My Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies are thick, soft, loaded with chocolate and walnuts. I am sharing the trick on how to make the thickest chocolate chip cookies ever!
Looking for more chocolate chip cookie recipes? Try My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies, my version of Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies, or my Half Pound Chocolate Chip Cookies!
I have no shortage of chocolate chip cookie recipes here on my site. I hope you have made a few of them, but if you haven’t, todays recipe is a good place to start! These Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies are thick, buttery, loaded with chocolate and yep, walnuts! They are very similar to the famous Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies in NYC, so if you’re a fan of their gooey, giant cookies, these will be right up your alley!
Whether you are a fan of nuts in your cookies or not, this is THE cookie recipe for you if you like THICK cookies! I’m going to show you the super easy tricks to making the thickest cookies ever!
Ok, I am going to share a few tricks with you today that are super easy, and kind of life-changing if you are into thick cookies. This chocolate chip cookie recipe might end up being your most favorite ever because it’s pretty perfect if you are in love with giant cookies like I am! Sure, I really do enjoy a crispy cookie from time to time, but when I crave chocolate chip cookies, the cozy, buttery, melty chocolate is what I’m after. And these beauties deliver…BIG TIME!
#1 – Increase Your Oven Temp!
So most chocolate chip cookie recipes call for you to bake them at 350°F. BUT let’s think about that…I’ve tested cookie recipes at different temps and have found the higher the oven temp, the less the cookies spread. Makes sense.
AND it’s an amazing trick to keeping your cookies soft on the inside, because since you’re baking them at a higher temp, the outsides get browned more quickly, leaving the insides slightly under-baked. Kind of like searing your cookie! You do it for meat, so I thought, why not try the same idea for cookies. Turns out, it works PERFECTLY!
#2 – Use COLD Butter
You can achieve the same effect by chilling your dough, so that’s always an option, of course. BUT if you don’t want to wait for your dough to chill, use cold butter and it will aid in preventing the cookies from spreading as much! Of course, chilling the dough helps deepen the flavor as well, so that’s a benefit of that, but I’m just here to tell you it isn’t necessary!
#3 – Cornstarch
Cornstarch is a thickening agent, so it makes sense to add it to cookie dough in small amounts when you would like your cookies to be thicker. And while I think cornstarch does aid in making your cookie slightly thicker, what I find it does best is leave the insides of your cookie more tender by softening the proteins in the flour. So you get a slight crisp on the outside of your cookie while being soft on the inside!
#4 – A Little Bit More Flour
This is a fine line for sure…too much flour and you’ll end up with cakey, dry cookies, but a little bit more paired with the higher bake temp = perfectly thick cookies!
Yes!! Like I said above, this recipe doesn’t have to be chilled before you bake them, BUT you can absolutely freeze the dough and save it for later…OR you can freeze your cookies after they’ve been baked! Here’s how:
Freezing the Dough
Simply prepare the recipe as written through step #6. DOn’t worry about spacing the dough out on the baking sheet, you can place the portioned dough close together to fit all your scoops on one baking sheet.
Then flash freeze all the dough balls for 45-ish minutes, until they are solid. Then place the dough balls into a large zip-top bag and freeze for up to 30 days.
To bake the dough you don’t have to worry about thawing the dough out, but I would reduce the baking temp to 375°F if you are baking them from frozen!
Freezing the Already Baked Cookies
If you end up with too many cookies, so ahead and make sure they are cooled completely, and place them in a large zip-top bag or a plastic container and freeze them for up to 30 days!
Thaw them at room temperature and you can even pop them back into a 350°F oven for 3 minutes to heat them back up!
Nope! You really don’t. I am actually not a huge fan of nuts in my cookies, so I have made these with AND without the nuts! You can even decrease the amount of nuts in the recipe to 1 cup if you want to start slowly! BUT if you’re a fan of nuts, you can also get creative with your options:
- Pecans. This is an easy swap out!
- Pistachios. Chop them up to add another layer of flavor to your cookies!
