Soft, chewy, and chocolate-loaded Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies! Only one bowl, a wooden spoon, and eight ingredients are needed — no stand mixer or hand mixer needed.
And if you’re looking for a full batch of similar cookies, try these Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. These Snickerdoodle Cookies, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Peanut Butter Cookies are other reader-favorite recipes.
Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe for Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies is ideal for those moments when you crave cookies but don’t want to be overwhelmed with a large batch. Perfect for cookie lovers who find it hard to stop at just one, it’s a practical solution to manage cravings.
Additionally, it’s an excellent choice during the holidays, for cookie exchange parties, or even for leaving a treat for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve without the need to bake dozens of cookies. This recipe provides a convenient and delicious option for various occasions where fewer cookies are preferable.
Ingredients In Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Salted Butter: Adds moisture and fat, giving the cookies a rich flavor and tender texture. It’s partially melted for easier mixing.
- Brown Sugar and White Sugar: Sweeten the cookies and affect their texture. Brown sugar brings moisture and a caramel-like flavor, while white sugar helps the cookies spread and become crispier.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Enhances the overall flavor of the cookies.
- Large Egg Yolk: Contributes to the richness and acts as a binder, ensuring a smooth dough. Save the egg whites to use in an omelet, add to this egg skillet, or use in this easy egg wrap.
- Baking Soda: A leavening agent, it helps the cookies to rise slightly and prevents them from being too dense.
- Flour: Provides structure, balancing moisture to create a moldable dough.
- Chopped Chocolate Bar and Chocolate Chips: The key flavor elements, offering rich chocolate taste and varied texture.
How To Make A Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Melt Butter: Partially melt butter, let it cool.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: Combine cooled butter, brown and white sugars, vanilla extract, and egg yolk.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Mix in baking soda and flour.
- Incorporate Chocolate: Stir in chopped chocolate and chocolate chips.
- Shape and Chill: Roll dough into 9 balls, chill for 30-60 minutes.
- Bake: Preheat oven to 325°F, bake cookies 8-12 minutes until golden.
- Cool and Store: Let cookies cool, store in airtight container. Enjoy within 4 days.
Quick Tip
Fresh baking soda: Test the baking soda to be sure it’s fresh by adding boiling water to a small amount. If it fizzes, it’s good. Here’s how to test if your baking soda is fresh and will work in these Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Tips For Success
- Cool the Melted Butter: After melting, let the butter return to room temperature. Hot butter can cause the cookies to become greasy and spread too much.
- Chill the Dough: Chill the dough to allow the melted butter to solidify. This prevents cookies from spreading too thin and burning, and enhances flavor development.
- Shape Dough Taller: Roll the dough into taller, cylindrical shapes for a thick, chewy center and crisp edges.
- Add Extra Chocolate: After baking, press additional chocolate chips into the tops for more chocolate in every bite and an appealing look.
- Monitor Baking Carefully: Avoid hard cookies by not overbaking. Ensure the oven is correctly calibrated and watch cookies closely as they finish baking. Measure ingredients accurately and use fresh ingredients.
Storage
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
To freeze, roll the dough into balls and freeze them on a parchment-lined sheet pan until solid. Once frozen, transfer the dough balls to a freezer-safe bag. When ready to bake, place the frozen dough balls directly on a baking sheet and bake at 325°F, adding a couple of extra minutes to the baking time.
More Cookie Recipes
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- Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies healthier option
- DoubleTree Cookies Hilton secret cookie recipe shared!
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies not the cakey version
Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup salted butter
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg yolk (Note 1)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup white all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup chopped chocolate bar + 2 (25g) tablespoons chocolate chips (Note 2)
Instructions
- BUTTER: In a large microwave-safe bowl, partially melt the butter in the microwave. (Just enough that you'll be able to easily mix it, about 35 seconds straight from the fridge.) Let the butter stand until it has cooled to room temperature. Do not add sugars to the hot butter or the cookies will be greasy and spread.
- SUGARS, EXTRACT, AND EGG YOLK: Once the butter has cooled to room temperature, add the brown sugar and white sugar. Stir until smooth and combined. Add in the vanilla extract and egg yolk (save or discard egg white). Stir to combine.
- DRY INGREDIENTS: Add in the baking soda and flour. Stir until a thick dough forms.
- CHOCOLATE: Coarsely chop the chocolate bar and add in the chunks and chocolate chips. Stir until combined; you may need to knead the chips into the dough. Divide the dough evenly into 9 parts; each cookie is about 2 tablespoons (38 grams). Roll the dough into cookie balls that are tall and cylindrical (as opposed to short and round — see photos in post). Place the rolled cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined sheet pan, cover, and chill for 30 minutes to an hour.
- BAKE: When ready to bake, set the oven temperature at 325 degrees F. Line a pan with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Place cookie dough balls on a sheet pan with plenty of space in between the cookies — I only bake 6 at a time. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until very lightly golden brown at the edges and no longer glossy on top.
- COOL: Remove cookies from the oven and let them stand on the cookie sheet for 3-4 minutes before removing with a metal spatula to a cooling rack to finish cooling. I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies right out of the oven (this is optional). Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. Cookies are best enjoyed within 4 days.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
CHELSEA! Chel. Sea. GIRL! These have made me so happy. I made them with the intention of sharing with my coworkers since I loved your single serving recipe. But honey, they might not make it. These are too great. They are seriously crispy on the outside and chewy on the in.
