Levain Bakery

I'm back from my trip to Fresno, California. I had a wonderful time and I'm incredibly grateful that I got the opportunity to go. Thank you so much to POM! I'm saving details about that trip for next week. I have so much to tell you and a ton of pictures, but first I need to organize my thoughts and edit pictures and such. It really was a trip of a lifetime.

I still haven't told everyone about my favorite bakery I visited while in New York City, and it's due time, because it's been almost a month since I visted New York. Haha.

The favorite bakery I visited in New York City: Levain Bakery. I don't know if this comes as a surprise to anyone, because I've told you in past posts about how much I wanted to visit it.

When I found out I was going back to New York, I knew one of the places my mom and I had to go was Levain Bakery. I had heard so much about their chocolate chip cookies, I had to try them. So one morning we took a $20 cab ride (ha) to the upper west side. 167 West 74th Street, to be exact.

Mom took some pictures of me standing outside by the sign, but I looked goofy because the sun was shining in my face, so you don't get to see those. Teehee. Okay, anyway, so this bakery is really tiny, and it's underground. You walk down the steps into the place and the display of baked goods is in the front. They have breads and scones, but I had to pass on those; I was there for cookies.
Glorious cookies.




They have four flavors of cookies: Chocolate Chip Walnut, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip.


$3.75 a cookie. Eek. Fifteen dollars later, mom and I were in business. We sat at a little area by the window, and I proceeded to take pictures.

First up, chocolate chip walnut. Oh goodness! The anticipation! Was this the ultimate chocolate chip cookie??



Here's a close up shot. They're golden brown and crisp on the outside. The inside is soft and appears to be slightly underdone. Although, how could they sell the cookies if they were underbaked? Wouldn't people get sick? I'm very curious about that. The texture is incredible; you get the best of both worlds - crispiness aaaand gooeyness. Oh yeahhhh. I also liked how tender the cookie was. You could easily crumble it into large chunks.



The chocolate chips were delicious and I LOVED the walnuts that were left whole. They tasted like they were untoasted, but they still had such a nice, buttery flavor. This was a good cookie. This is what I'm talking about when I say I want to make or eat the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. Can I clone these and possibly make them better? I think so. I really do. No promises, but I'm working on it.


Next up was the dark chocolate chip cookie. This was like half cookie/half brownie. Really rich and delicious.




Then came the oatmeal raisin. This cookie took me by surprise - I didn't know what to expect, but it was delicious. I read somewhere that it needs more oats, and I would agree with that, but otherwise it was perfect. This was my second favorite. It had a scone-like texture.


Finally, the dark chocolate peanut butter chip. This one was identical to the dark chocolate chip, except it had peanut butter chips. Once again, this was very rich with the texture of a brownie.



All of the cookies were really good, but the chocolate chip walnut was perfect. I'm glad I went to Levain Bakery, twenty dollar cab ride and all. It was kind of a dream of mine, and I'm glad it came true. I would recommend going if you're visiting the city. And If you're not, you could buy them online... oh geez that's a lot of money. What I meant to say was, if you're rich you can buy them online.

Levain Bakery
Upper West Side - 167 West 74th St New York, NY