This Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies is a Levain Bakery copycat recipe made with simple ingredients, resulting in 8 cookies that are crisp outside and gooey, soft, and moist inside. They are big, cost much less, and are super delicious!
Making this small batch of chocolate chip cookies is easy and costs much less than buying than at the Famous Levain Bakery.
They are big and thick with a crispy texture outside and a soft texture inside. No need to say how delicious they are!
Try them and leave us your feedback!
Table of Contents
- 1 How to Make the Recipe for Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 2 Ingredients and Substitutions
- 3 Pro Tips for Making a Small Batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 4 Variations of Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 5 FAQs
- 6 How to Store
- 7 Other Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes
- 8 Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
How to Make the Recipe for Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (204º C) for at least 20 minutes. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cold butter and sugars together until combined and crumbly (about 3 minutes). SEE PIC. 1
- Add the first egg, beating on low-medium speed until fully combined. Repeat with the second egg. SEE PIC. 2 Then add the vanilla extract and the nutmeg. SEE PIC. 3
- In a separate large bowl, sift the flour and mix with the other dry ingredients (baking powder, baking soda, and salt). SEE PIC. 4
- Carefully pour the flour mixture into the mixing bowl. Beat on low speed until the mixture is fully combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips using a spatula or wooden spoon. SEE PIC. 5
- Form eight 6-ounce rough/messy balls of cookie dough. Weight each one of them so they have even size/weight. SEE PIC. 6 Divide the 8 cookies onto the two prepared baking sheets. SEE PIC. 7 NOTE: If the edges of the cookie dough ball are rough/not smooth, it’s better to get crispy tops!
- Cover and chill them in the fridge for 45-60 minutes before baking. When baking in winter, the dough tends to be pretty stiff and solid and doesn’t require chilling.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes. This time may vary depending on your oven (I used the conventional oven, not convection) and also whether you chilled your dough (and for how long). Make sure to check the cookies after they hit the 10-minute mark. Look but don’t touch them! They must present patches of deep golden brown and light golden brown. SEE PIC. 8
- But if you remove them from the oven when they are too light, let them cool and set them on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before serving. If you took them out at the perfect or later, you can gently transfer them to a cooling rack after 4-5 minutes of cooling/setting in the pan. These Levain chocolate chip cookies will have crisp edges with a gooey center.
Ingredients and Substitutions
To make this small batch of chocolate chip cookies recipe, you'll need:
- Unsalted butter: Make sure it is chilled and cut into small chunks. Because I am using semi-sweet chocolate chips, I prefer to not use salted butter. The amount of salt also may vary according to the brand and you want to have complete control of the flavor. Also, choose a good-quality butter such as Irish butter with more dairy than water than American butter.
- Light brown sugar: It will add a caramel-like flavor to the cookies.
- Granulated sugar: White sugar will sweeten these baked goodies!
- Eggs: Use large eggs that are chilled!
- Pure vanilla extract: You may omit it but it will add extra flavor to our cookies.
- Ground nutmeg: It adds a warm flavor to our copycat Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies.
- All-purpose flour: Make sure to measure well and sift it before adding to the dough.
- Baking powder: It is one of the leavening agents and will make the cookies rise!
- Baking soda: It is necessary for this recipe because we are using brown sugar which is an acidic ingredient. It is alkaline and will neutralize some or all of that acid.
- Salt: If using kosher salt, use double the amount of sea salt called in the recipe.
- Chocolate chips: In this recipe for a small batch of chocolate chip cookies, I used semi-sweet chips but you can use dark chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips if you prefer. However, they must be of good quality so the chocolate will stay melted for longer after baking these soft chocolate chip cookies (or with soft center).
Pro Tips for Making a Small Batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Use chilled butter and eggs.
- Measure well and sift the flour before adding to the dough.
- Use good-quality chocolate chips so they will stay melted for longer.
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh the cookie balls so they will have even weight/size and bake evenly. Each must weigh about 6 ounces.
- Do not flatten the tops of the cold dough balls!
- Chill the cookie dough balls before baking so they won’t spread much under heat in the oven. The cookies must be thick and chubby.
- To get crispy chocolate chip cookies or cookies with crisp edges, don’t smooth the cookie balls when forming them.
- Preheat the oven for at least 15-20 minutes before baking the cookies.
- Preferably use gloves to form the cookie balls because they may be sticky.
- The baking time may vary depending on your oven and also whether you chill the dough and for how long.
- Bake the 8 cookies in two cookie sheets. Because they are enormous, they will need to be baked far apart and with enough room to expand.
- Take a peek at the cookies after baking them for 10 minutes.
- Let this small batch of chocolate chip cookies come to room temperature before handling. The best chocolate chip cookies must be golden brown and crisp outside with soft, gooey centers.
Variations of Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate chips: Use our chocolate chip cookies recipe as the base and vary the type of chocolate. For making dark chocolate chip cookies, use dark chocolate chips. For making a white chocolate chip cookie recipe, use white chocolate chips. You can also use chocolate chunks instead!
- Nuts: Add any type of nut of your choice. For making a chocolate chip walnut cookie recipe, replace half the amount of chocolate chips called in the recipe with chopped walnuts.
- Oatmeal: You can replace one-third of the amount of all-purpose flour with rolled oats for making a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe.
- Peanut butter chips: You may either replace chocolate chips with peanut butter chips or switch half the amount.
- Gluten-Free: To make a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe, replace the same amount of all-purpose flour with gluten-free all-purpose flour and add ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup of flour. This will prevent your chocolate chip cookies from becoming dry, crumbly, and flat.
