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
Delicious cookies
I have been baking chocolate chip cookies for decades and now that there is only one kid left in the house I just needed a small batch recipe…this one is perfection! My husband and daughter say they taste like the break-and-bake refrigerator cookies from the store (which is a huge compliment)! They only ask for these cookies now and I only wish I could precise triple the recipe when the rest of the family comes home!
Thank you, Marla! I do have a full batch chocolate chip cookie recipe here, it’s similar to this one just scaled up.
These came out great! I personally will as a tad more sugar next time!
Made these tonight, but I didn’t have vanilla extract. I subbed water to be sure there was enough moisture in the batter, then added 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon for flavor.
Delicious and perfectly chewy!
These were soooo delicious. Was so simple and love the small batch recipe. Not sure if it’s due to the chilling but had a good buttery flavor. Only thing not sure if I made a mistake dough seemed dry
been following you for quite some time, I love the new look of your website! 🙂
Thank you! So glad you love it 🙂
Easy and excellent recipe! These came out chewy and right amount of crunch. I gave up making choco chip cookies a long time ago because they were too cakey as I probably would use too much flour. I learned with this recipe to WEIGHT THE INGREDIENTS, especially the FLOUR! I used my toaster oven and was able to cook 5 cookies at a time and I used Ghirardelli dark choco chips.
Anyone have the recipe for chocolate chip cookies that fit into a 7 oz glass jar with a cork lid that can be used as a favor at a teachers tea?
I was given one at a tea recently and the ingredients were in the jar and the recipe included-it only made 6-8 cookies but such a nice idea. All the dry ingredients were in the jar but again, a very small jar. Actually bought 30 of the jars online. They come with a tag, a cork lid and a plastic lid.
Great recipe and pretty easy, I decided to use this because my boyfriend and I wanted some late night cookies and I didn’t want to make an entire batch. My only issue is that this recipe called for too much baking soda. The cookies, while divided evenly into 8 separate cookies, had a pretty high rise and they came out sorta dry and cakey. I make chocolate chip cookies quite often so I know what to look out for in terms of baking. Will probably use this website for other recipes but not the cookies.
These cookies were delicious! Definitely recommend!
My daughter and I always wanted to try and make homemade chocolate chip cookies. So fortunate to run into this recipe. They turned out sooooooo good!
Thank you for sharing!!
Have made these 3x already! They are a hit. I tried them with browned butter one of the times which was delicious as well. They are also fantastic with an equal mix of white, dark, and milk chocolate chips.
Hi! I made this recipe using butterscotch chips, yum! ?
But my question is once the cookies cooled they became crispy. Now, we’re all a big fan of soft and chewy. Any ideas?
You could try reducing the baking time by a minute or two or adding a teaspoon of cornstarch to the cookies.
This is the only recipe for CC cookies that my husband likes!! Love that it’s small batch too as we usually make too many and sadly waste the leftovers
This was my 1st time making chocolate chip cookies in a small batch and they were delicious. Easy to make and the recipe is exact. The perfect amount to satisfy the craving.
Before adding in my chips, my batter was very dry!
Everytime I make this recipe my cookies end up spongey, almost like a pancake of cake! I don’t know what I’m doing wrong
Are you making any adjustments to the recipe? And are you doubling checking your measurements?
Love these chocolate chip cookies! Great taste and easy to make. The short chill time made this the perfect recipe to make with my kids.
Just made theses today. Looked for recipe to make small batch as it was just an impromptu baking moment.
They came out great! Perfect blend of crunch and chewy. Used dark chocolate chips and Added sprinkle of coarse sea salt to the top.
I have been making this recipe for about 2 years now and I will never make anything else. I even doubled it and they turned out amazing. Its a perfect small batch but if I am honest 10 of these cookies wont last long.
I am 70 years old.
I have never been known as a great baker.
That changed today when I made this recipe.
Thank you!
Perfection. Thank you for sharing!!
Delicious! Definitely scratched that craving itch!
Is there nutritional info on these?
Hi, Mackenzie! I’m not sure on the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator to get an estimate.
These seriously are the best cookies I have ever made. Came out perfectly crispy and chewy the first try.
I just made cookies using this recipe and oh my! Hands down the best I’ve found so far quick and easy!
Hi! I’m going to try this recipe out and I was wondering, instead of the egg yolk, if I can use an egg white? I bought a carton of liquid egg whites to make healthier omelets, and I’m struggling to find a use for them other than breakfast. Thanks! 😀
I wouldn’t recommend it for this recipe. I have a lot of other recipes that use egg whites though, you can find them all here.
I was out of brown sugar so I used all granulated sugar. The color came out a little blond, but the taste was great.
I look forward to making them with brown sugar.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe. It made exactly 10 cookies, just as stated.
Easy & delicious. Followed the recipe exactly and I came out with eight cookies (small-ish in size, but so good). It’s the perfect amount for a quick batch of cookies!
I’ve made these a couple of times now and they always come out completely flat with weird burnt bubbly edges
I bake a lot so I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong but they keep going wrong?
Are you making any adjustments to the recipe? Are you using 1/2 stick of butter (not margarine), the correct amount of flour, and chilling the cookie dough?
Perfect for portion control and a good, sweet snack when needed.
I used your recipe for small batch chocolate chip cookies. They were really good. I truly enjoyed them. Perfect for 2 people to enjoy with any meal. Thank you for sharing your recipe.