what to expect:
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes
Perfectly soft and slightly gooey small batch chocolate chip cookies that come together quickly – no chilling of the dough or softening of butter needed. Oh – and all 8 cookies can be baked on a single tray 🙂
*For helpful tips and how-to’s, be sure to read the whole post.
No softening of the butter, no chilling of the dough, and 8 perfect cookies baked on a single tray… These small batch chocolate chip cookies are perfect to throw together on a weeknight when you’re wanting something sweet, but low effort.
I’d been working toward these small batch chocolate chip cookies (“weeknight chocolate chip cookies”, as they’re affectionately called in our house) for years. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get them quite right without chilling the dough or using softened or melted butter.
Then I had a breakthrough; I had been limiting myself to butter – the solution in this case was using vegetable shortening. Once that change was made they came together in no time.
I give you: soft and gooey small batch chocolate chip cookies.
What You’ll Find in This Post
What You’ll Need to Make Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients for Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegetable Shortening
- Brown Sugar
- A Large Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- All Purpose Flour
- Kosher Salt
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Chocolate Chips of your Choice
- Optional: Artificial Butter Flavoring
No Special Equipment Needed for these Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies!
You can make this recipe entirely by hand – in fact, that’s the only way I recommend making these small batch chocolate chip cookies.
All you’ll need is a small mixing bowl and a spatula. Bonus points for a small cookie scoop, especially if you want to keep your hands clean. But you can always use a rounded tablespoon of dough in a pinch.
The Perks of Using Vegetable Shortening in Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Shortening has been used in baking for centuries. Vegetable shortening specifically is a shelf-stable pantry ingredient, meaning it can be stored at room temperature in your pantry, even if you’ve already opened the container. This is precisely why we’re using vegetable shortening in place of butter for this chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Since vegetable shortening is stored at room temperature, it’s already the perfect consistency to use when making your chocolate chip cookie dough.
If you’re interested in learning more about the differences between butter and shortening in baking, you can take a look at this post on Handle the Heat: Butter vs Shortening: Which is Better?
To compensate for the lack of flavor from the vegetable shortening (butter is, by nature, an ingredient that grants a much richer flavor), we’re strictly using brown sugar when making this dough. You also have the option of adding some artificial butter extract in addition to the vanilla extract. These ingredient choices make for rich and gooey small batch chocolate chip cookies.
Choosing Your Chocolate Chips
The chocolate chips used in this small batch chocolate chip cookies recipe are entirely up to you and your tastes. If you’re not sure what kind of chocolate you like in your chocolate chip cookies, a good place to start is semi-sweet chocolate chips. That’s typically what I end up using since I always have a bag of them around the house.
I’ve also started to make my own custom “blend” of chocolate chips. I’ll combine my favorite chocolate chips in one container (my current favorite combo is mini semi-sweet mini chocolate chips and dark chocolate chunks) and scoop from that when I need chocolate chips for a cookie recipe.
If you make these small batch chocolate chip cookies, let me know how they turn out by leaving a review! And if you post on Instagram, be sure to tag me @ficklebea. Can’t wait to see what you make – happy baking!
If you are new to baking or nervous about spending time in the kitchen, check out My Kitchen Commandments for some helpful tips!
PrintSmall Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Perfectly soft and slightly gooey chocolate chip cookies that come together quickly – no chilling of the dough or softening of butter needed. Oh – and all 8 cookies can be baked on a single tray!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
Ingredients
1/2 cup + 3 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour * – spooned and leveled
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/8 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/8 teaspoon Baking Soda
3 Tablespoons Vegetable Shortening (I use Crisco)
1/3 cup Brown Sugar – packed
1 Large Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon Butter Extract – optional but encouraged
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (mini semi-sweet chips recommended)
Instructions
preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
make the cookie dough
- In a small or medium-sized bowl, add the flour (1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp – spooned and leveled, see note), kosher salt (1/4 tsp), baking powder (1/8 tsp), and baking soda (1/8 tsp). Whisk together until combined – about 2 minutes.
- In a separate small or medium-sized bowl, add the vegetable shortening (3 Tbsp) and the brown sugar (1/3 cup – packed). Stir and mash together with a flexible spatula until you get a smooth paste without any white spots showing.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract (1 tsp), and optional butter extract (1/2 tsp) to the shortening and butter mixture. Stir and mash together until smooth. If you’re having trouble getting rid of any lumps, mash them with the back of your spoon or spatula.
- Pour the dry mixture of flour, kosher salt, baking powder, and baking soda into the wet mixture and gently stir together until most of the dry mix has been incorporated but there is still some flour showing.
- Add the chocolate chips (1/2 cup) to the bowl and stir until the chocolate chips are evenly dispersed throughout the dough and there are no dry patches of flour showing.
scoop and bake
- Using a small cookie scoop or a rounded Tablespoon, place roughly 8 scoops of dough on a baking tray with about an inch and a half of space between scoops.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown and allow the cookies to cool on the tray before serving.
Notes
*To properly measure your flour: gently spoon the flour into your measuring cup then use a knife or the spoon handle to scrape any excess flour off the top.
To help with your grocery shopping, I’ve put together a list of where each ingredient is generally located in the grocery store and the total amount you will need for the recipe (NOTE: the quantities of the ingredients below do not change if you update the scale of the recipe).
Dairy:
- Large Egg (1)
Pantry:
- Vegetable Shortening (3 Tablespoons) – I use Crisco, it’s typically found in the baking aisle
- Brown Sugar (1/3 cup)
- Vanilla Extract (1/2 teaspoon)
- Butter Extract (1/2 teaspoon) – optional, typically found near the vanilla extract of the baking aisle
- All-Purpose Flour (1/2 cup + 3 Tablespoons)
- Kosher Salt (1/8 teaspoon)
- Baking Powder (1/8 teaspoon)
- Baking Soda (1/8 teaspoon)
- Chocolate Chips (1/2 cup) – use what you like, otherwise mini semi-sweet chocolate chips are recommended
Anonymous says
Cookies were dry and bland.
Sierra says
So sorry to hear it – thank you for taking the time to leave a review!