy chocolate chip cookies from scratch, I added a little bit more flour and less sugar, and I chilled the dough before baking.
The recipe calls for traditional chocolate chip cookie ingredients – no coconut oil, chia seeds, or flax eggs required.
You May Also Like: Chocolate Truffles – Just Two Ingredients
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
Above, watch the video of how to make vegan Levain bakery cookies
The recipe was adapted from my Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies and these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Vegan Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup white, spelt, or oat flour (for flourless, try these Keto Cookies)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, unrefined if desired
- 3 tbsp regular sugar, unrefined if desired
- 2/3 cup chocolate chips
- 3 tbsp butter (such as Melt vegan)
- 1 1/2 tbsp milk of choice
Instructions
- Stir dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in the butter (soft but not melted) and milk. If mixing by hand instead of with a stand mixer, it will seem dry. Keep stirring (don't add more milk) and it will eventually turn into cookie dough. Smush into a big ball, then break off dough and roll smaller balls. For soft cookies, cover and chill in the fridge at least 1 hour (overnight is fine). Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake cookies on a parchment-lined sheet on the center rack for 15 minutes.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Vegan Recipes With Chocolate Chips:
I realllyyy love this recipe! is there anyway to make these in Double Chocolate?
I followed the recipe and directions exactly and the cookies turned out perfectly. I used a hand mixer to mix in the butter and milk and the dough was very crumbly, so I switched to a spoon and pressed down on the dough and it started coming together as cookie dough. The recipe states to make it into a big ball, which I did with my hands and then it was a piece of cake to make the dough into 5 smaller balls. I baked them for exactly 15 minutes at 350º F and the cookies turned out PERFECT. Great recipe! Thank you so much for sharing this!
This made me so happy to read. Thank you for making them 🙂
(Katie)
These are the bomb!!!! My favorite cookie!
❤
Can you sub coconut oil for the butter?
Honestly the best cookies I’ve ever made!!! And so quick to whip up. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Thank you for trying them 🙂
What changes would need to be done as to make it a chocolate version. How much cocoa powder?
We haven’t tried that yet but it’s on our to-do list to hopefully try soon 🙂
These look amazing! Have you tried with almond flour by chance?
We haven’t with this one, but Katie does have a recipe that uses almond flour if you wanted to try that one instead: https://lett-trim.today/keto-cookies-recipe/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I made these today and WOW. I am impressed. I’ve had the original Levain cookies and these certainty have similar taste and texture. My nonvegan fiancé couldn’t believe they were vegan.
This makes us so happy! 🙂 🙂
Soooo GOOD!! I just made these and almost ate the whole batch in one go! Oops! Katie- I LOVE YOUR RECIPES!!!
These look so good! Would they work with olive oil instead of the vegan butter? Thank you!
Honestly we have never tried. Be sure to report back if you do try!
What would you advise if I were baking at high altitude? Thank you in advance! I lived at sea level when I made them the first time!
Hi! Unfortunately we don’t have any personal experience with baking at high altitudes so aren’t able to say how it affects any of Katie’s recipes. Hopefully google research or maybe talking to friends in high altitude areas who are bakers will have some better ideas 🙂
Have these been tested with rice and coconut milk? Wondering which one works best 🙂 Thanks!
Katie!! I think I love you!! These cookies came out GORGEOUS and are pillowy just like the picture! I used a mix of bolted wheat/whole wheat flour and walnut oil in place of the vegan butter. I’m in trouble with these, I will be unable to make them too often because they’re just way too good!
💕😁
Had the perfect amount of sweetness – not too overpowering
I’m not vegan and have tried the real Levain cookies. Both my sister and I agree that these are somehow even better than the real ones. Great job Katie!
It must make a difference if you grind your own oat flour? I think mine may have been too coarse b/c they all flattened out. I didn’t do any subs (it says oat flour in the recipe) other than I used funfetti chips instead of chocolate 🙂 That being said – they are still tasty. Just rather sad that they didn’t stay nice and puffy! Looking forward to trying again but maybe using a different flour 🙂 thanks for the recipe!!