Levain Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip M+M Cookies
Let’s talk Levain cookies!
If you’re not familiar with Levain, it’s a widely loved bakery located in NYC. Today they have multiple locations, but the one in the NYC is iconic for this staple chocolate chip cookie. So what makes this cookie style stand out above the rest? So. Much.
To date I’ve tried endless cookies vegan and not, but there is something about this cookie that just stands out! For starters this cookie features cake flour, which adds a lightness, lots of butter (needed), more brown sugar than white for more of a softer cookie texture, and the one strategy I love most is that they make the height of the cookie sky high. By adding height the inside cooks slower making it more of a doughy center. Last but not least, the temperature is key as its higher than traditional cookies at 410 degrees, giving you a crisp outer edge and just a slightly soft center.
The end result is just memorable and you can mix up the flavors as I did here!
What’s even more fab about my version of this cookie? Everything! It’s modeled after the most sought after recipe, features flax eggs, can all be made in 1 bowl, you don’t have to sift in the dry ingredients, uses vegan butter and stevia sweetened chocolate chips, vegan M+M’s, mirrors the real deal, compromises nowhere with texture or flavor, requires no chill time (thank goodness), it’s crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and most importantly, has rich notes of peanut butter!
If you love a fab vegan cookie or all things peanut butter, you have to try these new Levain Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Why this recipe is great:
Quick
Easy
No chill time
Crispy outside
Soft inside
No sifting of ingredients
Rich notes of peanut butter
Levain Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 8 Large Cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup Vegan Butter, cold, cut into small cubes
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 tbsp Ground flax combined with 6 tbsp water
- 1/2 cup Smooth peanut butter
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups Cake Flour
- 1 1/2 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 3/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Stevia Sweetened Chocolate Chips
- 2 bags vegan M+M’s
Instructions
-
In a small bowl combine the ground flax and water. Set aside to thicken.
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Preheat oven to 410 degrees.
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In a large mixing bowl, cream together cold cubed vegan butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until light and fluffy. Don’t over mix till its runny.
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Add flax egg mixture, mix well
- Add the extract and peanut butter, mix well.
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In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients.
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Gradually add in the dry ingredients in increments (flours, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt) mixing after each time just a little until combined. Avoid overmixing. Stir in chocolate chips. Now gently fold in the M+M’s. Be gentle, as the more you touch them the color comes off. Save a few to pop on top mid bake.
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Separate dough into large roughly shaped balls and place on lightly colored cookie sheet. Don’t make the dough too smooth, you want rough and tall. You will fit 4 cookies on one large cookie sheet. The dough makes 8 extra large cookies.
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Bake for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown on the top. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes to set. Cookies will be crisp on the outside and slightly soft on the inside, which is the Levain Style. For traditional cookies, just use 1 scoop of dough.
Notes
- If you over mix your batter, they will be flat
- If you don’t stack the dough high enough, they will be flat (makes 8 cookies)
- If you over bake them, they will be flatter
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
Tastes great. They were not flat, barely spread at all, so no issues there. But they were very much undercooked in the middle. They were a nice golden brown on top and bottom. I think I either need to make them less tall and more flat or reduce the oven heat to allow them to cook thoroughly without burning the tops and bottoms. Look forward to trying again!
Hi Lisa, The undercooked middle is the Levain Style. You’re adding height with a higher temperature to give a crispy outside and a softer inside. If you’d like a traditional cookie, simply use the standard 1 scoop.
Changing my rating to 5 stars, I wish I could remove the old one! After being in the fridge overnight, they were amazing! I did make them again and smooshed them just a little before baking so they weren’t as high and they turned out even better.
Awe, thanks Lisa! A lot of times cookies taste better after the rest. Thanks for sharing!
These are SO GOOD. I’ve never been to Levain but who needs to when I can make cookies this good at home? Thank you so much for this recipe!
I love these cookies too! Once you go Levain, you never go back!