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Single Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (with No Egg Option)

byMarissa Updated on
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This single chocolate chip cookie recipe is super quick and easy. Chewy and gooey with chocolate and lovely crisp edges. Perfect for those late-night cravings when you want something delicious without making a whole batch. This large 4-5 inch single serve chocolate chip cookie recipe tastes like something you’d get at your favorite French café! Except you’re making it at home in about 15 minutes in your oven (or even less if you are using your air fryer or microwave).

And here’s the best part: if you don’t have an egg, no worries. I’ve tested three different easy single chocolate chip cookie recipe no-egg versions that work perfectly.

Single chocolate chip cookie with dark chocolate chunks on a beige plate.
Crisp edges and chewy center. This is the best single chocolate chip cookie recipe!

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I know what you’re thinking. Making a single chocolate chip cookie sounds like a bit of a hassle. But honestly, once I figured out how quick and easy it is, I started making them all the time. Seriously. Fifteen minutes from start to finish, and you get a perfect, café-style yummy cookie.

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Single chocolate chip cookie broken in half on a plate with glass of milk in the background.
This cafe-style single chocolate chip cookie tastes so much better than store bought!

In France, I learned about the tradition of the quatre heures — literally, the 4 o’clock snack — which schoolchildren and adults have, sort of midway between lunch and dinner. This is when French people would have their pain au chocolat or croissant (and now chocolate chip cookies). To this day, that time of day makes me crave something warm and sweet. Not too much. Just enough to make the world pause for a few minutes.

This recipe for a single chocolate chip cookie is modelled after the chocolate chip cookies you find in French patisseries and has lower sugar than most. (It has about one-third less sugar than the classic Toll House chocolate chip cookie). Still very sweet, but you actually taste all the ingredients, especially the chocolate.

I really hope you love this one chocolate chip cookie recipe!

If you do, I would really love it if you could leave a star rating and comment in the comments section below or from the recipe card. 🥰

I have tested so many versions of this chewy single serve chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I have a lot of info to share about making them. BUT, if you just want to get on with it and bake that cookie, please click on the “Jump to recipe” button and it will take you straight to the recipe card.

Quick Start (For When You Just Want to Bake)

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  • Prep: 3 min
  • Ingredients: All purpose flour, unsalted butter, light brown sugar, white sugar, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips or chunks, egg yolk (or egg yolk replacement – milk, aquafaba or flaxseed meal)
  • Bake: 13-16 min oven (8 min air fryer, 45-60 sec microwave)
  • Yield: 1 large (4-inch/10cm) café-style cookie or 4 small (2-inch) cookies
  • Difficulty: Beginner
  • Equipment: 1 small bowl, kitchen scale or measuring spoons, no mixer, just a spoon or rubber spatula and your oven, air fryer or microwave

