chocolate chunk walnut cookies

Last night I dreamt of levain cookies. Even though I brought some home on the plane with me (yeah, really) I still miss them so much and my belly is sad. So today I tried to make them based on this interpretation. They turned out yummy and almost sort of satisfied my craving. The only thing I wish is that they were more gooey on the inside because that's one of the reasons why my heart and tummy cannot resist loving levain. It's hard to get that perfect balance between golden on the outside but raw dough-y on the inside because they're so GIANT. You can experiment around and see what works best.


here's how (makes one dozen GIANT cookies - I made mine ~one and a half ice cream scoops big):

Ingredients

• 2 sticks cold, unsalted butter (cubed)
• 3/4 C granulated sugar
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 T cornstarch (this was an experimental addition! you can try it with or without)
• 2 C semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips (the better the quality... the better the cookie!)
• 1 C toasted and chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. 
2. Cream together butter and sugars in a mixer with paddle attached until well blended and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated.
3. Add dry ingredients - flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch - until just combined.
4. Fold in chocolate and walnuts. (you may need to use your hands at this point, the dough can get pretty dense and the mixer may have a hard time evenly incorporating everything)
5. Shape your cookies however big or small you like using an ice cream scoop or spoon, just make sure they are roughly the same size because baking will be easier and more even. Put them on a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.
6. You can bake anywhere from 16-23 minutes depending on how big you made them, how well your even works and how raw you want the inside to be. (and in my opinion... RAW-ER is better!!) Just be sure to keep an eye on them - you want the outside to be golden brown. 

ok i'm going to go eat another one now