I Tried And Ranked 8 Levain Cookies

When the desire for a cookie strikes, there's certainly no shortage of options. If you have the ingredients at home, you could easily follow a chocolate chip cookie recipe and whip up a batch all your own. You could also hit up a local bakery, order from mega-chains like Crumbl or Insomnia cookies, or go with Levain Bakery cookies, a perfect in-between for convenience and bakery-level quality.

Known for their over-the-top, thick, rounded appearance, New York City-born Levain cookies are certainly unique when it comes to looks — but what about flavor? I put eight Levain cookie flavors to the taste test, comparing them to see which ones stood out and which ones didn't quite make an impression. Considering how similar all the cookies are in general flavor and texture, my ranking largely came down to a few key factors. 

First, I considered the success of the mix-ins and inclusions — did the chocolate chips add the right touch, or were they a little too sweet? Did more unique inclusions, like raisins, nuts, white chips, or even carrots, enhance the cookie or simply feel a bit out of place? Finally, considering that I went into this sampling knowing that I wouldn't find any of the flavors downright bad, my final ranking ultimately came down to personal preference and which cookies I personally felt exceeded my (already high) expectations.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

For the record, I am not an oatmeal raisin cookie hater — in fact, I love any cookie with oatmeal in the mix, so I tend to gravitate towards the flavor naturally. That said, a good oatmeal raisin cookie largely comes down to the texture that the oatmeal brings to the mix, ideally a distinct chewiness that makes it stand out from other cookie types.

Considering the dense, thick nature of Levain cookies, I think it's pretty easy to see where oatmeal raisin didn't exactly shine from my perspective. Truthfully, if I didn't know better, I might not even guess there was oatmeal in this cookie. Any chewiness that the oatmeal might provide in a regular-shaped cookie was impossible to pinpoint in this Levain cookie, which instead had that distinctly dense, crumbly texture. Such a texture works quite well with other ingredients in the mix, but with oatmeal raisin, the two just didn't quite mesh.

I'd also argue that this cookie was the most lackluster of the bunch flavor-wise — not to say that it tasted bad, but it didn't pack anything that was particularly delicious or memorable. The cookie itself was very plain, and the only real "pop" came from the raisins (and let's be real, raisins can only provide so much excitement). So it goes, oatmeal raisin sort of ended up as the scapegoat of the Levain lineup, ending up in last place almost by design. It wasn't a bad cookie, but the super-thick texture didn't really work for me here, and the flavor felt underwhelming and generally forgettable.

Levain's lemon cookie really gave me a lot to consider. On one hand, I genuinely enjoyed this cookie and even welcomed the bright, citrusy flavor switch-up in a lineup that's so heavily dominated by rich, chocolatey flavors. On the other hand, I found myself mildly underwhelmed by the lemon flavor that this cookie had to offer, and though I did enjoy the notes I picked up on, I kept wishing for even more.

Part of Levain's seasonal Spring cookie lineup, the lemon cookie seems simpler than others at the bakery, simply boasting a lemon flavor profile with white chocolate chips studded throughout. And the cookie did end up striking me as very simple, perhaps even a bit too simple, and that's why I ultimately decided to rank it low on this list despite enjoying the flavor. The lemon aspect was just a tad too one-dimensional — sweet and vaguely citrusy, but not at all sour or tart. The white chocolate chips offered a pop of sweetness and a nice creaminess, but there weren't nearly enough in the mix. 

Ultimately, I'd label this lemon cookie as one with strong potential, but one that couldn't quite live up to said potential. Unlike the oatmeal raisin one, which had a texture I simply didn't like, this one at least worked a little better in the texture department, but the flavor left me feeling tepid. Lemon certainly isn't the worst flavor in Levain's lineup, but it's far from the best, either.

I love a good carrot cake — that spiced, perfectly moist crumb paired with tangy cream cheese frosting is pretty much unbeatable in my book. So, naturally, I was curious to see how such a classic cake flavor could translate to Levain cookie format — could a cookie possibly capture that ultra-moist goodness that makes carrot cake so special?