Table of contents

  • Quick and ridiculously easy – Seriously, if you can melt butter and stir, you can make this one single chocolate chip cookie recipe
  • No mixer required – Just a bowl, a spoon, and five minutes. Easy.
  • No chilling needed – As long as your butter’s cooled, you can go straight to baking
  • Works in oven, air fryer or microwave – Bake the classic way for that perfect texture, air fry it if you’re in a hurry or microwave if you really can’t wait.
  • European café quality at home – Real flavor, not a sugar bomb. Balanced sugar means the real cookie and chocolate shine through
  • Chewy center, crispy edges – That perfect bite thanks to the melted butter technique
  • Egg-free options tested – Three versions ranked so you know exactly what works best
  • No wasted ingredients – Makes exactly one large cafe style chocolate chip cookie for when you just want something sweet, not a dozen
  • Budget friendly – Way cheaper than buying one single chocolate chip cookie at a bakery!
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Flour, chocolate chips. egg, vanilla, baking soda, butter, white and brown sugar in small bowls on a wooden board.
  • Unsalted Butter: Melted and cooled. I like to control the amount of salt myself, and sprinkle some flaky sea salt on top of the single chocolate chip cookie at the end. If you are using “cow milk” butter, then use regular butter, not the spreadable stuff. I have not tested margerine, but good quality vegan butter works fine too if you want a single vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe.
  • Sugars: Granulated sugar (also called white sugar) and light brown sugar. Light brown keeps it moist, granulated gives it structure. Want caramel notes? Dark brown sugar is your friend.
  • Half an Egg Yolk (Easy subs if you don’t have one): Using half an egg yolk is easy once you get the hang of it, but this single chocolate chip cookie recipe works super well without the egg yolk as well. You can easily swap out the egg yolk with regular milk, flaxseed meal, or aquafaba if you’re egg-free or don’t have one. (Aquafaba is just the liquid in a can of chickpeas, so if you have a can of them in your pantry, you have aquafaba).
  • Vanilla: Please use pure vanilla extract if you can. Especially important if you’re using the no-egg version! It gives you so much flavor. But, if you don’t have any vanilla, don’t let that stop you from making this cookie. It will still taste great.
  • All-Purpose Flour: You can go gluten-free 1:1 if needed.
  • Baking Soda & Salt: Tiny pinch of each. If you don’t have any baking soda, your single chocolate chip cookie will just be a bit more dense, but still very nice. Go easy on the salt if you plan on sprinkling sea salt on top at the end.
  • Optional Cinnamon: Literally just a small pinch, but it gives depth.
  • Chocolate: Chips or chopped chocolate. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate chips—mix it up. Chop up a bar for café vibes. I love using extra chocolate chips sprinkled on top because it looks so pretty.
  • Optional Finishing Touch: Flaky sea salt sprinkled on top before baking for that bakery-style finish.
  • Make it vegan: Replace the butter with a good quality plant-based butter. Then use one of the egg-free options below (I love aquafaba) for a perfect single vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe.
  • Ditch the egg: Milk, flaxseed, or aquafaba all hold it together for a single serve chocolate chip cookie no egg recipe. Really. I tested them all. Spoiler alert: they all work, but aquafaba is the winner!
  • Chop up you chocolate bars: Chips are fine. But chopped chocolate gives you these pockets of gooey chocolate that feel so bakery-fresh. Trust me, it’s worth it. I started chopping my own chocolate bars after trying it once and now I can’t go back. Plus, here in Australia, chocolate bars are less expensive than chocolate chips, so there is that extra motivation…
  • Dark chocolate: Less sweet, more cocoa punch. My current favorite.
  • Milk chocolate: Creamier and sweeter.
  • White chocolate: Sweet (be aware it adds quite a bit of sugary taste). I prefer to balance it with dark chocolate or nuts.
  • Add mix-ins: Small amounts of nuts and fruit work great. Walnut, pecan, hazelnut, cranberries, cherries—whatever you have. Keep it under 3 tablespoons total.
  • The great thing with this recipe for a single chocolate chip cookie is that you can try all the different versions you feel like!

Next, I discuss in quite a bit of detail how to make one large chocolate chip cookie, but if you are ready to bake, you can jump to the recipe card.

Jump to Recipe

Chocolate chip cookie broken into two pieces and bite taken out of one of them.
I love breaking up the large chocolate chip cookie into smaller pieces and savouring it with my glass of milk or cup of chai tea.

You only need one small bowl. Seriously, one. A cereal bowl will do. And a kitchen scale if you have one. It makes life so much easier with tiny measurements and you’ll get consistent results – the best results every time. But you can also use measuring spoons. Just take the time to carefully measure the ingredients.

