Why It Works
- Mixing the dough by hand in a bowl is quicker and simpler than utilizing a stand mixer. Utilizing brown sugar within the dough creates a deep caramelized taste and chewy texture.
- Briefly resting the dough lets the flour hydrate and the batter thicken for simpler cookie shaping.
Whereas I like making cookies for my family and friends, typically I simply need contemporary out of the oven, thick, gooey, heat chocolate chip cookies only for me and nobody else. However typically I don’t have the persistence or purpose to whip up a whole batch of cookies. However two cookies? Two is ideal. Two cookies is usually all I would like and wish.
This recipe is for these “two cookie” moments in life. It produces two chewy, heat chocolate chip cookies that require no particular tools (simply a few mixing bowls), and it takes simply 20 minutes to make from begin to end.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
Whereas Critical Eats already has a number of amazing full-batch recipes for chocolate chip cookies, drastically cutting down a cookie recipe typically requires head-scratching measurements like half an egg or wonky fractions that result in subpar outcomes. So right here I’ve executed the heavy lifting and all of the calculations and tinkering for you.
My recipe beneath is easy and simple with no surprising elements or laborious strategies required. You merely whisk all of the dry elements and moist elements individually, stir collectively, add the chocolate chips, form, and bake in your oven, toaster oven, or air fryer—whichever is most handy for you. It could be the laziest cookie recipe on the market, but it surely produces extremely scrumptious chocolate chip cookies that you simply gained’t must share with anybody. Learn on for just a few primary suggestions and to get the complete recipe.
Suggestions for Making the Cookie Dough
Preserve the ingredient record easy with only one kind of sugar. To assist streamline the baking course of, I attempted to maintain the ingredient record so simple as attainable when creating and testing this recipe. As an alternative of utilizing a mix of each granulated and brown sugar within the dough (which is normal for a lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes), these cookies rely solely on brown sugar for caramelized taste and chewy tender texture.
Skip the baking powder. As former Critical Eats culinary director Kenji factors out in his deep dive into chocolate chip cookies, baking powder typically produces cakier cookies that rise increased throughout baking, producing smoother, shinier tops, whereas utilizing baking soda relatively than powder yields cookies which might be craggier and denser in texture. Cakey cookies will not be for me, so I lower baking powder from the ingredient record and relied on simply baking soda because the leavener in these cookies. Plus the brown sugar within the batter offers loads of acid for the baking soda to react with, making certain the cookies have a dense chewy texture with golden crisp edges. A shorter ingredient record and a cookie with a texture I favor—it is a win-win.
Add an egg yolk. The trickiest ingredient to scale down for this small-batch recipe was the egg. Eggs have an effect on each form and texture in cookies. Yolks add richness with their fats and assist emulsify the dough, whereas the egg white provides moisture and proteins that carry the dough and provides it construction. I discovered that including one complete egg to the small quantity of batter made the dough too moist and too difficult to form, and as soon as the cookies had been baked, they had been too fluffy and cake-like from the proteins within the egg white. The answer was to simply use one egg yolk. With out the surplus moisture from the egg white, the dough has simply the proper pliable texture and the cookies are completely chewy as soon as baked.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
Whisk by hand. I knew I needed to keep away from getting out my stand mixer (and even handheld beaters) for this recipe, so I skipped the normal butter creaming step of most chocolate chip cookie recipes, and I used melted butter within the dough as a substitute. The melted butter is whisked with the sugar and egg yolk till the sugar is absolutely dissolved to make sure a clean texture. Whereas creaming butter and sugar traps air bubbles within the batter, which helps the batter rise into lighter, fluffier baked items, I really needed these cookies to have a chewier, fudgier texture. I didn’t miss the butter creaming step in any respect, and I discovered I used to be simply capable of simply whisk the small batch of dough collectively by hand. Simply be sure the melted butter is cooled barely earlier than whisking within the egg yolk to make sure the egg doesn’t curdle.
