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.
Meg says
I love this recipe!
I’ve made these cookies a million times now and they always turn out great. It all comes together quickly and makes a perfect small batch. Thank you!
Tracy says
Thanks, Meg! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the recipe!!
Donna says
Just made these, and they’re delicious, and perfectly textured. With my only child away at college, I don’t like to bake big batches of anything. My hubby and I were craving chocolate chip cookies, and voilà!!!
Indmom1 says
Perfect dough! Baked up nicely with a nice texture. I used chocolate chunks and toffee bits and weighed the flour. Six large cookies and a little dough for the cook. This was delicious! Thank you for the recipe.
Joey says
What an amazing quick and easy recipe. I baked these to use up the leftover egg yolk from the small batch banana muffin recipe. It used ingredients I had on hand and it was great to be able to knock up cookies at short notice without having to wait for butter to come to room temperature or having to chill the dough before baking. The kids raved about them. Thank you for another great recipe.
Brenda says
Just made these and they are great. But mu husband likes walnuts in chocolate chip cookies. Hiw much would you recommend adding?
Melissa says
Super easy & more important, super delicious. I used Trader Joe’s chocolate chunks.
Carmen says
I love the small batch recipe for my husband and me. These cookies taste like a CC cookie should taste. I probably over baked them by a minute and won’t do that next time. I also put the entire recipe on one cookie sheet. I will use 2 cookie sheets next time so the cookies don’t spread out and touch. I used semi-sweet mini chips.
Zoe says
I accidentally used the whole yoke and was worried that they’d be too sticky and wet and spread too much. They didn’t! So I was super happy. I’m also one to NEVER eat the cookie batter because I’m scared of salmonella but omg… I almost couldn’t stop, I’m scared. The cookies turned out the perfect size and these are realllyyyy good. I was able to yield 9 cookies too. I’ve tried a bunch of different small batch cookie recipes and for some reason they all taste different to me but these are bomb. Thanks!
DawFa says
Excellent cookies! I did make a double batch, used a whole egg, about 1 tsp more of vanilla and a little extra brown sugar – just because!
A tad crispy on the edges and gooey soft in the middle! PERFECT!
Aja says
I’ve been making this recipe for about 3 years, and I think it’s the perfect “I need cookies right now” recipe, especially because when that feeling hits me, I run risk of eating ALL of them (self-limiting batches are therefore ideal, lest I make myself sick like an enthusiastic toddler!).
I always measure the flour by weight, and they always come out correctly. Sometimes things look a little too soft, so I throw the dough in the freezer for maybe 10 minutes and then it’s ready to go.
I am not a big salt person, but I always add a smidge more (generous pinch, not really a full 1/4 tsp extra, definitely less than that) to cut the sweetness otherwise I find these cookies very sweet (even for a cookie, which is fine, but not to my taste 🙂 ).
I doubled the recipe for the first time today, and it seemed a bit softer than ideal. I had to add extra flour, but I think this is down to the egg being a big one (I used the whole egg for this purpose). They’re in the oven right now, and behaving normally. I don’t think I added enough flour to make them cakey, so that’s good!
Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Andrea says
These came out so delicious! Best quick recipe I’ve tried. No need to look further!
Tracy says
Thanks so much, Andrea!!
Cat says
Made allergen-friendly with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-free Baking Flour and 1/2 the amount of Enjoy Life Semi-sweet mini chocolate chips. Using my regular cookie scoop, this recipe made 12 cookies maybe a bit wider than a Chips A’Hoy. Perfection!
Paulina M Silva says
Love these small batch ideas!! Also, like the fact you included recipes for egg whites. Made chocolate chip muffins too. They were both great. Thanks you for sharing.
Alyssa says
This is my new go to recipe I LOVE it. I added a tablespoon more butter and used peanut butter chips turns out amazing.
Thank you for the great recipe.
alina says
I have this page bookmarked and have made these cookies countless times for the last couple years. Everyone loves them (when I actually have some to spare and share lol). I’ve always wanted small batch recipes since I used to live alone, and you are a baking goddess for your small-batch dessert recipes and recipes for one. So thoughtful and exactly what we needed. THANK YOU!!!
Sonya S. says
These are excellent! Soft, ooey & gooey. My sister and I are roommates, so I was looking for a recipe that fits a household of two. More than met our expectations.
Tracy says
So glad you both enjoyed them!