Small Batch Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These small batch brown butter chocolate chip cookies are thick and chewy with crisp edges, gooey chocolate chips, and lots of rich, nutty brown butter flavor. The recipe makes just four cookies, making it perfect when you want freshly baked chocolate chip cookies without a full batch.

 

I love what brown butter does to a classic chocolate chip cookie. And as much as I love my brown butter chocolate chip cookies, I don’t always want a full batch sitting around. And I’ve been loving turning my cookie recipes into smaller batches. Like my small batch oatmeal cookies, or my small batch chocolate chip cookies.

Browning the butter toasts the milk solids, giving the cookies a deeper, almost caramel-like flavor without adding any extra ingredients. But browning the butter also cooks off some of its water so that’s why I stir one teaspoon of water back into the butter after browning it. It’s a small step, but it helps keep these cookies soft and chewy.

I also use just an egg yolk instead of a whole egg because we’re making such a small amount of dough. And while you do have to wait an hour for the dough to chill, don’t skip it! That time in the refrigerator helps the cookies spread less so they bake up thicker.

Why This Recipe Works

• Makes just four cookies: You get a few big, freshly baked cookies without making an entire batch.
• Brown butter adds incredible flavor: Toasting the milk solids gives the cookies a rich, nutty flavor that makes a classic chocolate chip cookie even better.
• Adding water back keeps them soft: Browning butter cooks off water, so adding a teaspoon back replaces some of that lost moisture and helps prevent dry, crumbly cookies.
• Egg yolk keeps the cookies rich and chewy: A whole egg would add too much liquid for such a small amount of dough.
• Chilling controls spreading: One hour in the refrigerator firms up the butter so the cookies bake up thicker instead of spreading too thin.

Ingredients Needed

• Salted butter: Watch the butter closely as it browns because it can go from perfectly toasted to burned quickly. Read How To Brown Butter.
• Water: Don’t skip this! It replaces some of the moisture lost during the browning process.
• All-purpose flour: For the best results, weigh your flour with a kitchen scale. If measuring by volume, spoon it into the cup and level it off.
• Baking soda
• Fine sea salt
• Light brown sugar: If you run out, make your own. Read How To Make Brown Sugar.
• Granulated sugar
• Egg yolk: Bring it to room temperature so it combines easily with the other ingredients. I place my eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes. Read How To Get Room Temperature Eggs Fast.
• Vanilla extract
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips: You can substitute milk or dark chocolate chips if you prefer. Or use chopped chocolate.
• Flaked sea salt: This is optional, but I love the salty finish with the brown butter and chocolate.

How To Make Small Batch Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Brown the butter.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, then bring it to a boil. Once it begins boiling, swirl the pan constantly.

The butter will foam as it cooks. Keep swirling and watching closely as the foam begins to subside. You’ll start to see little brown specks forming at the bottom of the pan, and the butter will turn a deep amber color and smell nutty.

As soon as the butter is browned, remove it from the heat and transfer it to a heatproof measuring cup or bowl. Don’t leave it sitting in the hot saucepan because the residual heat can continue to cook those milk solids and take them from browned to burned.

Stir in one teaspoon of water. Browning the butter causes some of its water to evaporate, so we’re adding a little of that moisture back to help keep the finished cookies soft and chewy.

Let the brown butter cool slightly before moving on.

2. Combine the dry ingredients.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Whisking them separately helps evenly distribute the baking soda and salt throughout the flour before you add everything to the cookie dough.

3. Add the sugars, egg yolk, and vanilla.

Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the slightly cooled brown butter and whisk to combine.

Whisk in the egg yolk and vanilla until the mixture is evenly combined. Make sure your brown butter has had a chance to cool slightly before adding the yolk—you don’t want extremely hot butter cooking the egg.

4. Finish the cookie dough.

Add the dry ingredients to the brown butter mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula just until the dough comes together, then fold in the chocolate chips.

Once you no longer see streaks of flour, stop mixing. Overmixing the dough after adding the flour can develop too much gluten and make your cookies tougher.

5. Scoop and chill the dough.

Divide the cookie dough into four 3-tablespoon portions. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.

This step is especially important because you’re starting with melted brown butter. Chilling gives the butter time to firm back up, which means less spreading and thicker cookies in the oven.

6. Bake the cookies.

Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat it to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the chilled cookie dough portions on the pan, leaving room between each one.

Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden and the tops look puffy and set.

Don’t wait until the entire cookie looks firm or you’ll risk overbaking them. The centers will continue to set as the cookies sit on the hot baking sheet.

7. Add the chocolate and cool.

As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, gently press a Hershey’s chocolate square into the top of each warm cookie.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. If you’d like, sprinkle a little flaky sea salt over the tops while they’re still warm.

Recipe Tips

• Keep the butter moving as it browns. Swirling the pan helps the milk solids brown more evenly instead of burning on the bottom.
• Don’t forget the teaspoon of water. It’s there to replace some of the moisture lost while browning the butter and helps keep your cookies from turning out dry and crumbly.
• Let the brown butter cool slightly. If it’s extremely hot when you add the egg yolk, you risk cooking the egg instead of incorporating it into the dough.
• Chill the dough for the full hour. The browned butter needs time to firm back up, and that chill time helps give you thicker cookies with less spreading.
• Don’t overbake. Remove the cookies when the edges are lightly golden and the tops are puffy and set. They’ll continue to bake from the residual heat of the pan.

How To Store

Store your cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Make sure they’re completely cool before storing them so condensation doesn’t build up inside the container.

You can also freeze the baked cookies. Let them cool completely, then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw at room temperature before serving.

To freeze the cookie dough, portion it into four cookie dough balls and freeze them on a parchment-lined baking sheet until firm. Transfer the frozen dough balls to a freezer bag and label it with the recipe name, date, baking temperature, and baking instructions. Freeze for up to 3 months.

You can bake the cookie dough straight from frozen at 350°F. There’s no need to thaw it first. Add about 1–3 minutes to the original baking time and look for lightly golden edges and puffy, set tops.

Recipe FAQs

More Recipes To Try

If you love these small batch brown butter chocolate chip cookies, try one of these small batch cookie recipes next:

• Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies: A classic chocolate chip cookie scaled down for when you only want a few.
• Small Batch Double Chocolate Chip Cookies: Rich, chocolatey cookies packed with semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• Small Batch Oatmeal Cookies: Thick and chewy oatmeal cookies made in a batch of just a few cookies.
• Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars: Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie bars baked right in a loaf pan.