Let the dough sit within the fridge for a couple of minutes earlier than baking. In his cookie recipe, Kenji makes a very good argument for letting your chocolate chip cookie dough relaxation for an prolonged time (just a few hours to a full day) to enhance the cookies’ taste. Throughout an prolonged relaxation the flour and starch proteins break down, which produces extra browning and taste improvement throughout baking. If you’re making a full batch of cookies and you’ve got the time, it truly is value it to let your dough relaxation for this lengthy. However I needed my two cookies rapidly, so I opted to skip this lengthy relaxation. I nonetheless embrace a quick 5 to 10 minute relaxation—whereas this is not sufficient time for the flavors to deepen, the quick relaxation provides the flour within the dough time to soak up moisture from the batter, which thickens the dough barely, making it simpler to portion and form. When the dough is first blended collectively, it has a looser, paste-like texture, however after just some minutes of resting, it thickens right into a pliable cookie dough that’s simpler to clean into spherical balls. So don’t skip this transient relaxation.
3 Methods to Bake the Cookies
My favourite half about this recipe is that I don’t even must activate my oven to bake the cookies. I’ve written the recipe to work within the toaster oven (my most well-liked device for small-batch baking) in addition to in a daily oven. The good thing about utilizing the toaster oven right here is apparent: It preheats a lot quicker than your normal oven, saving you time and reducing down on vitality use. The tactic and timing for the toaster oven and the common oven are related, so these directions are mixed within the recipe beneath.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
I’ve additionally included instructions for baking the cookies within the air fryer. In the event you’re baking within the air fryer, it’s vital to chop parchment paper into a skinny strip and to position the cookies in direction of the outer fringe of the lower parchment within the air fryer basket to forestall the convection fan from inflicting the parchment to flap round.
Whether or not you’re baking these cookies in a toaster oven, typical oven, or air fryer, be sure to allow them to cool briefly earlier than sinking your enamel into one. This ensures they gained’t crumble.
Excellent Crispy and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies for 1 in 20 Minutes
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1/4 cup all-purpose flour (1.125 ounces; 32g)
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1/8 teaspoon baking soda
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1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
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2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled barely
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3 tablespoons (44g) packed brown sugar
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1 giant egg yolk
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1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
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2 tablespoons milk or darkish chocolate chips or chopped chunks
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In a small bowl, utilizing a small whisk or fork, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt collectively. In a medium bowl, whisk butter and sugar vigorously till sugar is absolutely dissolved, about 1 minute. Vigorously whisk egg and vanilla into butter combination till absolutely mixed and combination is shiny, about 1 minute. Utilizing a rubber spatula or spoon, stir flour combination into butter combination till simply mixed, then stir in chocolate chips. Cowl and refrigerate for five to 10 minutes, till batter is barely thickened. Utilizing moist palms, divide dough into 2 equal parts and roll into balls.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
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To Bake in a Toaster Oven or Normal Oven: Whereas dough rests, modify toaster oven or oven rack to center place and warmth oven to 325℉ (160℃). Line a small rimmed baking sheet (quarter sheet pan) with parchment paper. Place dough balls on ready sheet, spaced about 2 inches aside. Bake till edges of cookies are set and starting to brown however facilities are nonetheless tender and puffy, 8 to 12 minutes. Let cool on sheet pan for 10 minutes. Serve.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
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To Bake in an Air Fryer: Preheat air fryer at 325℉ (160℃) for 3 minutes. Minimize an 8-inch by 4-inch parchment rectangle and middle it within the preheated air-fryer basket. Set dough balls on the parchment paper, spaced aside near the perimeter of parchment paper (this ensures the parchment gained’t flap over the cookie edges whereas baking). Bake at 325℉ (160℃) till edges of cookies are set and starting to brown however facilities are nonetheless tender and puffy, 6 to 10 minutes. Let cool on parchment for 10 minutes. Serve.
Particular Tools
Small rimmed baking sheet, parchment paper
Make-Forward and Storage
Cookies will be saved in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as 7 days.
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