Levain Bakery

Get ready to have your life changed forever... because Levain Bakery's cookie is THE BEST COOKIE you'll ever eat. This cozy bakery in New York houses some of the best baked goods we've ever encountered... a definite #treatyoself spot. Levain Bakery is a truly special place. You will be lured down the steps to their Upper West Side location by the mouthwatering scent of pure yumminess. They are not messing around here, glowpeeps-- this place is the REAL DEAL when it comes to quality cookies and hand-made baked goods. From their rustic breads to their world-famous six-ounce chocolate chip walnut cookie, everything is baked on-site, fresh every day from the finest natural ingredients. And what's so incredible is that anything that doesn’t sell that day goes to help feed the hungry—a mission of theirs that has been solidly in place since the beginning.

Founded in 1994 by friends and Ironman athletes Connie McDonald and Pam Weekes, Levain Bakery grew from their need for fulfilling foods to keep them satisfied and energized. So they set out to create the world’s greatest chocolate chip cookie, and they definitely succeeded.

Let's just discuss this cookie for a second. They bake their cookies on rotation so that you can always get one perfectly warmed. Once you take a bite, you'll fall in love with the crispy outside and wonderfully gooey center-- it's almost other-worldly, people! Their Chocolate Chip Walnut is their best seller, but don't think that their other flavors aren't just as fantastic. The Oatmeal Raisin, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Chocolate will all blow you away.

Their other baked goods definitely deserve some attention too, such as their Bomboloncini. Perfectly doughey and filled with the most scrumptious raspberry jam... pillows of heaven. Everything here is a winner, from their baguette with butter and jam, flatbread pizzas, galettes, banana and coffee breads, to their sticky buns.

Within just a few years, Levain Bakery has rightfully become a neighborhood institution and a destination for epicurious travelers from around the world. Luckily, with locations on the Upper West Side, Harlem, and the Hamptons, as well as word-wide shipping, you can get your cookie fix whenever you need it. This is the bakery of our dreams, we LOVE you Levain Bakery.

Levain Bakery // www.levainbakery.com Upper West Side // 167 West 74th St New York, NY, 10023 -- Harlem // 2167 Frederick Douglass Blvd New York, NY, 10026 -- Hamptons // 354 Montauk Hwy, Wainscott Village Shopping Center Wainscott, NY, 11975

Photography by: Jai Lennard