These Levain Bakery-style peanut butter cookies are built for serious peanut butter lovers. They mimic the oversized, bakery-quality cookies made famous by Levain Bakery in New York City: thick, soft, slightly underbaked in the center, and packed with peanut butter flavor. Each cookie weighs roughly 6 ounces and is loaded with peanut butter chips and Reese’s Pieces for maximum texture and taste.
If you want a copycat Levain experience at home without paying for shipping, this recipe delivers the same dense-but-tender crumb and gooey center using a few key techniques and ingredients. The result is a bakery-style cookie that feels indulgent but is easy to prepare in a home kitchen.
Key ingredients and why they matter
- Cornstarch: Adds tenderness and a soft bite to the cookie. It’s a small addition but makes the texture noticeably lighter.
- Cake flour: Helps create a tender, cakey crumb despite the cookie’s large size. Using a blend of cake flour and all-purpose flour prevents the cookie from becoming overly dense.
- Brief chilling: The dough is chilled uncovered for just 15 minutes. This short chill firms the dough slightly without making it overly cold, helping preserve a soft, gooey center while controlling spread.
- Lots of mix-ins: These cookies use a generous amount of mix-ins — about 3.5 cups total — to support the structure of each large cookie and to deliver big bursts of flavor in every bite.
Tips for the best Levain-style peanut butter cookies
- Rough shape: Form dough into loose, rustic balls rather than tight smooth scoops. A slightly uneven, craggy exterior helps achieve the ideal texture.
- Weigh the dough: For consistent results, measure each cookie at about 6 ounces using a digital kitchen scale. The large size is part of the Levain-style appeal.
- Space them out: Bake only four cookies per sheet and place them at least 3 inches apart so they have room to expand without merging into one another.
- Do not overbake: Bake until the edges are set and the exterior looks dry and lightly golden, but the centers remain slightly soft. Expect 10–13 minutes depending on your oven. Cookies will finish setting on the hot baking sheet after removal.
- Bake one sheet at a time: For consistent heat and proper results, bake sheets one at a time on the center rack.
Levain Bakery-Style Peanut Butter Cookies
These cookies are supremely thick, chewy, and slightly gooey in the center, with rich peanut butter flavor thanks to both creamy peanut butter in the dough and additional peanut butter chips and Reese’s Pieces stirred through. Below you’ll find equipment, ingredient measurements, and step-by-step instructions to recreate them at home.
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale (recommended for accurate cookie sizes)
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer
- Baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone liners
Recipe details
Prep time: 20 minutes • Cook time: 13 minutes • Total time: 33 minutes • Yield: 9 cookies (approximately)
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup cake flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups peanut butter chips
- 1 1/2 cups Reese’s Pieces candies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 410°F (210°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cubed butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Start on low for 30 seconds, increase to medium for 30 seconds, then medium-high for another 30 seconds until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition, then mix in the vanilla extract and creamy peanut butter. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed to keep the mixture even.
- On low speed, mix in the cornstarch, baking soda, salt, cake flour, and all-purpose flour until just combined. Fold in the peanut butter chips and Reese’s Pieces by hand until distributed evenly.
- Chill the dough uncovered in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm slightly.
- Using a digital kitchen scale, portion the dough into loose, rough-textured balls weighing about 6 ounces each. Arrange on the prepared baking sheets, placing only four dough balls per sheet and leaving at least 3 inches between them.
- Bake one sheet at a time on the center rack for 10–13 minutes, or until the tops are light golden and the exterior appears dry and dull while centers remain slightly soft and gooey. Remove from oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for at least 30 minutes to set before moving.
Notes
- If you prefer chocolate with peanut butter, substitute the Reese’s Pieces with 2 cups of chocolate chips.
- This recipe was tested with King Arthur cake flour; results may vary slightly with other brands.
Chewy, peanut buttery, rich, and gooey—these Levain Bakery-style peanut butter cookies are an irresistible treat. Make them for special occasions or whenever you want a bakery-quality cookie from your own kitchen.
Have a super sweet day!
xo, Hayley