Sometimes, you just need fresh baked cookies, but you don’t need a ton. This small batch chocolate chip cookie recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies. They are chewy and delicious, so chances are you will wish you had made more! 😉
Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies are one of life’s simplest pleasures. Our favorite big batch chocolate chip cookie recipe makes 10 dozen cookies.
While that is fabulous when we are hosting a party, it isn’t always necessary. Luckily, the dough freezes well, but it is a little bit dangerous to have cookie dough in the freezer.
It is way too easy to take some out to bake… or just eat straight from the freezer. For people with no self-control, like myself, the temptation is too great.
A lot of small batch recipes call for either hard to find eggs, like quail eggs. Or they call for just part of the egg, like only the egg yolk.
While separating an egg isn’t that hard, I just didn’t want to mess with that. So this recipe uses 1 large egg and other pretty standard measurements of pantry staples.
So they are super simple to put together and really don’t take that long. Two dozen cookies means only two trays of cookies to bake.
And if you have more self-control than I do, you can bake a dozen cookies now and freeze the rest of the dough for more cookies later.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you store homemade chocolate chip cookies?
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. You can add a marshmallow or slice of sandwich bread to the container to keep them soft longer.
Otherwise, freeze the cookies for up to three months. I bagged some up and froze them for easy lunch box snacks for Little Dude.
How do I make sure my cookies stay chewy and not hard?
The biggest key to chewy cookies is to not overbake them. This includes not letting them stay on the hot cookie sheet for too long after they come out of the oven.
Let them cool on the cookie sheet for about 1 minute to firm up slightly, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
How do I freeze chocolate chip cookie dough?
You can freeze bulk cookie dough in a freezer safe container. To bake, just defrost the dough in the refrigerator overnight, then scoop and bake as directed.
You can also freeze scoops of dough on a cookie sheet, then transfer them to a freeze safe bag and return to the freezer. When you are ready to bake them, just put the frozen balls of dough on a baking sheet and add a minute or two to the bake time.
Tips and Tricks
For a deeper brown sugar flavor, you can use 3/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Or you can use dark brown sugar instead of light brown.
Either will give a more caramelized flavor that is delicious, but my family likes the 1:1 ration of light brown sugar to granulated.
Your butter needs to be soft enough that your mixer can cream it, but it shouldn’t be wimpy.
It seems like Facebook has been filled with people having issues with their cookies spreading lately. If you are worried about flat cookies, I wrote a whole guide on avoiding spreading cookies you should check out.
More Lunch Box Cookie Recipes
I have been trying to bake more homemade treats for Little Dude’s lunch box this year. It seems silly to buy packaged treats when I love to bake.
This recipe made a couple of week’s worth of lunch box snacks with a few extra cookies for us to snack on fresh. I just bagged them into snack bags and froze them until it was time to pack them in his lunch box.
I have also sent him to school with chocolate crinkle cookies and triple peanut butter cookies. I have heard no complaints, that is for sure.
He loves peanut butter paw print cookies, so I may need to do those next. Or some funfetti white chocolate chip cookies would be fun for lunch as well.
For more cookie inspiration, check out my collection of cookie recipes.
Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg large
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Cream together butter and sugars in a medium mixing bowl. The mixture should be light and fluffy.½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup light brown sugar
- Mix in vanilla and egg until combined.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 egg
- In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt.½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 1½ cups all purpose flour
- Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips.1 cup chocolate chips
- Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes, but up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 375℉
- Scoop rounded Tablespoons of dough (a medium cookie scoop) onto cookie sheet.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes. Cool on the pan for 1 minute before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage.
Mignone
Saturday 14th of October 2023
End of recipe you wrote it can be frozen - you mean the cookie dough or cooked cookies? If cooked, do you have to preheat after defrosting?
Thanks.
Carlee
Saturday 14th of October 2023
Both the dough and the cookies can be frozen, so it depends on your preference. Freezing the baked cookies is simple, of course. They stay good for several months if they are in a nice thick freezer safe bag or container. You have a couple of options to freeze the dough. You can freeze it as a chunk. Then you would need to thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before you can scoop and bake it. I prefer to scoop it onto a cookie sheet and freeze the balls of dough for an hour or two, then transfer the frozen cookie dough balls into a freezer bag. You can bake them from frozen, just add a minute or two to the bake time. This will give you nice, thick, chewy cookies. If you like thinner, crunchier cookies, you will need to defrost the balls of dough before baking them. Either way, you can enjoy fresh baked cookies with almost no effort later.
Andrea
Monday 2nd of October 2023
Nothing like a yummy chocolate chip cookie and this is the perfect amount.
Carlee
Monday 2nd of October 2023
It's enough but not tooooo many.