FAQs
A "batch" is the amount a recipe makes at one time. The average number of cookies in a regular batch can vary from 24 to 36. This way, a small batch refers to any number of cookies below 24. Most small-batch cookie recipes make 8 to 10 cookies while a single serving makes one cookie.
Yes, you can freeze both the raw dough and the baked chocolate chip cookies. To freeze the raw dough, place individual balls of dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and freeze them until stiff or frozen. Then, transfer them to a sealable freezer bag or container and store them in the freeze for about 2 months. To freeze baked cookies, allow them to cool completely, freeze them in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for 3 hours, covered with plastic wrap or foil, and then store them in a sealable freezer bag or container in the freezer for 1 month.
It depends on the oven temperature and the size of the cookies. In a preheated oven at 400º F, several 6-ounce balls of cookie dough take about 10-14 minutes to bake.
Several factors play a role in whether your cookies turn out crispy/crunchy or chewy. Among the most important ones is the ratio between butter and sugar. Recipes for thin and crisp cookies, usually call for more butter and less brown sugar compared to the recipes for making soft and chewy cookies.
More than one factor determines whether your chocolate chip cookies will be thick or flat. Among them is the ratio between sugar and flour. To keep your cookies thick, use a lower ratio of sugar to flour. Cooling or freezing them before baking also helps the cookies to spread less or flatten.
Yes, because cooling down the dough gives the butter a chance to firm up, producing tastier, thicker, and chewy chocolate chip cookies.
How to Store
- Store these baked and cool easy chocolate chip cookies in a Ziploc bag or airtight container at room temperature for about 2-3 days, removing as much air as possible from the bag.
- You can freeze small batch chocolate chip cookies (baked cookies) but after thawing they won’t have crisp edges anymore yet they will still be moist. You may wrap each in a paper towel and microwave for about 15-18 seconds to defrost faster. I rather recommend to freeze the raw cookie balls for about 2 months and bake them as needed!
Other Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes
- Gluten-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
- Pumpkin Cookies
- 7 Layer Cookies
- Brownie Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Caramel Pretzel Cookies
PIN AND ENJOY!
Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 spatula
- 1 cookie sheets
- 1 oven
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter chilled and cut into small chunks
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs chilled
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (204º C) for at least 20 minutes. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cold butter and sugars together until combined and crumbly (about 3 minutes).
- Add the first egg, beating on low-medium speed until fully combined. Repeat with the second egg. Then add the vanilla extract and the nutmeg.
- In a separate large bowl, sift the flour and mix together with the other dry ingredients (baking powder, baking soda, and salt).
- Carefully pour the flour mixture into the mixing bowl. Beat on low speed until the mixture is fully combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips using a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Form eight 6-ounce rough/messy balls of cookie dough. Weight each one of them so they have even size/weight. Divide the 8 cookies onto the two prepared baking sheets. NOTE: If the edges of the cookie dough ball are rough/not smooth, that’s better to get crispy tops!
- Cover and chill them in the fridge for 45-60 minutes before baking. When baking in winter, the dough tends to be pretty stiff and solid and doesn’t require chilling.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes. This time may vary depending on your oven (I used the conventional oven, not convection) and also whether you chilled your dough (and for how long). Make sure to check the cookies after they hit the 10 minute mark. Look but don’t touch them! They must present patches of deep golden brown and lighter golden brown.
- But if you removed them from the oven when they are too light, let them cool and set in the baking sheet for 15 minutes before serving. If you took them out at the perfect or later time, you can gently transfer them to a cooling rack after 4-5 minutes of cooling/setting in the pan. They will have crisp edges with a gooey middle.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Use chilled butter and eggs.
- Measure well and sift the flour before adding to the dough.
- Use good-quality chocolate chips so they will stay melted for longer.
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh the cookie balls so they will have even weight/size and bake evenly. Each must weigh about 6 ounces.
- Do not flatten the tops of the cookie dough balls!
- Chill the cookie dough balls before baking so they won’t spread much under heat in the oven. The cookies must be thick and chubby.
- For getting crisp edges, don’t smooth the cookie balls when forming them.
- Make sure to preheat the oven for at least 15-20 minutes before baking the cookies.
- Preferably use gloves to form the cookie balls because they may be sticky.
- The baking time may vary depending on your oven and also whether you chill the dough and for how long.
- Bake the 8 cookies in two cookie sheets. Because they are enormous, they will need to be baked far apart and with enough room to expand.
- Take a peek at the cookies after baking them for 10 minutes.
- Let the Levain Bakery cookies come to room temperature before handling. They must be golden brown and crisp outside with soft, gooey centers.
- Store these baked and cool easy chocolate chip cookies in a Ziploc bag or airtight container at room temperature for about 2-3 days, removing as much air as possible from the bag.
- You can freeze small batch chocolate chip cookies (baked cookies) but after thawing they won’t have crisp edges anymore yet they will still be moist. You may wrap each in a paper towel and microwave for about 15-18 seconds to defrost faster. I rather recommend to freeze the raw cookie balls for about 2 months and bake them as needed!
Nutrition
** Nutrition labels on easyanddelish.com are for educational purposes only. This info is provided as a courtesy and is only an estimate, since the nutrition content of recipes can vary based on ingredient brand or source, portion sizes, recipe changes/variations, and other factors. We suggest making your own calculations using your preferred calculator, based on which ingredients you use, or consulting with a registered dietitian to determine nutritional values more precisely.
Please note that health-focused and diet information provided on easyanddelish.com is for educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. Consult with your doctor or other qualified health professional prior to initiating any significant change in your diet or exercise regimen, or for any other issue necessitating medical advice.
This post was first published on March 16, 2022.
2pots2cook says
So easy and delish! 🙂
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
From the large size, it sounds like one cookie could feed a family of four.