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A Recipe For Just Two Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

June 1, 2022 by Joy the Baker 50 Comments

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two giant chocolate chip cookies

I accidentally went down a rabbit hole a few weeks back.  One afternoon, in a sweet tooth induced mania, I made a small batch of truly giant chocolate chip cookies. The cookie dough came together in a small saucepan, the chocolate almost too melty, and the cookies about the size of my literal face. They were truly unhinged for small batch baking so, of course, I must now share these cookies with all of you.  Here is the small batch chocolate chip cookie, the afternoon pick-me-up, the midnight snack, the stress bake of the year.  You’ll want to commit this recipe to memory.  With cookies this good, the recipe list will be engraved in your mind in no time.

Catch me and my small batch recipes on Instagram: making two (and just two) giant cookies, making one single cinnamon roll, and making two (and just two) lemon poppy seed muffins.

What’s next in Small Batch Land, friends?  Do we need a single scone recipe? Do we need a double chocolate muffin recipe? Oh wait – a single pop tart? A single crostata? I’ll never stop – this is just too good.

Okay, first things first – GET THIS COOKIE.

ingredients for small batch chocolate chip cookie

Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this small batch chocolate chip cookie recipe:

•  half a stick of unsalted butter (4 tablespoons), melted

•  brown sugar

•  powdered sugar

•  one large egg yolk

•  vanilla extract

•  all-purpose flour

•  baking soda

•  kosher salt or sea salt to finish the cookies if you have it!

•  chocolate chips or big chocolate chunks

•  optitonal: nuts, M&M candies, walnuts, white chocolate chips, toasted pecans, macadamia nuts, peanut butter cups.

Melted butter in small pan with brown sugar.

Choose your vessel.  You can make this easy cookie dough in a small bowl, melting the butter in the microwave, or in a small saucepan, melting the butter over the stovetop.  I chose a small saucepan because my microwave is notorious for exploding butter but that’s more of a personal problem than anything.

Whisk brown sugar and powdered sugar into the melted butter.  This might feel grainy and like the fat is separating from the sugar, but just keep whisking.  I like to use powdered sugar as opposed to granulated sugar for this recipe to create a crackled cookie top and chewy edges.

Adding egg and vanilla to sugar and butter.

Once the butter and sugar mixture is cool to the touch, whisk in the egg yolk and vanilla extract.  If your butter and sugar mixture was at all grainy, the egg yolk should help emulsify the mixture to glossy and smooth.

Stirring chocolate into cookie dough

Stir in the dry ingredients until well combined, making sure no dry patches have stuck to the bottom or sides of the pan.  Use a rubber spatula to fold chocolate chunks into the batter.  If the saucepan is a touch warm, the chocolate pieces might melt into streaks, but the cookies will be just as tasty as ever.

Because this is a cookie emergency, there’s no chill time required for this recipe.  We’re scooping straight from pot to pan!

small batch chocolate chip cookie on a parchment lined baking sheet
two giant chocolate chip cookies


Spoon the soft cookie dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  It’s okay if the dough sags a bit – it’ll all get a good spread.  Top with extra chocolate chips and a good sprinkle of sea salt.

Bake in the upper third of the oven until golden brown around the edges.  You’ll gasp when you open the oven door.  You’ll think you could have made four reasonably sized cookies instead of two giant cookies, but what fun would that be?

This is taking a cookie craving all the way home.  I fully expect you to wait three minutes before eating an entire cookie off the sheet pan.  That would be doing it right.

If you like this small batch chocolate chip cookie you’ll also love:

•  Dad’s Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies – they are perfect and make over a dozen cookies. They’re lovely to share but the cookie dough balls hold up well in the freezer for after dinner munchies.

•  A Single Molten Chocolate Cake – it’s hot lava inside. Hot chocolate lava.

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two giant chocolate chip cookies

A Recipe For Just Two Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

★★★★★ 4.9 from 29 reviews
  • Author: Joy the Baker
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes
  • Total Time: 22 minutes
  • Yield: 2 big cookies 1x
  • Category: dessert
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Description

You’ll want to commit this recipe to memory stat – gooey in the center, crisp around the edges, melty chocolate and a salty top.  Go from zero to GIANT COOKIES with one pot in 20 minutes flat.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar*
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • Splash of vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • A handful of chocolate chips + more to smash on top

Instructions

  1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it to the side.
  2. In a small saucepan, melt butter until bubbling. Remove from the heat and whisk in the brown sugar until it feels like the sugar has started to dissolve in the butter. If it feels like the butter is separating from the sugar, that’s ok – keep going. Whisk in the powdered sugar. This might feel like a clumpy mess, but I promise the lumps will whisk out.
  3. Whisk in the egg yolk and splash of vanilla until emulsified, smooth and glossy.
  4. Add flour, salt, and baking soda and stir with a spatula until no dry bits remain. Add the chocolate pieces and work quickly, because the chocolate will start to melt in the warm pan but honestly that’s alright because the melted chocolate makes for chocolate striped cookies. Fold the chocolate pieces throughout the dough and quickly dollop in two globs (of course you could do three or four globs) on the prepared baking sheet. Dot with a few more chocolate pieces and sprinkle with extra sea salt if you’re into that sort of thing.  No need to chill in the fridge – that would defeat the purpose of having cookies right the heck NOW.
  5. Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden around the edges and still slightly soft in the center. Remove from the oven and see how long you can let them cook before eating them straight off the baking sheet. Enjoy now and do it again tomorrow! Xo

Notes

*powdered sugar gives these cookies a crackly top and chewy edges. If you don’t have any on hand, you can substitute with granulated sugar or brown sugar in the same amount.

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Reader Interactions

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  1. Em

    July 10, 2023 at 6:06 am

    These are AMAZING. Breakfast craving thoroughly satisfied thanks to this recipe and I had quite a laugh reading the instructions… thank youu <3

    Reply
    • Joy the Baker

      July 10, 2023 at 10:21 am

      Breakfast, yes!

      Reply
  2. Kate M

    May 19, 2023 at 4:53 am

    Joy is absolutely correct – you must memorize this recipe immediately! These cookies are ready so fast that it truly feels like a magic trick, and boy are they delicious.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. Marie

    April 1, 2023 at 11:27 pm

    These cookies are absolutely perfect. I added nuts to mine and I was in heaven!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Grace R

      August 29, 2023 at 3:29 am

      These cookies were AMAZING. I made 4 beautiful chocolate stripe cookies. The perfect mix of crispy chewy.

      Definitely needed them as a reward for parenting a 3 month old and a 3 year old.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
  4. Lindsay Higgins

    March 26, 2023 at 7:28 pm

    Another amazing recipe! We don’t deserve you Joy ?

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  5. Erin Schooley

    February 9, 2023 at 8:46 pm

    Brilliant treat! We loved them and it was nice to just make a couple! Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  6. Sue

    February 5, 2023 at 8:57 am

    Those chocolate chip cookies look irresistible even if they are large. I just made chocolate chip cookies and they didn’t last even a day. I added an extra ingredient as cinnamon to change the taste a bit. Still chocolate goodness though. Thank you for this recipe.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  7. Jess

    January 26, 2023 at 8:33 am

    This was the late night indulgence I needed after a ridiculous day at work. So simple and quick to whip up! And the sprinkle of sea salt before baking was *chef’s kiss*.

    As always, thank you for sharing genius with the rest of us!! ?

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  8. Jamie

    January 21, 2023 at 9:18 pm

    Any substitutions if you can’t use eggs?

    Reply
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