- Peanuts. This could be really good!
- Macadamia Nuts. Swap out the chocolate for white chocolate and you could have an extra thick version of my White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies!
- Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Smores Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Triple Chip Pudding Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 22 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
The thickest, softest chocolate chip cookies loaded with chocolate chips and chopped walnuts! If you have ever had a cookie from Levain Bakery in NYC you will love these!
Ingredients
- 1 cup cold salted butter cubed
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together the butter and all the sugars together for 30 seconds on low speed. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and mix for 4 minutes until combined and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs, vanilla, salt, baking soda, and corn starch and mix for 1 minute until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour, mixing until just combined.
- With mixer still on low, add in the chocolate chips and walnuts until incorporated.
- Using a large (3 tablespoon) cookie scoop, portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes, until the edges and tops are lightly golden.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Store airtight for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 368
- Sugar: 25.8 g
- Sodium: 173 mg
- Fat: 21.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 41.8 g
- Protein: 5.5 g
- Cholesterol: 39.1 mg
Keywords: cookies and cups, cookie recipe, chocolate chip cookies, walnuts, levain cookies
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This is by far the best cookie recipe I have ever used. I followed the directions and they came out great. I cooked every batch for 8 minutes and then let them cool on my insulated cookie sheet for three minutes before moving to my cooling racks. I have given out the recipe and have made around 8 batches in the last two months. I get requests daily. I would like to know if you have a double chocolate chip walnut recipe.
★★★★★
Best cookie recipe yet! My kids ask me to bake them for every event! I get asked for the recipe every time I bring them to an outing!
★★★★★
The recipe suggest that it makes 22 cookies, but my batch made 36 using my large cookie scoop! They came out perfect. I actually made 1.5x the recipe so ended up with 54 cookies! Way more than I was expecting. But I will find homes for all of them.
★★★★★
These cookies were a huge hit with everyone! I used soft butter, omitted the granulated sugar and chilled the golf ball size dough for half hour then I baked them a few extra minutes; I kept everything else as in the recipe. We loved the texture, flavour and the appearance of these addictive cookies! Oh I used chopped dark chocolate and walnuts this time. This recipe is a keeper, thank you Shelly!
★★★★★
Ive made so many cookies in my lifetime, no major problems. This recipe… there’s something not right. The first tray I cooked, the cookies were raw in the middle. The second tray I cooked them longer and flattened them halfway through cooking. They were burned on the bottom. The last tray I lowered the heat and they came out hard. I have a gas oven, the temperature is accurate and I used my standard light colored cookie sheet. The cooking instructions/temperature really needs to be adjusted. I have small children and I’m currently pregnant we really can’t be eating raw cookie dough. What a disappointment.
Sorry you had a bad experience! These cookies are supposed to be gooey in the middle, as they are so thick. The higher bake temp is the reason they set on the outside and are left gooey on the inside.
Made these the first time with one stick of butter. Came out fabulous. Never made a better cookie in my life. Just made them again with two sticks as recipe calls for. Not good. Just a puddle of cookie.
★★★★
So strange that half the butter would work! can’t imagine that! Glad you enjoyed!
Followed the recipe exactly, and the cookies came out brown on top and completely raw on the inside. I had to throw them all away 🙁
★
I followed the recipe exactly, but I felt like the inside wasn’t fully cooked. I opened one 2 minutes after leaving the oven. Does it continue to cook while sitting? Or what did I do wrong? I ended up putting it back in on 350 for a few more minutes…
★★★★
will these come out okay without a stand mixer??
As long as everything is mixed well!
Two things: too much sugar and too much flour. I used 3/4 of a cup of brown sugar (color doesn’t matter) and it was enough. Considering that sweetness also is coming from the chocolate chips. As for flour, dough came out too dense, it was very difficult to incorporate chips and nuts. Baking also took longer that recommended 8-9 minutes but I imagine it could also depends on the oven. Otherwise, good cookies. Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★