The answer to that question would be no, but I still definitely enjoyed certain elements of this cookie. The beauty of carrot cake is that it gets an extra dose of moisture from the carrots themselves, and though there were carrots in this cookie, I wasn't picking up on any extra moisture. (To be fair, I understand that too much moisture in a cookie will result in something that, well, isn't a cookie.) Moisture issues aside, though, I also felt that the carrots were a bit muted against everything else going on, including white chocolate chips and chunks of dried apricot. I enjoyed the flavors at play, but this cookie didn't necessarily remind me of carrot cake, and instead, just tasted more like a white chocolate chip-apricot cookie with a hint of carrot and spice.

Considering that this cookie didn't really live up to my carrot cake expectations, I could only rank it so high. I did feel that it gave a more compelling flavor profile than lemon, and if I were to reach for one of the two Spring flavors again, it would be this one. However, overall, the carrot cake cookie just didn't quite impress me as much as others on this list.

Admittedly, I've never been the biggest fan of walnuts. Sure, I can appreciate a good walnut here or there, but it's never been my nut of choice. So, going into Levain's chocolate chip walnut cookie, I expected to enjoy it but not necessarily love it, and for the most part, I think this expectation ended up playing out pretty accurately.

For what it's worth, any chocolate chip lover and walnut tolerator like myself will no doubt enjoy this cookie. It had all of that goodness that you'd expect from a classic chocolate chip cookie, with the added complexity of a nutty pop here and there. I actually did end up enjoying this cookie more than I necessarily expected, but once I took it into perspective against some of the other contenders on this list, I realized I wasn't knock-your-socks-off impressed.

Overall, chocolate chip walnut feels like a quintessential middle-ground cookie to me, and I'm inclined to think that others might agree. It's a good cookie with a nice texture and decent balance of chocolate chips and walnuts, but I didn't find myself itching to go back to it. It at least impressed me a little bit more than some lower-ranked cookies, like carrot cake or lemon, because those classic semi-sweet chocolate chips were undeniably delicious, and it felt more cohesive and accurate to what it was supposed to be in terms of chocolate-walnut balance.

There are only a few dynamic duos in the culinary world that go together quite as well as peanut butter and chocolate, and Levain definitely got the cue with its dark chocolate peanut butter chip cookie. I'll just cut right to the chase — this cookie was delicious, and it also marks a distinct spot on this list where every cookie from here on out is either very good or excellent. 

Back to this cookie specifically, though, I really enjoyed that distinct contrast between the dark chocolate cookie and the rich, nutty peanut butter chips. I also appreciated how the chips added a certain sweetness all their own (as opposed to if there were just straight peanuts in the mix), which contrasted nicely against the sweet-but-slightly-bitter dark chocolate cookie base. Speaking of the dark chocolate cookie base, I also found it to be highly delicious and successful, putting a nice bittersweet spin on the classic Levain formula (and perhaps even being a little softer and gooier than the regular base cookies).

Needless to say, any PB and chocolate lover out there will enjoy this cookie, and there was really only one issue that kept it from ranking higher. I found that the PB chips didn't get melty the way that regular chocolate chips do, resulting in a drier chip texture that I wish could have been a little more melty. That said, this cookie was still delicious, but there was a trio of other flavors that managed to impress me even more.

After tasting Levain's dark chocolate chip cookie, I knew right away that it would be a high contender on this list. I was a bit uncertain about where to put it relative to the other dark chocolate cookie option, but I ultimately determined that third place made sense for this cookie overall, and a slot ahead made sense relative to the dark chocolate peanut butter chip flavor.

Everything I enjoyed about the dark chocolate PB cookie was basically present here, except instead of peanut butter chips, there were classic chocolate chips studded throughout. I worried that there might be some sort of chocolate overload bound to happen, but this surprisingly wasn't the case at all. This cookie was chocolatey, no doubt, but the sweeter, melty chocolate chips contrasted beautifully against the bittersweet dark chocolate cookie base. I loved how ooey-gooey this cookie was, and though the sheer chocolatey goodness did get slightly overwhelming after a few bites, I can definitely think of worse issues to have.

This may come down to personal preference more than anything else, but in the battle of the dark chocolate cookies, this chocolate chip one takes the crown over the PB one, delicious as they both were. I couldn't resist those melty chocolate chips, and I felt that this cookie overall had a better texture than the PB one because of said meltiness, hence why it's ranking a slot higher. And, in the grand scheme of Levain cookies, this is an incredibly strong contender, but a couple of flavors managed to edge it out ever so slightly.

