On and off for the past year, I have been trying to perfect a mini version of those gigantic Levain cookies. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, Levain(which is a French culinary term for sourdough starter) is a bakery originally from New York that specializes in these tall, chunky cookies that are crispy on the edges, and cookie doughy in the middle. One of the reasons why they are able to accomplish that textural contrast is by baking large pieces of cookie dough to ensure that the middles do not fully cook. However, and this is just my opinion, eating a Levain cookie is a freaking commitment. Because of how large they are, these giant Levain cookies are basically the size of 4 servings, but in one cookie. And while I love cookies, I do not want to get sick of eating them. So I figured, let’s run some tests here, make my own recipe, and then find a way to make them miniature, so that you can enjoy the doughy-centered, crispy-edged Levain-style cookie without getting sick of them. Hilariously, I have made gluten-free variations on the Levain cookie in the past, so this would be my first time actually making a Levain cookie using conventional flour. What I found that worked best is using a high ratio of flour to butter/sugar, which creates a doughier centered cookie, as well as using more eggs, since the increased protein from the egg whites will keep these cookies from spreading so much. The end result was exactly what I had envisioned for these, which is why I am sharing this recipe today!

What’s cool about this recipe is that it is highly customizable. I wanted to keep some things similar to the original Levain chocolate chip cookie, using subtle spicing and walnuts to add a little more to it. But I also used brown butter in my dough, adding in malted milk powder for that nostalgic, toasty flavor to compliment the chocolate, and I also used blonde chocolate, which is a caramelized white chocolate, tasting similar to butterscotch, just to add more contrast and because it plays off of the brown butter nicely. If you want to omit the various chocolates to use just one kind, or omit the malted milk powder, be my guest. I just liked using those steps to really add more flavor to my cookies, but they are not ingredients that might be readily available in everyone’s pantries, and I get that. These cookies are also finished with flaky salt, since that brings out more of the chocolate flavor, but again, omit that if you do not have any on hand. Like I said, this recipe is highly customizable, so you can really swap in and out a lot of different ingredients, so long as you keep the ratios the same for the butter, sugars, eggs, flour, and baking powder and baking soda. The rest, you can totally mix and match to make other fun flavors and really make this recipe your own! My specific take on it is designed to embrace all of the delicious and fun parts of the original Levain chocolate chip cookie, with some influences from the iconic Doubletree Cookie to reference my own background, having worked in Hilton before!

Makes 36 mini cookies:
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 tbsp malted milk powder
a pinch of cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 cup dark chocolate, chopped into smaller pieces
1/2 cup milk chocolate, chopped into smaller pieces
1/2 cup blonde chocolate, chopped into smaller pieces
1 cup chopped walnuts
maldon salt or fleur de sel for finishing

In a pan, heat up the butter until it begins to melt. To the butter, add in the malted milk powder, then allow the butter itself to turn an amber-brown color before pouring everything into a heatproof bowl. In said bowl, whisk together your brown butter with your spices and sugars. To that, add in your eggs, one at a time, stirring them together until incorporated into the brown butter-sugar, then add in your vanilla. In another bowl, sift the flour with leavening agents and salt. Toss the chocolate and walnuts with the flour. Mix the flour with the butter to form your dough. Scoop the dough into 1oz balls and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.

On parchment-lined sheet trays, place the dough balls at least 2 inches apart from one another. Bake the cookies at 425 degrees F for 8 minutes. While the cookies are still warm, sprinkle on top either maldon salt or fleur de sel to finish.