Published: · Updated: by Daniela · This post may contain affiliate links
Somedays you just need an outrageous bakery-style cookie that's as big as the palm of your hands like my gluten free levain bakery cookies. Levain Bakery is located in New York City and is known for its oversized cookies. Clearly, something that caught my attention. My gluten-free bakery-style chocolate pecan cookies are slightly crisp on the edges and gooey and chocolatey on the inside. Each cookie weighs a whooping 6oz before baking - no cookie scoop needed. Just a kitchen scale.
If you are looking for my Ultimate Chocolate Cookies, please check out this recipe. I also have two additional Levain Style Cookies on my website now: Gluten Free Levain Style Cookies and Cream Cookies and Gluten Free Levain Style Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Jump to:
- Recipe Ingredient Notes
- Can I make this recipe with "regular" All Purpose Flour?
- How to successfully make Levain Style Cookies
- FAQ for Gluten Free Levain Style Bakery Cookies
- Note about Salt in my Recipes
- Baking in grams
- Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures
- Substitutions and Modifications
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Recipe Ingredient Notes
Gluten Free Flour:I useCup4Cup Multipurpose Flourin this recipe which already contains xanthan gum but also made it successfully with my own Gluten Free Flour blend as well as Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1. If you do not have access to Cup4Cup you can use your favorite gluten-free flour blend. If your blend does NOT contain xanthan gum, please add 2 teaspoons of xanthan to your dry ingredients.
Chocolate: This recipe calls for a lot of chocolate. 15oz to be exact. I use a mixture of 62% dark chocolate chunks, chopped-up Valrhona Milk Chocolate, and Ghiradelli Mini Chocolate Chips. Why 3 different styles of chocolate? It gives the cookie more flavor and more texture. In addition, all three chocolates melt at a different temperature and therefore will produce a variety of chocolate pockets in the baked cookie. Plus more chocolate is always fun!
Nuts: This recipe calls for toasted pecans. If you don't like pecans, please replace them with your nuts of choice. The original Levain Bakery cookies are made with walnuts but personally, I prefer pecans over walnuts (for some reason walnuts in the US taste bitter to me) If you don't like nuts at all, please replace them with 50 grams of additional flour.
Salt: I useDiamond Crystal Kosher Saltin all my recipes andMaldon’s Flaky Sea Saltas my finishing salt (the flaky sea salt I put on almost all my baked goods). Not all salts are created equal. If you use Morton’s Kosher Salt please be aware that their salt granules are smaller in size, denser, and crunchier. 1 teaspoon of Diamond Crystal Kosher salt weighs roughly 3 grams while 1 teaspoon of Morton’s Kosher Salt weighs almost 5 grams. Therefore if use another brand other than Diamonds Crystal Kosher Salt please be aware that this can throw off the entire recipe.
Can I make this recipe with "regular" All Purpose Flour?
Yes, please use 275 grams of All-Purpose Flour (As in "Wheat containing" flour) or equal parts of All Purpose Flour and Cake Flour.
How to successfully make Levain Style Cookies
- This dough works the best after being chilled for 12hrs or longer (up to 48hrs). I tried baking my gluten-free levain cookies after only being chilled for 30 minutes and they spread out.
- When you portion out the cookies, it's okay if they just look like "a pile of dough" on the sheet tray. I use a kitchen scale to measure them out. I have tried this recipe with 3oz portions and 6oz portions.
- Salt - I top my unbaked cookie dough with flaky sea salt before baking to ensure it actually sticks to the cookie. I don't recommend salting the cookie dough before freezing.
- Start baking them at 375F and after 10 minutes reduce the oven temperature to 350F. This way the outside of the cookie bakes quickly on the outside to ensure that crispy edge.
- The cookies are slightly underbaked - this is how they are gooey and chocolatey on the inside.
- This cookie is the best the day they are baked off. I recommend baking only as many as you would like to enjoy and freeze the leftover portioned dough.
FAQ for Gluten Free Levain Style Bakery Cookies
Can I make those cookies with “Regular” All-Purpose Flour?
Yes, Please substitute the gluten-free flour used in this recipe with 275 grams of regular all-purpose flour (as in wheat-containing flour)
Can I make this recipe vegan?
I know one of my readers has successfully used margarine in myGluten Free Levain Bakery Cookiesto make them dairy-free.
Can I leave out the pecans?
Yes but please add an additional 50 grams of flour.
Can I make this recipe with less chocolate?
Feel free to reduce the amount of chocolate from 425 grams down to 300 grams. There is no need to add any additional flour.
Can I make the cookies smaller?
Of course. I have baked them as 3oz cookies but anything smaller will just lose the "Levain Bakery Style". Please be aware if you make them smaller, you have to reduce the baking time.
Can I freeze the baked cookies?
Yes! Place the cookies on a baking sheet and freeze them. Once frozen wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in a ziplock bag in your freezer. When you are ready to eat a cookie, allow for it to thaw at room temperature. You can always warm it up in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to give it that fresh-baked cookie taste.
