Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies

I wanted to share with you one of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes. The cookies will turn out thick, HUGE, and perfectly chewy if made correctly. They are the perfect giant and HIGH chocolate chip cookie. Forget the wide and flat cookies you're used to. My favorite thing about these cookies though, is the hint of sea salt that comes through in the end result, and the flavor of the salt against the semi-sweet chocolate. I have had many requests for this recipe and it is probably tied with my other all-time favorite cookie recipe, the chocolate chip oatmeal Neiman Marcus cookie recipe (that also gets many requests!) if you aren't in the mood for the oatmeal. I have never had a Levain Bakery cookie, but if it is much better than this they must really be amazing. Hopefully on my upcoming trip to New York city this coming weekend I will finally find the time to stop by.

I found the trick to these cookies to be getting the butter good and cold before you shred it. I stick 2 sticks into the freezer about a half hour before I attempt to grate them and find a simple box grater to work best. I have tried the food processor but the results are not as good. If you get the butter grated correctly, you are good to go! Also, do not forget to stick the dough balls in the fridge before you bake them, it will help the cookies to rise extra high.

Levain Bakery-ish Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter shredded like cheese with a box grater (freeze butter, then shred)
3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 and 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz good quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional- I left out)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat the cold shredded butter and both sugars until JUST combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until JUST incorporated.

Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to the mixer bowl and mix just until blended. Add the chocolate chips (and walnuts) and mix until distributed. The dough will be very thick and stiff at this point.

Divide the dough into 12-18 balls, approximately 4 oz each. I make mine a little larger than a golf ball and they turn out plenty big. If you have a cookie scooper, about 2 scoops. Do not worry about the size of the balls being so large, they will still cook properly! If you make 12 balls they will probably be the size of tennis balls!

Place dough balls on a large ungreased baking pan. Chill in the refridgerator about 20 minutes and then bake 18-22 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges and set in the center. Let cool on pans about 5 minutes before transferring to cooling racks.