Four instructions images. Melted butter, melted butter and sugars, Melted butter mixed with sugars, melted butter, sugars and egg yolk in small bowls.
  1. Melt and Cool the Butter. Melt the butter in the same bowl you’ll be mixing in. Way less washing. Microwave or stovetop, your choice. But let it cool fully. Touch the bowl. Still warm? Wait. Or put your bowl over a bowl of cold water and it will cool in a couple of minutes while you get the rest of your ingredients.
  2. Add brown and white sugars.
  3. Mix the sugars with the melted butter, making sure you get rid of any sugar clumps. Use a fork if you need to.
  4. Stir in egg yolk (or substitute aquafaba, whole milk or ground flaxseeds) and vanilla.
Four images for instructions. Melted butter, sugars, egg, then flour and chocolate chips added, then mixed dough, then dough pattie with chocolate chunks on top.
  1. Mix the egg and vanilla in gently.
  2. Add dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips or chunks and optional cinnamon (your dry ingredients). I like to top with chocolate chunks!
  3. Don’t overmix—stop when you still see a few flour streaks. This is important!
  4. Shape into a ball, squish a little. Air fryer or microwave? Flatten a touch more.

Pro tip: Cookie dough should be thick and scoopable, not runny. It should hold its shape. This single serve chocolate chip cookie recipe normally does NOT call for chilling the dough. But if you did not cool the butter completely, or your kitchen is super hot, or if it’s a very hot day, and your dough is not thick enough to make a ball, then pop it in the fridge for a couple of minutes. (That’s right, minutes, not hours). (The only time I’ve needed to cool it in the fridge for a couple of minutes is when I used milk as a substitute for egg and didn’t cool the butter enough.)

I have tested all three methods and the oven method wins! Yes, it has the longest waiting time, but if you have the choice or time, wait those extra 7 minutes or so and bake in your oven.

And while it bakes, your kitchen fills with that lovely chocolate chip cookie scent of butter, vanilla and chocolate that reminds you of slow afternoons and European bakeries, or your grandmother’s kitchen 🙂

Oven Method (My Favorite)

Chewy inside, crisp edges, easy to control the baking time because you can actually see what is happening in your oven, or at least take a quick peek (but you do have to wait a bit longer).

4 images of single large chocolate chip cookie on parchment paper, underside, on plate and close up of piece of cookie.
One large chocolate chip cookie with a chewy center and crispy edges!
  • Preheat oven to 350°F (175 °C).
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put your cookie dough on it.
  • Bake 13 to 16 minutes. Edges golden brown, center slightly underdone. That’s the sweet spot.
  • Let the cookie cool for 5 minutes before you move it. The cookie will continue baking on the sheet and will hold its shape better. If you try to hold it right away, it can sort of fall into a few pieces and it’s too hot to eat straight away anyway…

Air Fryer Method

This single chocolate chip cookie recipe air fryer method is super quick with minimal effort! I use this when I’m in a hurry or don’t feel like waiting for my oven to heat up. The top will look a bit more brown than the oven-baked cookie, but it will be just as chewy inside.

4 images od cookie in air fryer, underneath side of cookie cookie broekn into pieces and close up of bite of cookie.
Thick, chewy cookie with crispy edges and gooey center!
  • Preheat air fryer to 320°F (160 °C). Flatten the dough ball slightly more than you would for the oven.
  • Line with parchment paper if your air fryer allows it. Mine doesn’t, so I either put it on a silicone air fryer mat or just put it directly in the air fryer basket, which works fine.
  • Bake 6 minutes, gently check the bottom, add 2 minutes if needed. The cookie will look more done on the outside than the oven b-ked cookie, but the underside will be less cooked. So lift it up to make sure that underside is not still raw.
  • Let the cookie cool for 5 minutes before you move it.

Microwave Method (45-60 Seconds!)

Four images of cookie dough ball on parchment paper, baked cookie, cookie cut in hald and close up of part of a cookie held in fingers.
These are soft but still very yummy!

Okay, so I’ve tested this single chocolate chip cookie recipe in the microwave multiple times and it works, but you get a fairly soft cookie, no crispy edges, unless you overbake it in the microwave and then it is super crunchy/overbaked on the inside. So timing is crucial!

