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
This recipe was perfect. Super soft cookies and very delicious. Thank you for sharing.
how many calories does one cookie have if i made 6 from this recipe?
I’m not sure about the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator to get an estimate.
Hi! I went by weight for the flour and 70g and WAY more than 1/2 cup of flour plus a tablespoon. Like over a cup of flour. Was this a mistake? Thanks!
No, it’s correct. One cup of flour weighs 125 grams, you can refer to my post on how to measure flour here.
These are my absolute favorite cookies I actually just double everything and make a full batch there’s so many different cookie recipes out there but this one is definitely a winner
Thank you, Ashley! So happy you love the recipe!
Your small batch recipes are the best! I make them gluten free (celiac) using Bob’s 1:1 Baking Flour and they’re wonderful I don’t add the 1 Tablespoon of flour; just the half cup. The perfect amount of cookies! Thank you for a great recipe!
This cookie recipe is my go to recipe and all of my friends love, a friend of mine wanted me to make her a big batch for her birthday but she wants it with Stevia, my question is How much stevia should I use? Should it be the same amount as sugar?
Hi, Cristi! I’m not sure how much stevia you would need to use. I would check the package and see if it tells how much you should use in place of granulated sugar and go from there. You may also need to slightly flatten the cookies before baking. You could test one to see how it bakes before baking the rest of the batch.
So only positive reviews make it through ‘moderation’ then? These cookies were far too sweet for me, will cut sugar in half if I make them again. Insides were also too soft for me so will bake for 2 mins longer.
No, you only left your first comment yesterday afternoon and then another one this morning. I am just now seeing it. Feel free to cut the sugar in half but keep in mind that it will change the texture of the cookies and they won’t spread very well. You will likely need to flatten them before baking if you reduce the sugar that much.
These turn out amazing every time. I double the recipe and make over 24 cookies. There’s so many recipes out there and I feel like this one has less sugar, and totally foolproof!
I literally never leave reviews for anything- but these cookies were perfect. My husband freaked out lol.And as trivial as the small batch concept may sound, it’s not- the small batch recipe concept is GENIUS here, and makes about 10 cookies (the size of nestle toll house mini cookies). But these are way better. They’re so tasty. Danielle you’re truly a cookie wizard.
I just made these cookies and they are FANTASTIC and I have tried a lot of recipes for chocolate chip cookies!!! They have the perfect balance of chewy and crispy and I love the small batch idea, quick and easy when you don’t need a bunch. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!!
Would it be ok to use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar?
Yes, that would be fine!
Perfect amount of cookies and they tasted great. Maybe change the order of your directions to preheat the oven like 5 mins into the dough being in the freezer. It doesn’t take long for most ovens to preheat.
This recipe was absolutely perfect! At first, I thought it was too little- but as promised, it yielded exactly 8 cookies. They were delicious and I will never try another chocolate chip cookie recipe again. Thank you so much!
I made these using gluten free Robin Hood all purpose flour and they turned out just amazing ! Only thing is I used the exact half a cup of flour no extra tablespon because gluten free flour tends to be more dry and absorbent than regular flour.
Yum!
So fast and easy. Definently worth it.
Keeping this in my back pocket
I found my favorite cookie recipe. Absolutely perfect!! If I doubled it, would it turn out the same?
You can double it, but you may need to add an extra tablespoon or two of flour. Or you can use my chocolate chip cookie recipe here and just cut it in half to make less.
I usually don’t leave comments/reviews on recipes, but this one is worth it! Makes exactly 8 every time(maybe less depending on how much batter I eat ?) and always taste great!
I know exactly what you mean haha ?
So dry batter wouldn’t stick together. Had to add milk. Otherwise tasted good
I found this recipe on pinterest a few months ago for chocolate chip cookie day. I haven’t been happy with the chocolate chip cookie recipes my mom used my whole life, and wanted to try something new without making a whole batch. I tried these out and they are hands down the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. And today I’m making them again. I think they’re my go-to recipe now! I will try your whole batch recipe when winter/Christmas comes along. Thank you so much for sharing this!
First time I made em they were flat but still delicious. Second time I added 1 tablespoon of flour and they were perfect. What would I have to adjust if I wanted to add walnuts?
Thank you.
Hi, Denise! You can use 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.
didn’t think i could make great homemade cookies, i was wrong thanks to this recipe 🙂
Wonderful small batch cookies. These are my favourites! They’re chewy, thick and it’s hard not to eat all of them at once.
Thank you so much for this. I was wondering if you a recipe that can make 20-25 more chocolate chip cookies?
Yes, I have a full batch chocolate chip cookie recipe here.
These turned out perfectly! I made 8.
Please answer! Im about to make this but i want to add a tablespoon of peanut butter in the dough, would i need to lessen any ingredients for example the butter, or can i just add it in
If you add peanut butter, you will likely need to adjust some of the other ingredients, but I haven’t tested it so it’s hard to say. You could replace the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips or use my small batch peanut butter cookie recipe here.
Not sure what happened, but mine were flat.
Did you make sure to chill the cookie dough? And have you checked your baking soda to make sure it’s still fresh? If so, you can try adding an extra tablespoon of flour next time and that should help.
Some of the best cookies I have ever made!
Best homemade chocolate chip cookies I have ever made.
I make these often! They are so so yummy! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Perfect small batch recipe! We discovered this recipe when we only had a half a cup of chocolate chips but were craving some choco chip cookies.
Nice and easy…nice and tasty! Thank you for this goto recipe!
This has become my go to recipe. It’s so easy and just the right amount of cookies. I just add a grated square of dark chocolate to the batter, everything is extra chocolatey.
What are the calorías for the batch?
I’m not sure about the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator to get an estimate.
super easy and delicious!