Small Batch Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These small batch brown butter chocolate chip cookies yield the perfect amount of cookies for a gathering with just a few friends or family. But want to know the two best parts of this recipe? For one, it uses a no-chill dough. AND no electric mixer or hand mixer needed to bake a batch of these! You can easily combine all these ingredients by hand. Follow the steps below to make eight soft, perfect chocolate chip cookies.

Up-close overhead shot of chocolate chip cookie, pulled apart to show the melted chunks.

Small batch recipes are great when it's just you and maybe a couple of friends (or really, you just want to eat a few extra cookies yourself - live a little). I've got a few others to suggest, like my browned butter peanut butter cookies (they make 8!) or small batch vanilla cupcakes. All are good options for parties of 6-8!

This particular cookie recipe is modeled off of my big batch chocolate chip cookie recipe. I definitely recommend using that instead when you're serving desserts for a larger crowd.

And if you're searching for another yummy cookie option to try, my oat flour chocolate chip cookies are chewy and super easy to make. Plus, they're gluten-free if you use certified gluten-free oats or oat flour!

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Recipe Highlights
Ingredients in this Small Batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies
Guide for Browning Butter
Step-by-Step Cookie Recipe Instructions
Top Tip for Perfectly Round Cookies
Small Batch Cookie: The Holiday Edition
Cookie Storage & Freezing Instructions
FAQ for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
More Cookies to Try
Small Batch Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe Highlights

Unlike similar small batch cookie recipes, no chill time - I specifically made this recipe so that you don't need to chill your cookie dough in the refrigerator before baking. When I'm in the mood for baking or eating a cookie, I want to eat it ASAP. I bet you do, too.

Fast and easy - This recipe gets extra points for coming together so quickly! From start to finish, you can have a freshly baked cookie in your mouth within an hour of starting this recipe. That's a win. Plus, you don't have to worry about wait around for room temperature butter. The butter here is melted.

Less cleanup - Craving a classic chocolate chip cookie? But also kind of feeling lazy with your baking? Same. Often. But the beauty of small batch recipes like this one is that they require fewer ingredients and less work.

No special equipment necessary - Let your stand mixer take a break. You can easily whip up a batch of these small-batch chocolate chip cookies with a medium bowl, whisk, and spatula.

Up-close overhead shot of chocolate chip cookies on a baking tray with parchment paper beneath them.

Ingredients in this Small Batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies

Overhead shot of ingredients for small batch cookie recipe.

After recipe testing five times, I was happy with the end result here. Below are some recipe highlights, and all the details are in the card at the bottom of the post, too.

Egg yolk - The yolk contributes to the richness and moisture of the cookie, thanks to the fat content that adds flavor, too. You also need the egg yolk to help in giving structure and stability to these brown butter cookies; the yolk helps hold them together. It also makes them deliciously chewy.
Chocolate chunks – Dark or milk chocolate chips will work, too. However, unlike a chopped bar of chocolate, chips contain ingredients that make them keep their shape, meaning they don’t melt as easily. Instead, chop chunks of chocolate. They make your cookies unique in appearance as bits and larger pieces of chocolate scatter throughout. If you need further convincing, read this Epicurious article called “Why Chocolate Chips Ruin Chocolate Chip Cookies.” I usually throw in a mix of milk and dark chocolate chunks, avoiding bars with greater than 70% cacao. I once tried 80%, and it made my cookies taste bitter!
Browned butter – Browned butter provides a rich flavor and nutty aroma. Brown butter doesn't take a long time to make. I highlight the steps below.
Vanilla extract – An undervalued hero in desserts, vanilla extract helps elevate other flavors in a recipe. It also adds that familiar sweet aroma and classic flavor associated with cookies! It's a must.

Guide for Browning Butter

Browning butter helps the butter's water content evaporate while the milk solids caramelize. This process leaves behind a deliciously nutty flavor.

I also suggest you use a pan or pot that has a lighter colored bottom. That makes it easier to notice the subtle changes in your butter’s color.

If you’re new to browning butter, watch your pot closely.

Place your sticks of unsalted butter in a pot or small saucepan over medium heat.