For microwave, use the no-egg version with milk. Trust me on this one. For the best flavor:

  • Add an extra 1/4 tsp vanilla to make up for the lack of egg flavor
  • Flatten your cookie dough ball more than you would for the oven
  • Put it on a microwave-safe plate lined with parchment paper
  • Microwave for 45-60 seconds (start with 45) and potentially up to 1 minute 15 seconds depending on your microwave.
  • Let the cookie cool for 5 minutes before you move it. It will be quite floppy when you take it out of the microwave, but it will firm up in a few minutes as it cools a bit.

A fair warning: It is very easy to overbake this cookie in the microwave. The first time you make this in the microwave, you need to keep a really close eye on it.

  • The edges should look set, but the center can still look pale
  • The underside should not look brown (see photo below!)
  • If you overcook it (we’ve all been there), it’ll be brown inside, even though the outside looks pale and not quite done. It will be way crunchier but still totally edible.
Four images. One of microwaved cookie on parchment paper, the underside of the cookie, the cookie cut in half and a close up of a small part of a cookie.
Overbaking in the microwave! Check the underside to see if it’s done. This cookie looked just done on the outside, but inside it was quite brown.

Microwave power matters: I have a 800W microwave. If yours is higher power, you might need 10-15 seconds less.

The texture won’t be quite as perfect as oven or air fryer (where you have that dry heat getting the edges crispy and inside chewy), but when you need a cookie in 60 seconds? It gets the job done.

Baking in the oven: The most common problem is overbaking. And this is because people tend to take out the single large cookie when it looks done, not realizing that the cookie will continue to bake on the cookie sheet after you take it out of the oven.

So you need to take it out when it looks almost done. If you think to yourself, “Oh, this just needs another minute”, then it’s probably already done. And if in doubt, take it out. You can always put it back in. Here are some things to look out for:

  • The edges should be golden brown, but the center will look slightly puffy and pale.
  • Touch test: Gently press the edge. It should feel set, but the center can be a bit soft.

Baking in the air fryer: The most common problem is underbaking the underside. This is because the dough will not spread as much in the air fryer and the cookie may be a bit thicker. Combine that with the air fryer heat that gives it a good strong blast on the top and you get a cookie where the top may look done, but the underside may still be raw. So gently lift the cookie and check. When the underside looks like the dough is no longer raw but almost done, then your cookie is done. (Then leave it there for another 5 minutes, as the cookie will continue to cook even when you turn the heat off and will firm up).

Baking in the microwave: The cookie is done when it is “set”. It will be firm (not hard) when you gently press it with your finger. And it will look paler than your regular oven or air fryer baked cookie, because it cooks the whole thing at once, rather than having the heat bake it from the outside in. So, once it is set, it is done.

If you continue baking it, the single large chocolate chip cookie will bake from the inside out and the inside will be brown and the outside still pale. Actually still quite yummy if it is only slightly overbaked, and crunchy, but it’s a chewy single serving chocolate chip cookie we are aiming for.

This recipe totally works even if you don’t have an egg, or don’t want to use an egg. I’ve tested all three of these multiple times because I wanted to give you the best options.

Comparison of chocolate chip cookie with egg, aquafaba, milk and flaxseed meal.
Replace the egg yolk with aquafaba, milk or ground flaxseed.

Aquafaba (Best!): Great texture, neutral flavor, easy, best for oven and air fryer

1 1/2 tsp of aquafaba. This is the liquid from your can of chickpeas. My favorite option for this single cookie recipe. Neutral, chewy, almost exactly like an egg cookie and doesn’t flatten like the simple milk option. Learned this at the Cordon Bleu plant-based Patisserie course I took.

Milk (Good): Thinner cookie, neutral flavor, easy, good option for your oven or air fryer and the best option for microwave. Dairy milk or plant-based milk.

1 – 1 1/2 tsp of regular milk instead of the egg yolk. Simple, thinnest cookie. Quick and easy for a single serve chocolate chip cookie recipe no egg. Milk is what I use when I bake in the microwave. Works better than egg!