I literally just finished baking this batch abd am about to make another, but will brown the butter… Has anyone tried putting some cayenne pepper (or something similar) in the batter for a mexican hot chocoate flair? Would that do it? Or is that a bad idea?
Anyway, thank you for sharing this awesome recipe. Definitely pinning!
Ah Asha, I’m so SO thrilled you enjoyed these! Your comment made my day 🙂 And I haven’t tried cayenne pepper in these, but it sounds fun! You’ll have to let me know if you end up trying that out. Thanks again for your sweet comment! 🙂
Best chocolate chip cookies, ever. Love the small batch and I make them often. Tonight I didn’t have any butter or brown sugar in the house, so I decided to use your recipe as a base to create a chocolate-chocolate chip cookie. Following your directions and proportions I used organic virgin coconut oil instead of butter and all white sugar. I added 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and 3 tablespoons of high quality cocoa powder to the butter/sugar combo. I used just 1 teaspoon of vanilla and one whole small egg instead of a large yolk. (We raise chickens so I have a choice in egg sizes.) After sitting in the fridge for about an hour I made them into 1.4 oz balls and put them on the baking sheet. I sprinkled them with pink sea salt and baked at 325 for 11 minutes. Let them sit on the cookie sheet to set. They came out so good I thought I’d share the idea with you and your readers.
Note: unrefined “virgin” coconut oil tastes like coconut. It gives a nice subtle coconut flavor to the cookies. If you don’t want the coconut flavor use refined coconut oil, which has not flavor.
Hey Tori! Thank you so much for the comment and for sharing your latest version — it sounds absolutely amazing! Definitely will need to give that a try soon 🙂 Thank you!
My daughter asked for cookies, which I usually just unwrap and bake because cooking I can do but baking is more precise. We didn’t have any cookie rolls on hand and I knew I could attempt making them but also knew I didn’t have enough butter for a normal batch. I googled a half batch and yours were the first to come up and I’m super glad they did!! They came out amazing and so easy since I’m not the best baker!! Already following your pins!! Your awesome!! 🙂 happy cookies
Yay!! I’m thrilled you all enjoyed these cookies Crystalina! 🙂 And thank you so much for your kind comments, I appreciate them!
Not sure if you’ll feel honored or appalled (maybe not you, but your followers). I use this recipe when making cannabis cookies, my doctor suggested cannabis for pain relief. I cannot smoke it, makes me loopy so I ingest. I make batches of cannabis butter ahead of time. This 1/2 batch is good for me so my cookies stay fresh. But I use 2 eggs yokes, make my cookies more chewy.
I’m glad you were able to find this half batch recipe 🙂 Honored to be of help!!
what to do if i dont have brown sugar?
I would wait til you do have it; it’s pretty important in these cookies!
I never buy brown sugar, and make it when I need it. Here’s the recipe:
Light Brown Sugar = 1 cup white granulated sugar + 1 Tablespoon molasses.
Dark Brown Sugar = 1 cup white granulated sugar + 2 Tablespoons molasses.
If you want it to sprinkle on oatmeal, or in the state it comes from the store, mix the 2 ingredients in a food processor, or I just use my hand to mix it.
If it’s an ingredient in a recipe, such as cookies, add the 2 separately, as 2 ingredients. They will combine in the dough.
This is by far THE BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe I have tried! It turns out perfect each time! The portions are great and it’s so quick to make. I make it all the time for my daycare kids or for a snack with our coffee and tea ?
YAY!! That makes me SO happy to hear that! Thank you Megan!!
I’m currently living overseas and all of my kitchen equipment is back home in the US. For the past couple months I have been on the hunt for a great mixer-less CCC recipe and I’m happy to say I finally found it! These cookies turned out great. So great, I know will continue using this recipe even when I’m back home with my KitchenAid! Thank you!
That is so, so great to hear that these were so enjoyed and you were able to make them oversees! That’s when I actually developed this recipe when I was in Australia with no mixers 🙂 Thank you for the sweet comment!
These are sooooo sweet. One cookie is about all I can handle. I added 1tsp but I feel like I should have halved that as well. I will definitely use this recipe again as the texture is great but scaling down on sugar and vanilla next time.
They are sweet cookies!! So definitely feel free to cut back a bit to your preference 🙂 I am glad you enjoyed them!
I dread the kitchen and rarely ever cook or bake. These cookies were probably the tenth recipe I’ve ever followed in my entire 38 years on the planet. They turned out SUPERB, and I will likely use this recipe again.
Thanks for posting this and making it highly detailed so even domestic failures like me can follow along and get it right ha ha.
Haha!! I’m sure you are far from a domestic failure 🙂 I am thrilled you enjoyed these cookies and they worked out well for you! Thank you so much for the comment!!
I love how easy these are! I have several bars of dark and milk chocolate at home that are just begging to be chopped and mixed into cookies – there are perfect.
Perfect! 🙂 Thank you so much for stopping by Bianca! 🙂