Have a late night chocolate chip cookie craving? Look no further, friends. This is the best small batch chocolate chip cookies recipe ever! With brown butter and chopped semi-sweet chocolate, this recipe is super easy, one bowl, no chill, and makes just 6 cookies. Grab a stick of butter and let's bake!
Not to be the drama but can I be the drama for a sec? Because in a very real way, these are the best CCCs I've had in like, 20 years.
When I was in elementary school, our lovely lunch lady made the best (and I mean the best) CCCs of life. She would sell them once a week in the cafeteria before school, and if you were lucky enough to have a dollar, you had a cookie in your hands.
I usually didn't have a dollar, but my friend Skyler always did and he was cool enough to share with me and my childhood bestie, Hannah. (Shoutout Skyler. You're a real one.)
Anyways, I've been chasing that high ever since. And once I went to pastry school, it became my mission to create the best CCC recipe. Luckily, after spending dozens of nights testing recipe after recipe, I've finally landed on one I love.
Think of this recipe as a Tollhouse-ish cookie but with brown butter, big puddles of chocolate, and flaky salt. They're chewy, decadent, and have just the right amount of chocolate. And like my small batch oatmeal cookies or these super chewy snickerdoodles, they have brown butter for a toffee-like, nuttiness!
Ingredient deets
My goal with these cookies was to develop a recipe that uses pantry staples. What's the good of a late-night bake if you don't have the ingredients already sitting in your pantry?
All you need to make this recipe is unsalted butter, brown sugar, a large egg yolk, pure vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, Kosher salt, and semi-sweet chocolate. I like chocolate wafers, but chocolate chips or a chopped bar work too.
No brown sugar on hand? It's ok! You can use granulated sugar. Just keep in mind that the cookies might not be quite as chewy.
Brown the butter
Ok, so you don't have to brown the butter, but you should. It makes the cookies taste like straight-up toffee. And browning butter only takes a couple extra minutes! Of course, if you're really not in the mood, it's fine. You can use 45 grams (3 Tablespoons) of melted butter instead.
Make the dough
Don't over-mix the dough or the cookies will come out dense and dry. You want to mix everything together just until there are no more streaks of flour.
Scoop & bake
If you like a crispier cookie, bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes. Just make sure the bottoms don't burn!
When it comes to small batch baking, I always recommend using a scale to measure the ingredients. Just a small amount of flour can make or break an entire recipe. But if you don't have a scale, use the fluff, spoon, & level method to measure flour, cocoa, & other dry ingredients. Here is a whole guide on how I measure ingredients for small batch baking!
If you try this recipe, I would love if you left a star rating and review. I read every comment and love hearing what you think about my recipes. Thanks so much for supporting Midnight Bake Club!
Chewy Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Kitchen scale or measuring cups
- 1 sheet pan
- Parchment paper
- #20 cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 60 grams unsalted butter (¼ cup)
- 75 grams brown sugar, dark or light (6 Tablespoons, packed)
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 45 grams all-purpose flour (6 Tablespoons)
- 5 grams cornstarch (½ Tablespoon)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt, I use Diamond
- 65 grams semi-sweet chocolate wafers, roughly chopped (⅓ cup), plus more for decoration
- Flaky salt, for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Bring it to a gentle simmer. It will foam up a bit. Cook the butter, swirling the pan often, until the butter smells nutty and has brown bits at the bottom, about 5 minutes. Pour the butter into a medium mixing bowl and let it cool slightly.
- Then, add the brown sugar. Whisk the mixture for 1-2 minutes - it will be grainy. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Whisk until the mixture is thickened and fluffy, another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the butter-sugar mixture until it's about 90% combined. Then, add the semi-sweet chocolate wafers. Mix the dough just until the chocolate is well-combined and there are no more streaks of flour.
- Using a #20 cookie scoop (3 Tablespoons), divide the dough into 6 large balls of dough. Roll each ball of dough and place the cookies about 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet pan. Place a few chocolate wafers on top for decoration (totally optional).
- Bake the cookies for 7-8 minutes. Then, use oven mitts to grip the sides of the pan and tap it firmly against a hard, heatproof surface to get those wrinkly edges. Return the pan to the oven and bake the cookies for another 1-2 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops are a bit underdone.
- Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for about 5 minutes. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with flaky salt if desired, and enjoy!
Notes
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- Baked cookies - place the cookies in a freezer bag or container lined with parchment paper. Freeze for up to 3 months.
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- Cookie dough - line the cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Freeze until solid, 1-2 hours. Pop the cookie dough balls in a freezer zipper bag or container. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months.
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- Bake the dough- you can bake these cookies from frozen! Just add 1-2 minutes to the bake time.
Did you make this recipe? I'd love to hear what you think!