Flax Egg (Okay): Decent texture, nutty/peppery flavor.

1 tsp ground flax mixed with 1 tbsp water, wait 5 minutes. Nutty, slightly peppery flavor. I’m meh on this one. It’s okay, and helps the cookie keep it’s shape, but it changes the flavor too much in my opinion. Not bad, but different. Some people love it though!

Single chocolate chip cookie made with aquafaba, egg and milk stacked on top of each other.
Aquafaba on the top, Egg in the middle, Milk on the bottom. All very Yum!

What to do with the other half of your egg

I get it. You read a recipe that asks for half an egg yolk and you’re like, what? Who even does that? And what do you do with the rest of the egg yolk and egg white?

Do NOT let this stop you from making this one cookie recipe. It is so worth it.

What I do most often is bake two cookies. It is very easy to double this recipe. Eat one, freeze the other, or give my husband the other one. That way, I use up the whole egg yolk and just have the egg white left over.

What to do with leftover egg white: cook as eggless scrambled eggs, freeze in ice cube trays, and use in pavlova recipes, veggie bakes etc.

What to do with leftover egg yolk: save for tomorrow’s cookie, cook the rest as scrambled egg, or use as an egg wash.

If you are really not wanting to deal with the leftover egg yolk or whites, just use one of the egg yolk replacements. The easiest option is just to use regular milk or plant-based milk. Yes, your cookie will be thinner, but it will taste very yummy and way, way better than store bought. Just make sure your butter is very cooled. And if your dough is not firm enough you will have to place it in the fridge or freezer for a couple of minutes (not long at all, as it is a small amount of dough).

I love, love, love chocolate chip cookies. And if you liked this chocolate chip cookie recipe, you might enjoy these recipes:

Storage

  • Dough storage: Fridge 3 days, freezer 2 months. Slightly squish before freezing.
  • Baked cookies: Room temp 2 to 3 days, fridge 1 week, freezer 2 months.

Single Chocolate chip Cookie Recipe FAQ

You can use all granulated sugar (whitesugar), but the cookie won’t be quite as moist, but it will still be very nice. If you have molasses, maple syrup or honey around, add about half a teaspoon to your cookie dough and it’ll get you pretty close to that brown sugar flavor and texture.

Yes! I get it, you want to have a cookie and either you don’t have any eggs, or you don’t want to just use a bit of the yolk. I have tested three egg free versions that all work well.

  • Aquafaba is my favourite (see the recipe card for exact measurements). It gives you great texture and has a neutral flavor, so you still taste all that home made chocolate chip flavor.
  • Regular milk also works and for me at least, is the easiest single cookie recipe no egg version. You may have to put your cookie dough in the fridge for a couple minutes if you use milk, as the dough becomes more liquid with milk and may need a bit of support to firm up so you can make a dough ball. The single large chocolate chip cookie will spread more and be thinner, but the taste will still be great.
  • Flaxseed meal mixed with water. This is a very traditional method for replacing egg in recipes, but it is my least favorite for this recipe. The cookie does hold its shape well, but there is a slight nutty, almost peppery flavor. I recommend the aquafaba or milk. Lots of people use flaxseed meal as an egg replacement though.

Yes. It is perfectly fine to use salted butter and your cookie will taste great. But don’t then add extra sea salt on top after baking. It will be too salty.

Yes. To replace the egg, just choose one of the vegan options (aquafaba or flaxseed meal) and replace the butter with a good quality vegan butter.

