This recipe started a giant cookie trend I’m now known for! It produces a single giant chocolate chip cookie, about 9-10″ in diameter that comes together quickly, with just a bowl and a spoon. It has buttery-crisp edges and a soft gooey center. Giant cookies are fun to make at home and also perfect for sharing. I like to keep blank pizza boxes on hand for gifting. There’s something about cracking open the lid to discover a huge cookie that never fails to make people smile! Below you’ll find not only the recipe, but a template to help size your cookie and some helpful links.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Egg yolk – We’re just using the yolk here, for two reasons: 1. Egg yolks help the resulting cookie to achieve a delicious, chewy texture. 2. It’s about half an egg. If you are making a double batch for two cookies and don’t want to be wasteful, you can simply use one whole egg.
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Chocolate chips – Use your favorite. Personally I prefer semi-sweet or dark.
- Mix-ins- Optional, but extra fun! Colored sprinkles, nuts, M&Ms, etc.
How to Make a Big Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie!
- When making a single big giant cookie, you just need a mixing bowl and either a spoon or a hand mixer. Just mix up your standard ingredients: butter, sugar, brown sugar, an egg yolk, vanilla, salt, baking soda and flour. Add in some chocolate chips and you’re good to go.
- When you make your cookie dough ball, you’ll want to press the dough down to flatten it a bit. You can experiment with pressing your dough down rather flat for a larger, thinner cookie, or leaving it piled high for a cookie that’s very doughy and tall in the center.
- Bake and cool cookie. Having an extra large pancake flipper is super helpful for transferring!
Storing and Other Tips
- These cookies usually get eaten right away at our house, but if you happen to have leftovers, simply store in an airtight container at room temperature. Homemade cookies are safe to eat for a week or more when stored this way, but they will definitely have the best taste and texture the first couple days.
- This cookie is also the perfect size for a pizookie for sharing. Just press dough into a standard pie plate and bake as directed. Place a few scoops of vanilla ice cream on it while it’s still warm and dig in.
- Because we are working with such small ingredients it’s important that you measure them correctly. It’s very easy to alter your dough for any of these giant cookies simply by not measuring your flour correctly, packing your brown sugar too much, or using a small egg. We’ve included details in the recipe to help with this!
Gifting Giant Cookies
- Giant cookies make a great gift for neighbors, teachers, and friends! 10-inch pizza boxes lined with parchment paper* hold one cookie perfectly and are adorable for gifting. *Make sure to line your box and use parchment or waxed paper and not tissue paper. Otherwise the box will absorb some butter and look greasy.
- If you are making several large cookies, I recommend setting out several bowls, one for each batch, and measure ingredients into each one by one. This will help prevent confusion when measuring ingredients and ensure that each dough ball is the correct size for one cookie. Alternately, you can use a food scale to accurately divide your dough into individual cookies.
- If you’d like to, use one bowl for every two cookies, so you can use one whole egg (instead of two yolks) and then just split the dough evenly into two pieces before baking. Again, a food scale is helpful!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use the provided template to spread to the right size, but this chocolate chip version doesn’t need to be perfect. It does need to be shaped roughly into a cookie shape, but you can play around with a thicker dough for a doughier, softer cookies, or spread it out thinner for crispy edges.
Anything you would add to normal chocolate chip cookies can be added here. We love adding sprinkles or nuts. You could also switch up what kind of chips you add to make something totally different, like white chips and macadamia nuts, or white chips and craisins. There are a lot of giant cookie combos already on the site. Use the search function for “Giant Cookie” and they will all pop up!
Absolutely. If you just want a few cookies, this recipe is perfect. Split the dough into 4-6 pieces before baking. Baking times will be quicker this way, so I’d take a look after about 8 minutes and pull them out as soon the edges are golden and the center looks puffed and set. If you are wanting to make a full batch, this giant cookie recipe is just a scaled down version of this recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Big Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter (42g) melted
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (25g)
- ¼ cup lightly packed brown sugar (53g)
- 1 egg yolk (just the yolk, use one whole egg for a double batch)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour (73g)
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a cookie sheet with parchment. If using my sizing and shaping template place it under the parchment paper.
- Mix butter and sugars until smooth. Add egg yolk and vanilla. Sprinkle flour, baking soda, and salt on top and then mix together. Add chocolate chips* and/or any other mix-ins. Tip: for a really nice looking cookie, save a few chocolate chips and press on top after cookie is shaped and ready to bake.
- Form dough into one large ball and place on prepared baking sheet. Gently press down to about ½ – ¾" thick. Bake until edges are set and center looks cooked, but still soft. You'll want to keep an eye on it since baking time can vary depending on how much you press your dough down. Mine usually take about 15 minutes.
- If you want a nicely shaped cookie, have a metal spatula ready and the moment the pan comes out of the oven, take your spatula an gently bump the edges of the cookie in to form a perfect circle. Use my template as a guide if needed.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before digging in (or don't. You're the boss here.) Enjoy!
Notes
- If you are wanting to make a full batch, this giant cookie recipe is just a scaled down version of this recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
- You may also bake the dough in a standard pie plate. Scoop ice cream on the warm cookie and dig in.
