Levain Bakery

Levain Bakery bakes oversized six-ounce cookies, crisp outside and soft in the middle, best known for its chocolate chip walnut. Friends and bakers Pam Weekes and Connie McDonald opened it as a small bread shop on West 74th Street in New York in 1995, and the cookie began as a training snack for their triathlons. Cookies are made by hand in small batches, and gift boxes are baked to order and shipped from NYC.

• How should I store the cookies?

  Keep them in an airtight container for up to a week, or wrap them individually and freeze. Avoid the refrigerator, which dries them out.

• What is the best way to warm a cookie?

  A few minutes in a 350-degree oven, or about 20 seconds in the microwave. Frozen cookies take roughly 5 to 10 minutes in the oven.

• What allergens are in the bakeries?

  Everything is baked on shared equipment that handles tree nuts, peanuts, coconut, sesame, soy, eggs, dairy and wheat. The bakery is not allergen-free.

• What ingredients go into the cookies?

  Simple, recognizable ingredients with no preservatives. The Chocolate Chip Walnut, for example, is butter, eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, chocolate chips and walnuts.

• Do you have a vegan or gluten-free option?

  Yes, a Vegan & GF Chocolate Chip Walnut cookie. It is not certified gluten-free, contains walnut, cashew, almond and coconut, and is not recommended for people with celiac disease.

• Are the cookies kosher or halal?

  The cookie ingredients are certified kosher, but the facilities are not under kosher or halal supervision.

• Why are the cookies so big?

  Each cookie weighs six ounces and is made by hand in small daily batches, so sizes and flavors cannot be customized.