This easy recipe for Small-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies makes six perfect cookies in 20 minutes.
I call these cookies my instant-gratification chocolate chip cookies because they go from cookie desire to cookie reality in 20 minutes.
These photos have been updated. Don’t worry, you’re in the right place. 🙂
The Best Small-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
This recipe is designed to make the best chocolate chip cookies possible FAST. It uses melted butter so there is zero waiting time for butter to come to room temperature AND you don’t have to chill the dough.
So you can throw these cookies together with no planning needed and then pop them right into the oven.
It will make half-a-dozen chocolate chip cookies, and they come out soft, a little chewy, and packed full of gooey, melty chocolate chips.
How you choose to distribute those six cookies is up to you, though I vote for being a cookie monster and eating two for breakfast and then hiding the rest of them at the back of your freezer so you don’t have to share.
How to Make Small-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Start with melted and slightly cooled butter. Your butter should NOT be hot to the touch as it can cause bits of your egg to cook if it’s too warm. Mix the butter with granulated sugar and brown sugar.
- Add the yolk from a large egg and vanilla. Make sure you’re working with a large egg or you might not have enough liquid in your dough for it all to come together.
- Add flour, measured precisely, and the other dry ingredients. Flour measurement is really important in small-batch recipes. Measure by weight or using the spoon and sweep method (stir the flour in your container to fluff it up and then spoon it into your measuring cup, sweep excess off with the flat of a knife). Too much flour can lead to a dry, sandy dough.
- Add chocolate chips. This recipe calls for semi-sweet, but you can use any chips you prefer (or add M&Ms and make M&M Cookies).
- Bake. Do not overbake your cookies! Bake just until the cookies look set and then pull them from the oven. They might still seem a little gooey, but they’ll continue cooking on the hot baking sheet as it cools.
Tips and Tricks
Can I freeze these cookies? Yes! Just store the cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag and they’ll keep for up to 2 months in the freezer. Give them five minutes at room temperature to soften a bit before eating or enjoy them frozen on a hot summer day.
Can I double the recipe? Yes! If you want to double the recipe, you can do so with no changes or use one whole egg instead of two yolks.
Cookie Troubleshooting
If you’re having trouble with your cookies, here are a couple troubleshooting tips that might help:
My dough is dry/crumbly: This is usually caused by too much flour in the dough (make sure you’re measuring it by weight or the spoon and sweep method) or it can happen when you get a particularly small egg yolk, so there isn’t enough liquid for everything to mix well. To fix crumbly dough, add a little milk or water by the half teaspoon, just enough so that everything comes together and there are no dry bits of flour at the bottom of the bowl, and your dough should be good to go.
My cookies didn’t spread: There are a couple of things that can cause this. One is (again) because there’s too much flour in the dough. Next time make sure to measure by weight or the spoon and sweep method. Changing the recipe, particularly cutting the amount of sugar, can also cause the cookies not to spread as much as they should.
More Small-batch Cookie Recipes
- Small-batch Peanut Butter Cookies
- Small-batch Oatmeal Cookies
- Perfect Small-batch Sugar Cookies
- Small-batch Gingerbread Cookies
- Small-batch Buckeye Brownie Cookies
Or check out my entire Small-batch Cookie Recipe Archive.
This recipe uses just one egg yolk. Check out these Egg White Recipes for ideas on what to do with the leftover egg white.
No-chill Small-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup (80g) all-purpose flour measured by weight or the spoon and sweep method*
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (2oz) butter melted and slightly cooled
- 1/3 cup (66g) brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 cup (3oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and brown and granulated sugars. Add egg yolk and vanilla and whisk until well-combined. Stir in the flour mixture until just mixed and fold in the chocolate chips.
- Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls (just under two ounces) onto your prepared cookie sheet (for the most perfectly round cookies, roll into ball first), and bake for 9 to 12 minutes, until the cookies just look set. Cool on the cookie sheet and enjoy!
Notes
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you.
Lexi says
Delicious, baked it 4 times!
Lauren P says
These were sooooo good. The only change I made was to divide the dough in 4 rather than 6 to make really large “bakery style” cookies. Adjusted baking time to 15 min and added a little sprinkle of flaky salt. So so good and perfect for a late night weeknight craving. I’m afraid I will be making these over and over….
Tracy says
Lol so sorry, but I love to hear it! 😉
Marti says
This was so easy and quick. The cookies were perfect! I melted the butter, then cooled it in the fridge while prepping the dry ingredients and preheating the oven. Everything came together in about 20 mins, plus about 15 mins too cool and I had a warm and soft cookie!
Brienna says
Prepared exactly as written. Amazingly, perfectly, deliciously perfect!
Lisa Riedel says
Thick, soft, delicious! My new go to for small batch cookies! Great recipe. I followed it exactly
Lisa says
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! I wanted cookies and didn’t want to heat up my whole oven in the summer. I messed up mixing the sugars with the dry ingredients instead of the butter, and they came out amazing in my toaster oven anyway! Pinned the recipe for use again.
Kassidy says
I love these cookies! My family loves them too, so I was wondering about doubling the recipe. Should I use 2 egg yolks when I double it or just one whole egg? Any other tips/tricks for doubling this recipe? Thanks!
Tracy says
You can use just one egg for double the recipe, otherwise, no changes are needed. So glad you’ve been enjoying them!
Diana says
This was a great recipe! I added a tiny amount of apple cider vinegar and they came out fluffy which I like more chewiness so I will stick to this exact recipe next time. I got about 12 medium large cookies and 3 smaller ones. I had a bit of dough left and decided to put the rest in the air fryer. The cookie does need to be flipped over in the air fryer and maybe dropped from 350 to 300 the last 5 minutes unless you want a gooey center. Thank you for sharing this recipe! I only added the vinegar cause I saw other recipes said baking powder and baking soda and I only have the soda so I just needed a binding agent to fluff. No fluffy fluffy next time!
Tracy says
So glad you enjoyed them, Diana!!
Brittany Bartel says
This is my second time making these cookies, last time I was a bit hasty and didn’t read the blog post, the cookies came out too dry. This time I was a good girl and actually read and measured the ingredients using a food scale. Result: best cookies I’ve ever made. ❤️
Maddie says
This recipe was so seamless and quick, and the cookies turned out perfectly!! I weighed out the ingredients and the ratios in the recipe produced cookies that were super soft and chewy on the inside with a nice crisp golden texture on the outside — the perfectly indulgent consistency! I will definitely be returning to this recipe often to satisfy my cookie cravings.
Mungo says
Have made these twice now and both times they have come out great. I love the small batch as my kids love cookies, but I am on a diet, so this helps me out by not having loads of delicious cookies hanging about shouting ‘Eat Me!’
Love the fact that you have included UK measurements too as I spend loads of time trying to convert cups to metric on other US recipes.
Thank you xx
Valerie says
A favorite of ours! I love that the recipe is start to finish in under 20 minutes, and no chill. I’ve done a variety of add-ins — nuts, toffee bits, chocolate chips, raisins — whatever adds up to a half-cup. This recipe produces very consistent results for me. Thank you for developing and sharing it!