If there's one cookie type that can manage to body a double dose of chocolate chips and somehow not feel completely overwhelmed by them, it would be the ultra-thick Levain cookie. I was skeptical of the chain's two chip chocolate chip cookie, one because I thought the whole "two chip" thing was a gimmick, and two because I thought the cookie would simply be seeping with chocolate, and not in a good way. But I can admit when I was wrong, and I certainly was wrong about two chip chocolate chip — this flavor is absolutely delicious.

Anyone who loves a good chocolate chip cookie will enjoy this one. The two chips are a combination of dark chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips, and boy, do they work well inside the soft-on-the-inside, crisp-on-the-outside Levain cookie base. There's no denying that there's a lot of chocolate going on here, but somehow, it didn't necessarily seem like too much. I knew I was in for a hefty dose of chocolate with this one, but the balance between dark and semi-sweet chips kept things interesting, and the actual cookie itself never felt lost amongst all the chocolate. That alone is an impressive feat in my book, but considering the fact that this was also just an objectively delicious chocolate chip cookie? You've got a winner, no doubt.

Naturally, it makes sense that two chip chocolate chip would rank high in this list, and I did really consider giving it the top spot. Truthfully, I don't have any complaints about this flavor, so its second-place ranking comes down more to just how good the first-place cookie is, as opposed to any shortcomings on this flavor's end.

There was some incredibly tough competition on this list, but the cookie claiming the No. 1 spot is the caramel coconut chocolate chip — a cookie that I simply couldn't stop taking bites of (or thinking of, for that matter). I get that it might be controversial to rank a cookie with coconut in the top spot, as not everyone is a fan of the flavor, but the coconut actually made this cookie what it was, providing both a subtle pop of flavor and a wonderfully chewy texture.

Now, don't get me wrong — this cookie still ultimately had that classic Levain cookie texture, with a soft inside and crisp edges. But the coconut added a subtle second layer of complexity, adding a slight chewiness to each bite (a chewiness that I wish the oatmeal raisin had), and one that I couldn't get enough of. The cookie didn't taste overwhelmingly coconutty, but it did have a slight coconut aftertaste that I really, really enjoyed — definitely a personal taste thing, but any coconut lover or even tolerator will understand.

As for the caramel and chocolate chips, they worked together beautifully to provide sweet, rich pops throughout the cookie, and they never felt like they were competing or contrasting. I think this cookie would have been delicious enough if it were just a coconut chocolate chip one, but the added goodness of rich, slightly salty caramel really took it to a whole new level.

I absolutely loved this cookie, and of all the flavors on this list, this one stood out to me the most. I couldn't find any flaws here, and I appreciate how this is one of the more complex offerings in Levain's lineup, but one that's executed flawlessly. All of these reasons earned caramel coconut chocolate chip the first-place spot in this ranking, so if you haven't tried this flavor yet, then I can safely confirm that you're missing out on something special.

When conducting the tasting of these Levain cookies, I first considered what temperature would be best. Half of the cookies were sent to me in the mail, so obviously, those ones didn't arrive freshly-baked and melty. The other half I purchased in-store myself, so those cookies were indeed still warm and melty by the time I got home. For the sake of fairness (and for optimal cookie enjoyment, in my opinion), I made sure to reheat all of the cookies that were sent to me so that they might achieve some of their former melty glory. The package instructed me to bake them for about 3 to 6 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and I found that 5 minutes was the sweet spot to get them nice and warmed up again.

Of course, I think a truly good cookie should taste pretty good even when it's not freshly-baked (or freshly-warmed), so I made sure to try each cookie again the following day, at room temperature. Surprisingly, my opinion about each cookie didn't much change after tasting them at room temp, and I found them all to be pretty tasty regardless of temperature (they were, of course, ultimately better warm). 

Another note worth pointing out is that I didn't dislike any of the cookie flavors on this list or find any of them to be bad. Even the weakest link, oatmeal raisin, had a nice flavor and general tasty cookie essence, but I had to be nitpicky to conduct a successful ranking, and much of it did come down to those cookies that simply didn't have a "wow" factor, and those that I personally just didn't like as much as others.