Cookies spreading too much can be caused by:

  • Butter was too warm. Butter needs to be completely cooled before you add the sugar. You can cool the butter quickly by placing the bowl over another bowl filled with cold water.
  • Warm dough. Even if you completely cooled the butter, you need to make sure your dough does not warm up too much. This single cookie recipe normally does not need you to chill the dough in the fridge, but if you are working in a very hot kitchen or it’s just really hot where you live, you may need to pop the dough in the fridge for a minute or two.
  • Too much sugar. Sugar makes cookies spread. Next time, measure out the sugar very carefully.
  • Oven temperature too low. It needs to be hot enough to start cooking the outside of the dough ball right away. Make sure you preheat the oven completely before putting your cookie dough ball in the oven.

Thick or cakey kind of dry: Too much flour or overbaked. Use a scale for your single large chocolate chip cookie recipe or measure carefully.

Air fryer weirdness: Rotate, check the middle. Bottom should be golden, not raw.

Dry or crumbly: Reduce baking 1 to 2 minutes. If your dough is dry and crumbly, add 1 tsp milk.

Yes! I often make 2 at a time. One for me and one for my husband. Just multiply the ingredients by 2 or 3 in the recipe card options.

Yes, you can use 1-1 gluten free replacement flour. You may need to check the ingredients of the chocolate chips or chunks you are using as well, as they can be a hidden source of gluten.

Yes! You can refrigerate the dough for up to 24 hours and the flavor will actually improve. But you don’t have to refrigerate the dough. I usually don’t, because I would like to eat it as soon as possible…But I have been known to make a double batch and bake one right away and save the other for the next day!

I have not tried this, but I think it would work. I would use a lower temperature, like baking in the air fryer. You may have to rotate your cookie so it does not burn.

Yes! Just melt your butter in a pot on your stovetop and wait until it foams. As soon as you see little light brown flecks forming, take it off the heat and immediately transfer it to a heat proof bowl so it stops cooking. Then measure out the required melted butter for the recipe and you are good to go!

The biggest problem with making single cookies is that you need to be really careful when you measure out the ingredients.

Measuring flour: This is the most important one to get right. Do NOT pack it down, or allow a bit of a heap on top of your measuring spoon. One tablespoon means one FLAT leveled tablespoon. I level mine with a flat knife. Too much flour and your cookie will be dry. I’ve made that mistake before!

Melted butter: For the best results, melt your butter and then measure it with the measuring spoon or scale.

Brown sugar: Should be packed, not fluffy. So pack your teaspoon full of brown sugar and then level it off with a knife.

Egg yolk: Make sure you are using a large egg and then separate the yolk from the egg whites. Then separate the yolk in two halves. You can either do a visual test or measure out 1 ½ teaspoons of egg yolk (which is about half of the yolk). It gets easier after you’ve done it a few times!

Pinch of baking soda, salt and cinnamon: Really, just a small pinch. Use your fingers and think “small pinch”. Less than 1/16 of a tsp.

You know what? I love chocolate chip cookies. Like, really love them. The kind you bite into and the chocolate oozes just a little, warm and melty, and your kitchen smells like heaven.

There’s something about baking a single cookie that feels almost nostalgic — a small ritual that slows down the day, like the pause between work and dinner at a little café somewhere in Europe. One cookie, one moment of calm, a reminder of the days when you had time to sit in a café, sip something warm and just breathe.

When I first moved to France, guess what? You couldn’t find chocolate chip cookies in pâtisseries. Nada. Zero. But now? They’re everywhere. Less sweet than the American versions, but somehow more flavorful. You actually taste the butter. You taste the vanilla. Even the flour and sugar seem… well, more alive somehow. That stuck with me. I wanted that lovely smell and flavor in my own kitchen. (Fun fact: The French consume way less sugar than Americans, even though they eat so many pastries and chocolates. This is partly because they bake with less sugar.)