Leave butter in pot for about 8-12 minutes, stirring occasionally until the butter begins to foam. It'll become golden brown.

Be sure to scrape all the brown bits and flecks of caramelized butter from the pan or pot. This is where the flavor is!

Once golden brown, it's ready for pouring it into a heatproof container. Set a timer for 20 minutes, and let your brown butter cool on the counter.

After you’ve browned your butter, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and start measuring out all your other ingredients.

Pieces of chopped chocolate on a cutting board, next to vanilla extract

If using chocolate bars instead of chips, roughly chop them into small pieces and set aside.

Mixing bowl containing wet ingredients for cookie dough.

After your butter has cooled for 20 minutes, in a large mixing bowl, whisk the cooled brown butter, white sugar, light or dark brown sugar, vanilla, salt, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda.

Mixing bowl with cookie dough in it, before adding chocolate chips and flour.

Add your egg yolk to your bowl and whisk until incorporated.

Glass mixing bowl with cookie dough in it, before adding chocolate chips.

Pour in your all-purpose flour, mixing with a spatula until the wet ingredients have moistened the dry ingredients (but avoid over-mixing).

Mixing bowl with chocolate chip cookie dough in it.

Fold in your chocolate chunks or chips.

Balls of chocolate chip cookie dough on a baking sheet.

Use an ice cream or cookie scoop to place golf-ball sized portions of your cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet (no mat or parchment paper needed), with about 2 inches between each of the cookie dough balls. Right before putting your cookies in the oven, place and press down extra chocolate chips or chunks into the tops of the balls of dough. This helps the chocolate melt across your cookies as they bake and spread in the oven.

Baked small batch chocolate chip cookies on a silver cookie sheet.

Bake small batch brown butter chocolate chip cookies for 11 minutes.

Brown butter chocolate chip cookies, baked and cooling on a wire rack.

Transfer them to cooling racks after they’ve sat on their baking sheet 5 or so minutes outside of the oven and are firm enough to handle.

Top Tip for Perfectly Round Cookies

As soon as your cookies exit the oven, you can also help shape and round them if you'd like.

Use a cookie cutter or even the open side of a glass that's slightly bigger than the cookies to gently slide them into a more rounded shape.

I’ve enjoyed experimenting with these chewy cookies for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and Easter, too.

chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies with Christmas M&Ms

chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies with Valentine's Day M&Ms

Instead of chopping up two and a half cups of chocolate bars, I sometimes throw in holiday M&Ms, depending on the season.

During the spring, I tweak these small batch chocolate chip cookies, subbing in chopped mini Cadbury eggs or pastel M&Ms.

One of my favorite things to do is make all at once the dough for these small batch brown butter chocolate chip cookies.

The dough freezes well, so you can store it in an airtight container in the freezer. Bring out the dough balls to bake them whenever cookie cravings hit!

You can also store already-baked cookies in your freezer for up to 3 months.

And if you plan to eat these cookies shortly after baking, they'll still taste fresh at room temperature for 2-3 days. Just be sure to keep them sealed in an air-tight container.

Baked chocolate chip cookies on a parchment lined sheet.

FAQ for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

What is the trick to chewy chocolate chip cookies??

Among many factors, dark or light brown sugar and browned or melted butter help produce cookies with soft centers.

Also, toward the end of baking, remove your cookies from the oven once the edges are set but the centers still look slightly undercooked. The residual heat will continue to cook them as they cool on the sheet pan, which keeps them nice and chewy and more soft than crisp.

What makes a cookie soft and thick or thin and crispy?

A cookie’s chewiness or crispiness depends a lot on the ratio of ingredients in it.

For instance, if you wanted a classic chocolate chip cookie with more spread, which will also tend to be on the crispier side, look for a recipe that uses mostly granulated (white) sugar.

Brown sugar, on the other hand, contains more liquid in it, which is key in making a more moist and chewy chocolate chip cookie.

However, these aren’t hard and fast rules for *every* cookie recipe because the role of sugar changes a bit with the ingredients around it. You can read more about each kind of sugar in this fascinating article from Serious Eats.