Tucked away on a little street in New York’s Upper West Side, Levain Bakery serves up a limited but scrumptious variety of baked goods. They bake bread, pastries and even make sandwiches, but their renown originated from their mountainous cookies. The New York Times has hailed the cookies as “the largest, most divine chocolate chip cookies in Manhattan.”

According to the bakery, each cookie is six ounces, which by any standard is giant. These cookies are so large that they are perfectly sharable between two, although you might be fighting over the last crumbs. Besides being too delicious for words, the cookies are thick and soft on the inside. How the chefs keep the dough from spreading thin is this bakery’s secret. Try the dark chocolate peanut butter chip cookie. One bite and you are in dessert heaven. A popular favorite is the chocolate chip walnut.

Levain Bakery also offers a “Cookies by Mail” service, and they gladly take orders from their website. Simple and easy, it’s a great way to send a special someone a yummy gift.

The only downfall to Levain Bakery is the size. Unlike their cookies, the bakery space is cramped, and there is no room to sit and enjoy the goodies. The perfect ground, however, to savor the chewy goodness is only two blocks away – Central Park.

Sources: www.levainbakery.com, www.cookiemadness.net, http://ontheinside.info/lily-rafii/levain-bakery/