Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
These small batch chocolate chip cookies are perfect for when you’re craving a cookie, but don’t want to make a full batch. This simple recipe yields just 8 to 10 cookies and includes several recipe variations too!
Do you ever find yourself craving a chocolate chip cookie, but not wanting to make a full batch? If so, I think you’re going to love this small batch chocolate chip cookie recipe!
I originally published this recipe in 2014 and it quickly became a reader favorite and one of mine too. Over the past few months I’ve been working on a cookie cookbook (yes, a cookbook is finally happening!) and I knew that this is one recipe that needed to be included in it. So today I wanted to update this recipe to make it even better and and share it with you again.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Requires only one bowl
- Makes just 8 to 10 cookies
- The cookies turn out super soft and chewy
- Just 10 minutes of dough chilling time
This recipe also makes a fantastic base for other cookies, so I’ve included instructions for how to make these cookies 4 different ways!
Recipe Ingredients
These easy small batch chocolate chip cookies use similar ingredients to my regular chocolate chip cookies with a few minor adjustments. Here’s what you will be using:
- Unsalted Butter: I highly recommend sticking with unsalted butter in this recipe. Since it makes such a small amount of cookies, this will allow you to control the amount of salt going into them.
- Sugar: You’ll be using a mixture of brown sugar and granulated sugar. The brown sugar adds moisture and creates a chewy cookie while the granulated sugar helps them spread.
- Egg Yolk: Since this recipe doesn’t make too many cookies, a whole egg is far too much. An egg yolk is the perfect amount to bind the dough together and add some moisture to it too. You can use the leftover egg white in another recipe like my candied pecans.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: For a little extra flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour: This provides the structure for your cookies so that they don’t fall apart when you pick them up. I found that 1/2 cup of flour wasn’t quite enough and 2/3 cup was just a bit too much, so this recipe calls for 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of flour.
- Baking Soda & Salt: The baking soda helps lift the cookies and the salt enhances the flavors.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: When I originally posted this recipe, I only used 1/3 cup of chocolate chips. I’ve increased the amount to 1/2 cup so that you get some chocolate chips in every single bite!
How To Make A Small Batch Of Chocolate Chip Cookies
Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, it’s time to prepare the cookies. To start, preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set the baking sheet aside and prepare your cookie dough.
To make the cookie dough, you’ll beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for a minute or two or until they’re well combined. You can also skip the mixer and just cream the butter and sugars together with a fork, so feel free to do whatever is easiest for you! Next, mix in the egg yolk and pure vanilla extract.
Once the wet ingredients are thoroughly combined, add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix them in until just combined. Then, add the semi-sweet chocolate chips (or your favorite mix-ins) and fold them into the cookie dough. At this point, you want to cover the cookie dough tightly and place it in the freezer to chill for 10 minutes.
After the 10 minutes, remove the cookie dough from the freezer and use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough onto your baking sheet. You should get about 8 to 10 cookies depending on how small or large you scoop them, but I usually get about 10.
Then, just bake the cookies for 10 t0 12 minutes or until they’re lightly browned around the edges and the tops are set. I suggest letting them cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes, but they’re delicious right out of the oven too!
Recipe Variations
Want to try these cookies another way? You can leave out the 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and mix in the following ingredients for each type of cookie:
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut: Add 1/3 cup white chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of chopped macadamia nuts
- Chocolate M&M: Add 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of mini M&M’s
- Funfetti: Add 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of sprinkles
Baking Tips
- When measuring your flour, make sure to use the spoon and level method. Too much flour can lead to cookies that don’t spread very much in the oven.
- Feel free to use milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips in place of the semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Don’t skip chilling the cookie dough in the freezer for 10 minutes. This will help ensure that the cookies don’t spread too much in the oven.
More Small Batch Recipes To Try!
- Chocolate Mug Cake
- Apple Crisp For Two
- Small Batch Peanut Butter Cookies
- Single Serving Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes For Two
Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (60 grams) unsalted butter softened
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar packed
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (70 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (90 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for 1 to 2 minutes or until well combined.
- Mix in the egg yolk and vanilla extract until fully combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined. Then, mix in the semi-sweet chocolate chips on low-speed until fully incorporated into the cookie dough.
- Cover tightly and transfer to the freezer to chill for 10 minutes.
- Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet, making sure to leave a little room between each one.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown and the tops are set.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
I made these once exactly by the recipe and they were pretty good but i felt like they lacked some flavor so now I use all brown sugar and they’re more to my preference. My husband eats low fat so I’m not allowed to bake too much, so this recipe is perfect for the kids and I to enjoy while dad is at work 😜
These were amazing! What are the nutritional facts per serving?
Thank you, Deja! I’m not sure on the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator (like My Fitness Pal) to get an estimate.
Perfection. My boyfriend and I ate the whole batch in one sitting 🫢
Very delicious, 🤤. The perfect amount of crunch and soft inside. Really good
My dough was very dry and crumbly even after freezing what do you suggest
If the dough was dry and crumbly, it’s likely that there wasn’t enough moisture (butter/egg yolk) or there was too much flour. You could try adding a little milk to the dough (about 1/2 teaspoon each time) until it comes together.
These are my favorite cookies that I have ever made. I add Cinnamon & Cardamom because those two spices love chocolate mmmmm!!!
omg perfection 🤤
I have made this recipes dozens of times, I have it memorized! LOVE these cookies!
I LOVE this recipe! Is there a larger quality version?
I have a recipe for a larger batch of chocolate chip cookies here (it makes about 38).
Perfect small batch recipe!
These were easy and turned out great!
Can someone help me with how much of each to put in i only found half of the measurement
There’s a recipe card with all of the measurements towards the bottom of the post. If you’re having trouble finding it, there’s a jump to recipe button at the top of the post that will take you straight to it.
These cookies are awesome. Today I experimented and only used 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of unsweetened apple sauce. They were fantastic. I’ve made them with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries and butterscotch chips. I don’t even add the white sugar, just use the brown sugar.
Made the original batch first, and it was delicious! I froze the batter to make the cookies nice and thick/chewy. I also used the recipe as a base for kitchen sink cookies, (I doubled it, then add potato chips, pretzels, heath bits, chocolate chunks, and m&ms). Amazing both ways! I definitely recommend.
I love love love these! This is my go-to recipe when my husband and I just want a sweet treat without having a dozen cookies left in the house. I use the big chocolate chunks instead of chips, which obviously doesn’t change the flavor but just adds more chocolate in each bite. I also use salted butter, just omit the 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
I will say, you cannot skip the chilling step. I’ve been too impatient and I end up with flatter cookies. Still delicious, just a little sad looking…chill chill chill!
I never leave recipe reviews but I’ve made this recipe so many times for my son and every time, they are delicious and he loves them. Sometimes I double the recipe and they’re great. I put the remaining dough in the freezer while the first batch bakes. Perfect every time. Warm cookies with a glass of milk…YUM!
Best chocolate chip cookies ever!!! I have made them a handful of times and they exceed my expectations every time. I am not the best baker but I feel confident I could bring these to a party and they would be a hit!
Have made these recipe a dozen times. I always cut the sugar down by about 20-25% and often use semi-melted butter and cold eggs, and they still turn out great.
These cookies are so good! Do you know how many calories would be in each cookie, or in the whole batch?
Thank you Jayde! I’m not sure on the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator (like My Fitness Pal) to get an estimate.
I have come back to this recipe no less than 20-30 times now. It is perfection. Thank you thank you thank you
Can I double the recipe? Thanks 😊
I’ve tried it and it works, but the cookies turn out a little flatter. You could use my regular chocolate chip cookie recipe here instead and just cut it in half.
Came across this recipe a couple weeks ago, I decided to make some and I absolutely loved them. They turned out better than any other cookie recipe I’ve tried! Plus it’s perfect for me and my fiance, all the other recipes I find make so many cookies when we don’t eat very many! I made another batch tonight and I’m already excited haha. For me I think what helped is measuring everything out on my scale to get exact measurements but I love this recipe!
I substituted 20 g of cocoa powder and used gluten free flour for the other 50 g.
Baked 9 cookies for 8 minutes and they’re so moist and delicious
Amazing chocolate chip cookies! Perfect for size recipe for the two of us!
Very simple to make, delish!
Might cut back on salt buy otherwise yummy!
love the recipe and the cookies just to many chocolate chips for me if you dont like as many chocolate chips i recommend using a 1/4 cup instead of 1/2
i followed the recipe to a T and they came out terrible i wonder what could’ve happened 💔💔
It’s hard to say because you didn’t give me any information other than they were terrible. Did the cookies spread too much, were they too cakey, or something else?
Super easy and quick to make and they taste so good! They’re so gooey and not too sweet.