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A single serve chocolate chip cookie, for when you just want one (giant) cookie to yourself.

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The single serve chocolate chip cookie on a baking tray.

single serve chocolate chip cookie

This is a cookie for when you just want one giant, delicious chocolate chip cookie. It’s thick and soft with crisp edges, made with brown butter for extra flavor and absolutely loaded with chocolate chips.

Aaaand if you’re thinking “why in the world would I only want one cookie?” – here is my recipe for small batch chocolate chip cookies – which is very similar to this recipe and yields 8 cookies.

expert baking tips

Weigh your ingredients:

My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.

Mix the dough carefully:

When adding in the flour, only fold the mixture just until no flour streaks remain. Over mixing the dough leads to more gluten formation, which can make the cookies thicker and more tough in texture.

I know, I know – it’s frustrating to have to wait! However, because we’re using melted brown butter, we want to give the dough time to firm up. Letting the cookie dough chill just a little bit in the freezer means that the cookies will bake up thicker.

Under bake for perfect cookies:

Cookies continue baking after they have been taken out of the oven. Once the edges turn slightly golden brown, and the cookies look just a little wet on top still, they are ready to come out. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

The secret to perfectly round cookies:

Wanna know the secret to perfectly round cookies? It’s cookie scooting! Right when the cookies come out of the oven, take a bowl, cup, or biscuit cutter that is just slightly larger than your cookies and place it over one of the cookies. Gently swirl the bowl around the cookie to make the cookie perfectly round (and slightly thicker). And that’s all there is to it!

A note on oven temperature:

Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.

Close up of the single serve chocolate chip cookie broken in half.
  • All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.
  • Baking soda: for helping the cookies rise.
  • Salt: to help balance and bring out the sweetness of the cookies
  • Unsalted butter: for tenderness and flavor. You can use salted butter in place of the unsalted, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the cookies. We’ll also be browning the butter for some extra delicious toasty flavor. If you’re looking to make this dairy-free, Miyoko’s Creamery vegan butter has the ability to brown just like regular butter and works like a charm.
  • Granulated sugar & light brown sugar: a combination of both gives us cookies with crispy edges and soft and chewy centers.
  • Milk: our egg replacement for these cookies – feel free to use your favorite dairy or non-dairy milk here.
  • Vanilla: for flavor.
  • Semi-sweet chocolate: I recommend semi-sweet or dark chocolate (or a combination of both!) Please note that if you use all chocolate chips, the cookies will bake up a little thicker, and if you use all chopped chocolate, they will be a tad thinner. In the pictures I used a combo of guittard super cookie chips & a chopped chocolate baking bar.

Here’s a little look into the process of making this single serve chocolate chip cookie. The full recipe is at the end of this blog post!

Brown butter in a saucepan.
Mixing bowl with the brown butter, sugars, milk and vanilla mixed together.
  • Brown the butter on the stove, then let it sit in the freezer for 5 minutes to cool down.
  • Mix in both sugars, followed by the milk and vanilla.
Mixing bowl with the finished cookie dough, prior to baking.
The single chocolate chip cookie dough ball on a parchment lined baking sheet, before baking.
  • Mix in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips, then set the dough to chill in the freezer for 5 minutes.
  • Form the cookie dough into one giant cookie dough ball, then top it with more chocolate chips, bake, and enjoy!

single serve chocolate chip cookie recipe q&a

What is brown butter?

Brown butter is super simple to make so don’t worry! It’s just regular butter that is cooked on the stove until some of the moisture evaporates, allowing the milk solids in the butter to be toasted. The result is this butter with an amber hue and little speckles that has a toasted and slightly nutty aroma.

can I double this recipe?

If you’re looking for a larger batch of cookies, check out my small batch chocolate chip cookies. They’re very similar to this recipe and yield 8 cookies.

Can I use other mix-ins?