- 10-inch blank pizza boxes lined with parchment paper hold one cookie perfectly and are adorable for gifting.
- If you are making several large cookies, I recommend setting out several bowls, one for each batch, and measure ingredients into each one by one. This will help prevent confusion when measuring ingredients and ensure that each dough ball is the correct size for one cookie. A cute printable label, handwritten note, or ribbon with a bow is all you need to dress it up.
- If you’d like to, use one bowl for every two cookies, so you can use one whole egg (instead of two yolks) and then just split the dough evenly into two pieces before baking.
- Because we are working with such small ingredients it’s important that you measure them correctly. It’s very easy to alter your dough for any of these giant cookies simply by not measuring your flour correctly, packing your brown sugar too much, or using a small egg. We’ve included details in the recipe to help with this!
Questions & Reviews
the best made
I cannot wait to make this for my end of year teacher gifts! What size pizza box do you recommend if I match it with your “One Smart Cookie” printable?
I like 10″ boxes, like this!
This is DELICIOUS! Just made this tonight and devoured it with my cute little family of four. It’s the perfect size for a family dessert. And you don’t have a whole pan of sweets lying around to munch on. Seriously, the perfect size. Love it so much! Thanks Sara!
does this freeze ok and thaw well?
Yes, freezes beautifully!
Home on a rainy day and my son and I had a great time making his own personal cookie. He was like….what, we are making a giant cookie?? We also made one for my nephews birthday tomorrow. why not! Thanks for the recipe!
We have made this several times and it is always delicious! Question for you, though: my dough is so crumbly every time. Sometimes I need to add abt a Tbs of water just to make a ball. Any ideas what is going on? Or what I could do to prevent the dryness?
I shouldn’t be dry at all, are you at extra high elevation? Make sure to use a large or extra large egg!
I’m in Boise, so same elevation as you… and I have had the same issue multiple times with it being super dry. I followed the recipe exactly. Would including the egg white help? Any other suggestions? I want to love this recipe 🙂
Hi Cassie! Some tips: 1. Make sure you are using a large or extra large egg. 2. All ovens are different, to avoid overbaking you might need to lower your baking time. 3. I just added some weight measurements- try weighing the dry ingredients to make sure you aren’t accidentally adding too much flour, etc. I hope these help- I want you to love it, too!
This was SOOO good! I have been doing a lot of baking with my 3 year old and this was much easier than scooping out several cookies (while he loses interest!) I made it in a 9 inch pie pan. A new family favorite for sure!!! Thanks for a great recipe!
I would like to double this recipe to make two big cookies (one for us, one to give away). Can I just use one whole egg instead of two yolks?
Yes, you can. The yolk specifically gives this cookie a chewy texture so your finished product might be slightly different but shouldn’t be a big deal.
Thanks so much for this perfect, ONE giant-sized cookie recipe. It was perfect texture, and such a fun presentation! I loved that we didn’t need to make a whole batch to make the kids happy.
When making treats like these, a trick I use is using half an egg. I have figured that to 1 1/2 Tbsps.
I crack the egg into a small container, put the lid on and shake it up-scrambling the egg. I then just use 1 1/2 Tbsps on the mixture in my baking and saving the other half in the fridge for later use.
You can definitely use that trick, but in this recipe specifically, we like to use the egg yolk for the chewy texture it lends to the finished cookie!
How do you adapt these recipes for Utah’s high altitude?
I’m not a high-altitude baker so I’m not sure. But if you have tricks you usually use for cookie recipes, they could definitely be applied here!
Hey Margaret, I live at 6000 ft in CO and I’ve never had to adjust for any cookies on OBB. Hope that helps. This make one GIGANTIC cookie! 🙂
This cookie was a hit with the enitre family…..which is a big accomplishment. I baked in a leftover pie tin and topped with ice cream. The edges were crispy and the center was soft. Perfect!
So smart!
It was gone within 5 minutes! So good and so easy!
I made this tonight for a date night with my husband and we loved it!! I would definitely recommend it with a little vanilla ice cream. So good!! Thank you! I will for sure keep this recipe very easily accessible.
I made this for me and hubby last night during a late night TV binge watching session. We needed something sweet so bad! This was quick, easy and oh so delicious! I used some leftover cinnamon chips and it was the perfect, “as big as your head” cookie. I think it would great done in an 8 or 9 inch cast iron skillet also. Thanks for posting this… I have a feeling I’ll be making it on the regular.
Ooh! Tomorrow’s my 50th birthday, and I’d *love* to celebrate it with a big, delicious, chocolate chocolate chip cookie! How much cocoa powder do you reckon would be good to add into this recipe?
oooh HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I have one in a couple weeks- enjoy this unique one at home! If you want to do a chocolate version, decrease the flour by 1 T and then add 2 tablespoon cocoa powder. I have a recipe coming for a double chocolate version next week!
My little girl would love this! I’m also trying to switch to a healthier lifestyle and started to mine for healthy recipes like yours.Your blog posts are super inspiring for me in this phase, thanks!
How did you know just what I would need today!