Single Serve Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie

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A single serve version of my viral brown butter chocolate chip cookies. This recipe makes two delicious, gooey cookies that are ready to eat in about 30 minutes.

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I’ve been testing this recipe since January! I apologize for the wait, but I wanted to try this recipe out a few times before sharing it with you all. Single serve recipes are a bit more difficult to develop because we’re working with smaller amounts of ingredients and baking is very precise. But, I think I’ve nailed it.

It really is so convenient to have this single serve recipe handy. Sometimes I don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen and baking a full batch of cookies. I just want a few freshly baked cookies and I don’t want to put a lot of effort into it. And, that’s exactly what this recipe is. Minimal ingredients are required and in about 35 minutes, you have two delicious, warm and gooey brown butter chocolate chip cookies. The best part, while your cookie dough is chilling, you can get all of the dishes done.

So, get your ingredients ready because you know you’re going to want to bake these tonight.

Read on for the full recipe for the best Single Serve Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Dreamy. Delicious. Chocolate-y. Flavorful. Perfection. All words that I would use to describe these cookies. And, of course, for my single serve recipe we’re not making one cookie (because who wants one cookie?) — we’re making two. You can save the other cookie, give it to someone, or save it for later. Trust me, you’ll be glad to have an extra because these cookies are SO GOOD.

These homemade cookies are big and bake up with some height. They have a dreamy, soft and chewy texture and of course, are loaded with chocolate. Feel free to use any kind of chocolate that you like. I prefer semisweet so I used regular and mini semisweet chocolate chips. Pro tip: the minis make every bake 10x more visually appealing.

Regardless of what type of chocolate you decide to use, please make sure to top your cookies with flaky sea salt. The sea salt brings all of those flavors together and really is that extra touch that takes these cookies to the next level. Trust me.

Now, if you’ve never browned butter before, let me walk you through the process. It’s super easy! Take a light-colored small to medium size sauce pan or pot and place it on the stove over medium heat. Unwrap the butter and place it in the pan. Be sure to occasionally stir the butter to ensure that nothing sticks. Once the butter has fully melted, stop stirring for about 20 to 30 seconds. The butter will begin to bubble and appear foamy on top. With this particular recipe, we are using an extremely small amount of butter (only 2 tbsp), so how vigorously your butter bubbles will be dependent on how large of a pot/pan you use. The larger the pan, the less bubbling you will see.

Regardless, once the butter begins to bubble (again, it may be very subtle, so keep a close eye), start stirring and don’t stop. The butter will begin to change in color from its original yellow/gold color to a deep gold/amber color. You will also see golden flecks on the bottom of the pan — these are toasted milk solids and are what give brown butter its delicious, nutty flavor. Once the butter is mostly that deep gold/amber color, remove the butter from the heat. Transfer the butter to a heat-safe glass bowl or measuring cup and let it cool for 10 minutes before combining it with the sugars. And, that’s it! You’ve successfully browned butter.

I’m so happy with how this Single Serve Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie turned out. It really is the perfect small batch version of my popular chocolate chip cookie recipe. As I mentioned above, single serve recipes are very precise and can be a bit tricky since we’re using such small quantities of ingredients. For that reason, I’ve included Tips for Success and FAQs below. Please be sure to scroll down and read through those. If you still have questions, feel free to send me a DM on Instagram and I’ll do my best to help troubleshoot.

Other cookie recipes you may like:

• Full Batch: The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Single Serve Brown Butter Banana Bread Chocolate Chip Cookie
• Brown Butter Cookie Butter Lava Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Mini Chocolate Dipped M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Brown Butter S’mores Banana Bread Cookies

Ingredients you’ll need:

• Unsalted butter
• Brown sugar
• Granulated sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Egg
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Semisweet chocolate chips
• Mini chocolate chips
• Flaky sea salt

Kitchen tools you’ll need:

• Light-colored small to medium saucepan or pot
• Mixing bowl
• Measuring spoons
• Spatula
• Whisk
• Baking sheet
• Parchment paper

Tips for success

Measure your dry ingredients correctly! As always, it’s extremely important to measure your dry ingredients properly. Do not scoop up the flour directly with your measuring spoon. This will result in too much flour. Instead, take a spoon and run it through the flour, fluffing it up and removing any clumps. Then, spoon the flour into your measuring spoon. Take a flat top tool and level off the top to remove any excess.

Chill your cookie dough! Since we’re using melted brown butter, it’s important to give the cookie dough a quick chill. For this recipe, chill the cookie dough in the freezer instead of the refrigerator to help speed up the process.

Add extra toppings before and after baking! For the most visually appealing cookies, roll the tops of your cookie dough balls in extra regular and mini-size chocolate chips. The chocolate chips should be just attached — do not push them all the way in as it won’t have the desired effect.

Do not overbake your cookies! The baking time listed is simply a guide, not a set rule. Always go by how the cookies look to determine if they’re done baking. If the edges are set and lightly golden and the tops of the cookies are mostly set and just a little wet, the cookies are done baking and should be removed from the oven. If you wait to remove the cookies until the tops are fully set and golden, the cookies are overbaked and this will impact the texture.

FAQs

How big should the cookie dough balls be?

For this recipe, I had 184g of cookie dough in total which I split into two 92g cookie dough balls. Simply weigh out the total amount of cookie dough and split it in half.

Do you have a full batch version of this recipe?

Absolutely – The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies.

My dough is tacky, what should I do?

If your dough is tacky, gently fold in ½ tbsp of all-purpose flour at a time until you reach the desired consistency. The dough should easily stay as a ball and will not be tacky or hard to roll. Your dough may be tacky because you added too much egg — this is totally okay and fixable. It’s not easy to measure out the egg, so be patient.

My dough is dry, what should I do?

If your dough is dry, add ¼ tbsp of egg until the dough reaches the desired consistency. This is a common problem, again, because it’s difficult to measure out the egg. You may not have added enough egg to bind all of the ingredients.

Can I swap the brown butter for regular, melted butter?

No, you cannot swap out the brown butter for regular, melted butter. When we brown butter, the butter loses some of its water content, resulting in a loss of volume. After browning the butter, we will have less than 2 tbsp of brown butter. Therefore, it’s not a 1:1 swap with melted butter.

How to store

Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. If freezing, store the cookies in a freezer-safe container or bag. Set the cookies out for at least 20 to 30 minutes and let them soften prior to consuming. Or, heat them up in the microwave for about 20 to 30 seconds.

Soft and gooey, delicious brown butter chocolate chip cookies. They’re heavenly and require minimal ingredients and cleanup — talk about a dream recipe! Try this recipe out and let me know what you think!

If you try this recipe, share and tag me on socials using @itsbrunchoklock or #itsbrunchoklock. Or, leave a review below — these reviews help me out so much!!