First- temperature. The oven temperature has to be high. Standard cookie baking usually takes place at about 350 degrees. This cookie is baked at 375-400 degrees, depending on if you are or are not using convection. If you have a convection oven, use it! I cannot stress this enough. The convection setting will produce a crispier crust without overcooking the dough inside.
That said, if you don’t have a convection oven, just turn the oven up to 425 regular bake and let it heat up for at least 20 minutes before baking. This will insure your cookies are baked at high temperature and still produce a crispy outside and gooey melted inside. One of the most often made mistakes when baking is not preheating the one properly. When the oven door is opened, the temperature will decrease by at least 25 degrees. If the oven walls are piping hot, the oven will come back up to temperature more quickly and stay hot. ALWAYS preheat the oven for at least 20 minutes before baking!
The second technique (which is equally important) is to stack the cookie high on the baking sheet. I’m talking about a minimum of 3 inches tall. I promise your cookie will flatten out as it bakes. Take a look at this post to see how I shape the cookies for baking. Think tall pile of dough, verses a round ball. If you stack it tall, it will end up being a big thick cookie, which is what we want with this recipe! I’ve added a couple of other tips to insure success and help you achieve the big Levain Bakery cookie signature look when making this recipe. Make sure to read the recipe notes for tips!
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter microwave for 10 seconds or set on counter for 30 minutes
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, cold
1/3 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Unsweetened Cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
3.5 cups or two 12 oz bags dark or semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Place rack in center of oven with no other rack on the shelf directly above the center rack. Preheat oven to 400 convection bake or 425 regular bake. Let oven heat up for at least 20 minutes before baking.
Cut the butter into tablespoons size pieces. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl. Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat butter, and sugars for about 1 minute until butter is broken up and starts to blend with the sugar.
Add eggs, one at a time until mixed well. Keep the mixer speed on medium. Turn mixer off and add unsweetened cocoa, mix until cocoa is blended well. Scrape down sides of the bowl a couple of times during mixing.
Turn mixer off. Add all purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to bowl all at once. Pulse the mixer until the wet and dry ingredients are combined using low speed. Scrape down sides of bowl again.
Fold in chocolate chips. Mix on low, or fold in with large spoon until chips are incorporated in dough.
Scoop the cookies with hands onto a kitchen scale*, the cookies should weigh 6 oz each. There will be approximately 8-9 pieces of dough. If you are making minis, measure out to 3 – 3.5 ox size and refrigerate before baking to avoid excess spreading of dough.
The large 6 oz cookies do not require refrigeration before baking. Bake the cookie sheets one at a time, 4-5 cookies per sheet at least 3 inches apart.
Bake for 5-7 minutes on convection or regular bake. The cookies are done when a top crust is formed and the cookies no longer look wet. Do not over bake!
If the cookie edges spread too much, use a small spatula and push the edges in while still hot to form circular shape. Let the cookies cool for 30 minutes before eating.
Recipe Notes
I use Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa for this recipe. It is usually the darkest cocoa readily available at most grocery stores. It comes in a smaller container than most cocoa, but will last for quite a while since only small amounts are used in most recipes.
When making this recipe, I prefer to use food handler’s gloves to form the dough. I don’t ever use a scoop when making any of the Levain copycat recipe. Explanation regarding forming of dough on this post.
It is important to note that when making this cookie, it is best to start making dough about 10 minutes after the oven has begun preheating. The dough should not sit out on counter at room temperature. If the dough sits at room temperature, the butter will begin to melt and the cookie will not hold its shape as well when baking. Also, using cold eggs and butter that is only slightly softened contribute to the cookie holding its shape.
If you feel the dough has been sitting at room temperature longer than you anticipated, form the cookies and place the pan inside of the fridge to allow the cookie dough to chill for a while. Then place immediately in the preheated oven to cook.
Cook time will vary depending on if using convection or not and the oven. Remember, this cookie only needs to be baked until the cookie has formed a slightly crust on top and the dough is no longer shiny (see photos).
Always use unsalted butter and large eggs.
When storing these cookies, I try to not cover them up, this will cause the cookie to lose its crisp outer layer!
source: https://abountifulkitchen.com/levain-bakery-dark-chocolate-chocolate-chip-cookie/