Yes! You can use a total of 40g of any mix-ins you’d like. For example, if you want a white chocolate macadamia cookie, use ~25g white chocolate & 15g of macadamia nuts.

why did my cookies turn out more dry/crumbly/thicker than pictured?
  • Measuring error: Typically, the #1 culprit for this is always not measuring the flour properly. If you use cup measurements, you run the risk of adding too much flour to the dough which can make it super dry. If you’re using cup measurements, make sure that you fluff up your flour and then spoon it into your measuring cup, rather than scooping up the flour with the measuring cup. Measuring will also be sure that you end up with the right amount of brown butter and that you cooked it for the proper amount of time.
  • Overmixing: if you over-mix the dough, you will introduce more gluten into the cookies which will lead to tougher, thicker cookies. Make sure to only fold in the flour just until that last streak of flour disappears into the dough.
  • Oven temperature: Like I said before, it’s possible that your oven isn’t at the temperature that it claims to be at – which is, unfortunately, more common than it should be. If your oven is hotter than 350F without your knowledge, you’ll end up with thicker, more dry cookies.
why did my cookies spread so much?
  • Chilling the dough: The #1 reason for this would be that you didn’t chill the cookie dough. Although it can be frustrating to wait, the cookie dough does need to chill to give time for the butter to firm up and the ingredients to meld together so that they don’t completely spread out in the oven.
  • Browning the butter: Another reason I recommend measuring your ingredients. When you brown the butter, moisture cooks off of it. So, if it wasn’t cooked for long enough then there would be extra moisture in the dough, which would make the cookies spread out more.
  • Oven temperature: It could also be that your oven temperature is running lower than it claims to be. For that reason, I recommend always using an oven thermometer. The one I use is linked under “baking tools” in my amazon storefront below!

tools and ingredients:

You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!

other recipes you might enjoy:

Close up of the single serve chocolate chip cookie.

did you make this recipe?

I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery

Single Serve Chocolate Chip Cookie

5 from 21 votes
A single, large & delicious chocolate chip cookie.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings1 cookie

Ingredients 

  • 28 g unsalted butter (2 tbsp.)
  • 25 g light brown sugar (2 tbsp.)
  • 12 g granulated sugar (1 tbsp.)
  • 2 tsp. milk of choice
  • ¼ tsp. vanilla
  • 40 g all purpose flour (⅓ c.)
  • ⅛ tsp. baking soda
  • ⅛ tsp. salt
  • 40 g semi-sweet chocolate chips (¼ c.)

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  • Add the butter to a small saute pan or saucepan. Set the butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter bubbles up, then turns amber in color (this took me ~2 minutes.)
  • Pour the brown butter into a small mixing bowl and set it to chill in the freezer for 5 minutes.
  • Once the butter has chilled, mix in the light brown sugar and granulated sugar, followed by the milk and vanilla.
  • Add in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix together just until a few flour streaks remain, then mix in the chocolate chips just until no flour streaks remain.
  • Set the cookie dough in the freezer to chill for 5 minutes.
  • Scoop out all the cookie dough and roll it into one large ball. Top the cookie with extra chocolate chips as desired. Bake for 14-16 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the middle of the cookie no longer looks “wet.”
  • Allow the cookie to rest on the hot baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool (or just before enjoying it warm.) Serve and enjoy!

Notes

Affiliate links: Kitchen Scale (my favorite) | Kitchen scale (great starter option) | Oven Thermometer | Cookie Scoops | Cookie Sheet Pan | Milk Pan
You can separate the dough into 2 dough balls to make 2 more “normal-sized” cookies – they will likely take ~12 minutes to bake this way.
The #1 culprit for cookies that are too thick, puffy or dry is adding in too much flour. I highly, *highly* recommend always using a kitchen scale for the best, most consistent results. However – if you don’t have access to one, here is how to properly measure flour: Fluff up your flour with a fork, then carefully scoop it into your measuring cup and level off the cup with a knife.