Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies are the perfect recipe for the next time your sweet tooth strikes. This recipe makes a dozen chewy chocolate chip cookies in less than 30 minutes – no chill-time required!
Ever had a craving for homemade, hot out of the oven chocolate chip cookies? Bookmark this recipe for later! You can have a dozen warm and chewy chocolate chip cookies ready in less than 30 minutes.
Sometimes, a standard cookie recipe (like my Ultimate Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies) can be too much. For a few people, three or four dozen cookies is too many to keep in the house.
Plus, this recipe makes an incredibly chewy, perfectly baked chocolate chip cookie, with no chilling time required. And it’s easy to customize with your favorite mix-ins. Swap the chocolate chips with pecans, almonds, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or sprinkles!
Ingredients
For this recipe, you’ll need room temperature butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, an egg yolk, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips.
Like I said earlier, you’re welcome to substitute the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips with your favorite mix-ins. Try 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of pecans, or butterscotch chips and walnuts.
Making your cookie dough
To make cookie dough, it is best if all of your ingredients are at room temperature. This mainly applies to your butter and eggs. Room temperature ingredients will cream together to create a smooth, even dough.
First, you’ll cream together your wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together your dry ingredients to remove any clumps.
Next, slowly add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. This dough may be slightly more stiff and crumbly than a regular cookie dough – that’s because we’re only using the yolk instead of the entire egg. Don’t worry, your cookies will bake up moist and chewy.
Using a medium cookie scoop, you’ll get exactly 12 cookies from this dough. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, simply roll your dough into 12 balls and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
After baking, transfer your cookies to a cooling rack to allow to cool slightly before enjoying.
Tips for baking cookies
Tips for baking cookiesRoom temperature ingredients will help your cookies have a consistent, creamy, and even dough. When beaten, the eggs and butter form an emulsion, which traps air in the dough, which bakes up into a soft and fluffy cookie.
Properly measuring flour is an issue I see frequently. If you have issues with your cookies not spreading, or turning out extra thick and tall, you probably measured too much flour into your cookie dough.
To properly measure flour, use a spoon to add flour to your measuring cup, then level off with a knife. By scooping flour directly from a container with your measuring cup, you’re compacting the dough into the cup. This can add up to 25% more flour to your dough.
Using parchment paper helps prevent your cookies from spreading too much while baking. A greased baking pan will guarantee your cookies spread more than they should, so I always suggest parchment paper (or a reusable baking mat) instead.
Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until fluffy, about a minute.
- In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda to remove clumps.
- Gradually stir dry ingredients into butter mixture until just combined. Add chocolate chips, stirring until just combined.
- Scoop dough using a 1.5 tablespoon scoop or shape by hand into 1.5 inch balls.
- Place cookie dough balls 2 inches apart onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned around edges. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- The ingredients in this recipe are scaled to make 12 cookies. If you'd like to make a larger batch of cookies, I recommend trying my Ultimate Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies instead of doubling or tripling this recipe.
- Your cookies will keep for 5-7 days in a sealed container. To help keep cookies fresh, you can place a slice of bread in the container with the cookies. Replace the bread slice as needed.
- You can keep raw cookie dough in the refrigerator for 3 days. Cookie dough balls (and baked cookies) freeze well, up to 3 months in a sealed plastic container or freezer bag. Allow frozen balls to thaw for up to 10 minutes on the baking sheet before baking, or add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
Nutrition
More cookie recipes
- Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookie Dippers
- Ultimate Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Small Batch Brownies – not cookies, but another great small batch recipe!
- Butter Pecan Cookies
1/2 tsp chocolate chips? 🤔
That should be 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, I have updated the recipe card. Thanks for noticing that!
If I do not have brown sugar can I substitute with either white granulated sugar or with maple syrup or honey?
You can use granulated sugar instead!