So I tried various versions of this single serve chocolate chip cookie recipe until it came out just right. I cut down the total sugar and relied more on the brown sugar for flavor and moistness. I also used an egg yolk instead of the whole egg, to get that lovely chewy center. This final version of a single chocolate chip cookie recipe gives you a lovely cookie that is:

  • Less sugary than a typical chocolate chip cookie because of the reduced total sugar (16 g vs higher in classic recipes, about 27 grams in the Toll House cookie recipe).
  • Rich and buttery due to the butter-to-flour ratio being relatively high.
  • Soft and tender texture from using only egg yolk.
  • Moist with a mild caramel note from the light brown sugar.
  • Flavored nicely with vanilla and a hint of salt and cinnamon to balance the sweetness and enhance chocolate flavor.
  • Chocolate flavor shines through, because the taste of sugar does not overpower it.

I hope you love this single serve chocolate chip cookie recipe as much as I do!

Single chocolate chip cookie cut in half on a beige plate with glass of milk in the background.

If you made this single serve chocolate chip cookie recipe, I would love it if you gave me a star rating ❤️ It would mean a lot to me 🥰

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Single chocolate chip cookie with dark chocolate chunks on a beige plate.

Single Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Marissa
Delicious French café-style single chocolate chip cookie with perfectly chewy centers and crisp edges. Bake in the oven, air fryer, or microwave. Includes egg and no-egg options (aquafaba, milk, or ground flaxseed) for a moist, flavorful cookie. Quick and easy with just a small bowl and a spoon, no chilling required.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 3 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine International
Servings 1 Person
Calories 439 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 small bowl
  • 1 Kitchen Scale Or measuring spoons
  • 1 Spoon

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/4 tbsp melted butter or 3 and 3/4 tsp or 18 grams
  • 1 tbsp light brown sugar 12 grams
  • 1 tsp granulated sugar 4 grams
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 egg yolk 1 1/2 tsp or 8 grams. Or 1 – 1 1/2 tsp whole milk or plant-based milk, 1 1/2 tsp aquafaba or 1 tsp flaxseed meal pre-mixed with 1 tbsp water.
  • 3 Tbsp flour 24 grams
  • pinch baking soda
  • pinch salt
  • pinch cinnamon
  • 24 grams chocolate chips about 2 1/2 to 3 tbsp chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Melt and Cool the Butter. Melt the butter in the same bowl you’ll be mixing in. Way less washing. Microwave or stove top, your choice. But let it cool fully. Touch the bowl. Still warm? Wait. Or put your bowl over a bowl of cold water and it will cool in a couple of minutes while you get the rest of your ingredients.
  • Add brown and white sugars.
  • Mix the sugars with the melted butter, making sure you get rid of any large sugar clumps. Use a fork if you need to. It does not have to be perfect.
  • Stir in egg yolk (or substitute) and vanilla.
  • Mix the egg and vanilla in gently.
  • Add dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips or chunks and optional cinnamon (your dry ingredients).
  • Don’t overmix—stop when you still see a few flour streaks. This is important!
  • Shape into a ball, squish a little. Air fryer or microwave? Flatten a touch more.

Oven method

  • Preheat 350°F (175 °C).
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put your cookie dough on it.
  • Bake 13 to 16 minutes. Edges should be golden brown, center slightly underdone. That’s the sweet spot.
  • Let the cookie cool for 5 minutes before you move it. The cookie will continue baking on the sheet and will hold its shape better. If you try to hold it right away, it can sort of crack or fall into a few pieces and it’s too hot to eat straight away anyway…

Air fryer method

  • Preheat 320°F (160 °C). Flatten the dough ball slightly more than you would for the oven.
  • Line with parchment paper if your air fryer allows it. Mine doesn’t, so I either put it on a silicone air fryer mat or just put it directly in the air fryer basket, which works fine.
  • Bake 5-6 minutes, gently check the bottom, add 2 minutes if needed. The cookie will look more done on the outside than the oven baked cookie, but the underside will be less cooked. So lift it up to make sure that underside is not still raw. Keep checking after one-minute intervals.
  • Let the single chocolate chip cookie sit on the hot plate of the air fryer for a few minutes. It will continue baking the underside and will set, so it does not fall apart when you pick it up.

