Recipes

Soft & Thick White Chocolate, Cranberry & Strawberry NY Cookies

December 27, 2022

We all have different preferences when it comes to eating cookies. Some prefer small and crunchy cookies, while others find thick and chewy cookies more appealing.

If you are one of those who love big, chunky, soft, and cake-like cookies, then you should try our White Chocolate, Cranberry & Strawberry NY Cookies recipe inspired by the famous Levain-bakery! [Go straight to recipe]

While the NY stands for New York here, these will be an absolute hit at your New Year's gatherings.

What Are Levain Cookies?

Levain Bakery isn’t an unfamiliar name for cookie enthusiasts.

The iconic Levain cookies can be found in any branch of Levain Bakery in the States, but if you’re like us and are in a place without access to it, the next best thing is to recreate a version that reminds us of it.

Since its emergence in 1995, Levain cookies have become an iconic NYC signature that has stolen the hearts of many locals and visitors alike.

People around the world have always tried to create their own Levain style cookies: huge New York-style cookies that are almost palm-sized with a crisp outside and a soft and chewy inside.

Here, we've made a version with some dried cranberries and freeze-dried strawberries to give it a sort of tang that complements the sweetness in the cookie.

Mix In Anything You Want!

If you’ve been googling for Levain cookie recipes, you may find that most of them are soft-baked cookies loaded up with chocolate or white chocolate chips. But hey, no one can stop you from tweaking the recipe to your liking!

There are no limitations when it comes to adding mix-ins to your cookies (unless it dramatically increases the water content). You can add a bunch of macadamia nuts, peanut butter, chocolate or rainbow sprinkles, marshmallows, etc. If you want to add a slight tang, dried cranberries are the perfect choice.

Make Sure To Use Cold, Cubed Butter

One of the key traits of a Levain-style cookie is its large and tall size, coupled with a fudgy center.

The key to reaching this is to prevent spreading of the cookie while not incorporating too much air. For that, we use cold, cubed butter, and chilling the dough just before it’s baked.

You’ll need a hand-mixer for this one, because whisking cold butter with a hand-whisk is going to make you flip!

Other than that, cold butter helps to elevate crispness in the cookies. When you mix cold butter with the dough, instead of being fully incorporated, it gets broken into small pieces instead.

As a result, during baking, the steam released will create flaky layers.

White Chocolate, Cranberry & Strawberry NY Cookies

Yield: ~20 cookies

Ingredients

Cookie Dough

200g unsalted butter, cold
150g brown sugar
100g granulated sugar
5g vanilla
2 medium eggs (~55g each w/ shell)
190g all purpose flour
155g cake flour
1g corn flour
3g baking soda
4g salt
100g dried cranberries
150g white chocolate couverture
14g freeze dried strawberries
1x parchment paper

Directions

Cookie Dough

Cut the cold unsalted butter into cubes and put into a large mixing bowl. Using a mixer, cream/beat the butter until it’s smooth and no large chunks are visible. Scrape down your beaters if necessary.
Add in the granulated and brown sugar. Beat until creamy and well-combined with no visible bits of butter remaining, scraping down the sides periodically. Do not overbeat.
Add in the vanilla and beat in the eggs one by one until the mixture is just well-combined after each addition.
In a separate large bowl, sift together all purpose flour, cake flour, corn flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix to combine the dry ingredients.
In two additions, add these dry ingredients into your wet ingredients (from step 3) and fold them in gently until they are 80% incorporated. There will still be unmixed flour visible and the dough may seem a little dry.
Add in the white chocolate and dried cranberries and fold them in until the mixture is well combined and there are no flour specks left. Do not overmix.
Cling wrap the bowl and freeze the dough for ~30 minutes before portioning.
Divide the dough into 20 equal portions. It helps if you have a scale. Roughly mold each into a ball and place them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze the cookie dough balls for about 1 hour. You may also freeze them overnight and bake them the next day.
After freezing, transfer the cookie dough balls into an airtight container/ziploc bag, and arrange the cookies you’d like to bake on the baking tray lined with parchment, making sure to leave a 2-inch gap between each.
Thaw the cookies at room temperature for about 5 mins before baking. If the cookies have been frozen overnight, thaw the cookies for about 10 mins before baking.
Bake for 4 mins on the middle rack, then increase the oven temperature to 210°C and continue baking on the top rack for 4 mins or until the surface of the cookies are completely cooked but their middles are still soft.
While the cookie is still hot and soft, break the freeze-dried strawberries into chunks and scatter them evenly on top of each cookie and gently press them against the cookie.
You may press the cookies slightly to check for doneness. There should be a dry crust formed outside, but you’ll still feel that the cookies can be pressed in and are soft to the touch. Do not overbake. Meanwhile, you may prepare the next batch of cookies to be baked.

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