August 31, 2022

Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies with Melted Butter

Small batch chocolate chip cookies made in one bowl and with just a whisk. This is the perfect cookie recipe when you want just a handful of chocolate chip cookies but don’t have a hand mixer. 

4.93 from 13 votes
Yield: 4
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You’re thinking: the original was perfect! Why, why, why would mess with a good thing? 

Well it turns out, when about a thousand or so people make your recipe (I can’t say I know the exact number but I’m betting on over 1k considering the number of reviews, the many tags I get on IG and a poll I did on my IG stories over a year ago which showed about 900 yeses…), issues, lots of them, are about to come up. Here’s some of the questions/complaints that were brought to my attention: 

  • I don’t have a mixer and can’t beat the butter & sugar.  
  • There’s  too much chocolate in the cookie! 
  • My cookies didn’t spread. 
  • I only have (or insisted on using) chocolate chips and, my cookies didn’t spread!
  • The cookies weren’t sweet enough! 
  • Those cookies were too sweet! 
  • I don’t have european butter (and didn’t see your note about how to use american-style!) 

 

Recipe Overview 

SO!! I spent the tail end of last year and the begging of this one working on this: a small batch chocolate chip cookie recipe that could solve any problems that came from the originals. The issue that weighed on me more than others; was that, while I had built them to be the most accessible chocolate chip cookies ever, if you didn’t have a mixer, you either couldn’t make them or were getting a sub-par cookie. 

We can’t have that. 

Also, many readers continue to make the cookies with chocolate chips… Even after my deep dive into why chips are not good for those cookies. So, as much as I scowled on the other side of the screen, I finally admitted defeat: many of y’all like your chips and that’s a fact.

So now, we’re going to make a cookie that will work… for EVERYONE. You can use chips or chocolate, you only need as whisk (god you could probably do this with a fork if you have a strong wrist). But there’s one caveat: they need to chill a bit. 

And if we have issues with this one, well I guess some 2-3 years from now we’ll have another revisit lol

small batch chocolate chip cookies

 

Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies with Melted Butter 

Let’s talk briefly about how I came to this particular formula. You’ll notice that for the most part, it’s nearly identical to the original one yolk chocolate chip cookie recipe. 

But we need to change the butter incorporation step which involves beating sugar (and air) into it for something else: we’re going to melt it. 

I also increased the amount of butter, as I knew from this experiment’s results (scroll to the bottom), it would help the cookies spread even if you were using chocolate chips. And if you were using american rather than european butter, it wouldn’t matter. The result is that the cookies are softer overall and spread more equally. 

Other than that everything is pretty much the same. 

Compared my one yolk chocolate chunk cookies, these have crispier edges and softer middles, and are a bit more fudgy where the originals are chewy throughout. 

 

small batch chocolate chip cookies

 

Chilling Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

I had built the original to be the recipe for when you are like: omg, I need a chocolate chip cookie right this second. But then, people loved them so much and they were doubling, tripling and even quadrupling  (sometimes x8!) the recipe and chilling the dough to bake later. 

The problem with chilling a dough that doesn’t have that step accounted for is that the flour can over-hydrate and you’ll get a cookie that is drier than intended. 

And in this case, because we are using melted butter we actually need to chill the dough or the cookies will over-spread. Plus, we all know by now that a cookie dough chilled is a cookie that tastes much better. 

I think we can sum this all up to this: Clearly I have no control over what happens with my recipes and so all I can do is give you the absolute best recipe I can, one that is simple, easy, quick and FLEXIBLE depending on your tools at home, what you prefer to use in terms of ingredients… and hope it will meet every one’s needs and still meet soar past expectations. 

 

small batch chocolate chip cookies

 

So, can I chill the dough? Can I double the recipe? Can I use american-style butter? Can I use chocolate chips? 

To all of the above: YES.

Note: I’ve decided (for the sake of my sanity, really) I will not give this recipe in cups. There are too many issues that can come up from over and under-measuring, and with such a low yield, I don’t want to give room to make mistakes. Buy a scale: you’ll have less dishes and you’ll be baking accurately every time. It’s the $12 investment your life needs.

 

 

One Yolk Chocolate Chip Cookies – Revisited 



Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies - Revisited

Small batch chocolate chip cookies made in one bowl and with just a whisk.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Chill Time: 2 hours
Yields: 4
4.93 from 13 votes

Ingredients

  • 50 g butter preferably european but you can use american
  • 65 g brown sugar light or dark: NOT organic
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp fine sea salt
  • 75 g all purpose flour
  • 60-80 g semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips depending on taste preferences or chopped chocolate (use greater amount if you like a cookie packed with chocolate)
  • Sprinkle of sea salt if desired

Method

  • In a heatproof bowl, set the butter and melt it (in the microwave is fine but don’t overdo it until the butter starts sputtering all over the microwave, you’ll lose precious grams of butter!).
  • Whisk in the sugar, very well until the mix is cohesive and shiny. Then the salt, vanilla and baking soda.
  • Whisk in the egg yolk, very well again, give it a good 60 seconds.
  • Fold in the flour, then the chocolate.
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in the fridge for 30 minutes, until the dough is firm. You can also chill it overnight.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a small, greased baking sheet with parchment paper. (Do not bake directly onto the pan).
  • Divide cookies into 6 portions, bake for 10-12 minutes. until the edges are just beginning to turn golden and the middles are lightly puffed.

Notes

You can also make four larger cookies - in this case add 1/8 tsp baking powder to help the middles bake; the cookies will need to bake a few more minutes and the edges will be a bit darker (but it's a lovely caramel taste!)

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Recipe Reviews




  1. 5 stars
    So good! Super easy and they come together at lightning speed. I was so excited they only needed a 30 minute chill time! The flavor was developed and they spread just the right amount, and they appealed to my impatience lol.

  2. 5 stars
    These are so good! I love how easy they were to put together.

    I ended up making them a little smaller and got eight (I was too lazy to separate the dough and then make the balls, so I formed them as I went, and apparently can’t judge size, haha). AND I used white chocolate chips (shhhh), and they still came out totally fantastic!

  3. 5 stars
    I made these into 4 larger cookies and really enjoyed them. They stayed nice and soft over the course of several days. If you prefer a soft and chewy cookie, these might be the ones for you!