Microwave method

  • Use the no-egg version with milk. Trust me on this one.
  • Add an extra 1/4 tsp vanilla to make up for the lack of egg flavor
  • Flatten your cookie dough ball more than you would for the oven
  • Put it on a microwave-safe plate lined with parchment paper
  • Microwave for 45-60 seconds (start with 45) and potentially up to 1 minute 15 seconds depending on your microwave.
  • Let the cookie cool for 5 minutes before you move it. It will be quite floppy when you take it out of the microwave, but it will firm up in a few minutes as it cools a bit.
  • Tip: It is very easy to overbake this cookie in the microwave. The first time you make this in the microwave, you need to keep a really close eye on it.
  • The edges should look set, but the center can still look pale

Notes

How to replace the egg

 
1. Aquafaba – Perfect texture, neutral flavor, easy, best for oven and air fryer. Use 1 1/2 tsp aquafaba in the place of 1/2 egg yolk. Just use it straight from your chickpea can! 
2. Whole milk or plant-based milk – Thinner cookie, neutral flavor, easy, best for microwave. Use 1 – 1 1/2 tsp whole milk instead of 1/2 egg yolk.
3. Ground flaxseed meal (aka linseed meal). Decent texture, nutty/peppery flavor. Use 1.5 teaspoons ground flaxseed meal + 1.25 tablespoons water (roughly 4 tsp water) to replace 1/2 egg yolk.
Instructions for using flaxseed meal:
  1. Mix the flaxseed meal and water together in a small bowl
  2. Let it sit for a few minutes until it becomes gel-like
  3. Add to your cookie dough as you would the egg yolk
 
Reminder from my testing: The flax egg works, but it does add that slightly nutty, almost peppery flavor that I found competed with the chocolate.

 

 
Baking in the oven: The most common problem is overbaking. And this is because people tend to take out the cookie when it looks done, not realizing that the cookie will continue to bake on the cookie sheet after you take it out of the oven.
So you need to take it out when it looks almost done. If you think to yourself, “Oh, this just needs another minute”, then it’s probably already done. And if in doubt, take it out. You can always put it back in. But you can’t un-bake an overbaked cookie! Here are some things to look out for:
  • The edges should be golden brown, but the center will look slightly puffy and pale.
  • Touch test: Gently press the edge. It should feel set, but the center can be a bit soft.
 
Baking in the air fryer: The most common problem is underbaking the underside. This is because the dough will not spread as much in the air fryer and the cookie may be a bit thicker. Combine that with the air fryer heat that gives it a good strong blast on the top and you get a cookie where the top may look done, but the underside may still be raw. So gently lift the cookie and check. When the underside looks like the dough is almost done and definitely no longer raw, then your cookie is done.
 
Baking in the microwave: The cookie is done when it is”set”. It will be firm (not hard) when you gently press it with your finger. And it will look paler than your regular oven or air fryer baked cookie, because it cooks the whole thing at once, rather than having the heat bake it from the outside in. So, once it is set, it is done.
If you continue baking it it will bake from the inside out and the inside will be brown and the outside still pale. Actually still quite yummy if it is only slightly overbaked, and crunchy, but the chewy single chocolate chip cookie we are aiming for.
 

How to make a brown butter single chocolate chip cookie:

This is very easy to do. Just melt your butter in a pot on your stovetop and wait until it foams. As soon as you see little light brown flecks forming, take it off the heat and immediately transfer it to a heat proof bowl so it stops cooking. Then measure out the required melted butter for the recipe and you are good to go!
 
 
Dough storage: Fridge 3 days, freezer 3 months. Slightly squish before freezing.
Baked cookies: Room temp 2 to 3 days, fridge 1 week, freezer 2 months. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1personCalories: 439kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 5gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 136mgSodium: 123mgPotassium: 192mgFiber: 3gSugar: 25gVitamin A: 579IUCalcium: 44mgIron: 3mg
Keyword Chocolate chips, Quick and easy
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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