How should I store my cookie dough?
If you do not plan on baking all the cookie dough at once, I recommend freezing it. Place it on a sheet tray that fits in your freezer and allow for the cookie dough to fully freeze. Once frozen transfer them to a ziplock bag and store them in your freezer for up to 3 months.
How do I bake the frozen cookie dough?
The best way to bake the frozen cookie dough, please preheat your oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. When your oven is preheated, transfer the number of cookies you would like to bake to your sheet tray. Bake them at 375F for 13 minutes, lower the temperature to 350F and finish baking them for 7-11 minutes.
Why is this recipe not using the "Streusel Technique"?
If you have tried my other two Gluten Free Levain Style Cookies you may notice they are being made using the "Streusel Technique". This recipe for Gluten Free Levain Style Bakery Cookies was created before I figured out that unique technique. Can you make this recipe using the Streusel Technique? Absolutely! Can you make it was written? Absolutely! (If you are curious about "The Streusel Technique", please check out my other two Levain Style Cookies)
Note about Salt in my Recipes
I use Diamond Kosher Crystal Salt in all of my recipes unless otherwise stated. If use use a different brand or kind of salt in your kitchen please adjust accordingly since some salts can be saltier. If you use Morton’s Kosher Salt please be aware that their salt granules are smaller in size, denser, and crunchier and twice as salty.
Baking in grams
I share my recipes in grams and by weight since baking by weight is the most accurate way to bake. Digital Scales are very affordable and easy to use. You can purchase them on Amazonfor less than a set of measuring cups. For small amounts under 10 grams, I like to use this Precision Pocket Scale. Measuring cups are very inaccurate which can cause significant errors when it comes to gluten-free baking or baking in general. Especially since I bake with gluten-free flours which weigh differently than “regular” flours. I do provide some ingredients like spices and leavening agents in measuring spoons. To learn more about Baking with a digital scale, make sure to check out my post about Baking by weight.
Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures
All my recipes are tested and developed with a conventional oven. I always bake my baked goods on the rack placed in the MIDDLE of my oven. This way the heat coming from the bottom will not burn my baked goods.
If you are baking with convection (fan-forced), please adjust the recipes accordingly. Convection oven can cause baked goods to dry out quickly and still be raw inside. It takes at least 15-20 minutes for a standard American Oven to be fully preheated. I highly recommend investing in an Oven Thermometer.
Substitutions and Modifications
Any dietary or ingredient modifications/substitutions to this recipe may alter the end result in appearance and taste. I test my recipes several times as published in this post and The Gluten Free Austrian Blog is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe you find on our website.
📖 Recipe
Yield: 8
Gluten Free Levain Bakery Cookies
Gluten-free bakery-style chocolate pecan cookies with slightly crisp edges and a gooey and chocolatey center.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Additional Time12 hours
Total Time12 hours 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 300 grams Gluten Free Flour (I recommend Cup4Cup for this recipe)
- 30 grams cornstarch
- 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 113 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 100 grams light brown sugar
- 115 grams granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 425 grams mixed chocolate
- 150 grams toasted pecans
Instructions
How to make the Cookie Dough
- Combine Cup4Cup, cornstarch, baking powder, and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, both sugars, vanilla extract, and salt.
- At a low-speed mix to combine, increase the speed to medium and mix until light and fluffy - this should take around 4-6 minutes.
- Turn off your mixer, scrape down the sides of your bowl and the paddle to ensure everything gets incorporated equally.
- With your mixer running on low, add the egg and the egg yolk one by one and make sure to let them incorporate fully.
- Turn off your mixer, scrape down the sides of your bowl and the paddle to ensure everything gets incorporated equally.
- With the mixer running on low, add the flour and mix to combine. Add the chocolate and nuts and mix.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and portion the dough in 6oz cookies using your kitchen scale. Wrap the sheet tray with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12hrs to allow the dough to rest. During this process the flour hydrates and develops flavor.
Bake the Cookies
- Preheat your oven to 375F.
- Arrange 4 cookies on your parchment-lined sheet pan and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
- Bake at 375F for 10 minutes, rotate the tray and reduce the temperature of your oven to 350F.
- Bake for an additional 6-9 minutes until they have crispy edges, look puffy, and still look slightly underdone in the center. If you want a gooey cookie you will want to underbake them.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the sheet tray for 5-10 minutes. Those cookies taste the best when eaten when they are freshly baked.
- Repeat with the rest of your cookie dough or freeze for future cookie cravings.
Notes
Using All Purpose Flour
Please substitute the gluten-free flour used in this recipe with 275 grams of regular all-purpose flour (as in wheat-containing flour)
Cookie Dough Chill Time
- This dough works the best after being chilled for 12hrs or longer (up to 48hrs). I tried baking my gluten-free levain cookies after only being chilled for 30 minutes and they spread out.
Reducing the chocolate
Feel free to reduce the amount of chocolate from 425 grams down to 300 grams. There is no need to add any additional flour.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 400
