Famous Amos Style Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
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These Famous Amos Style Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies are perfectly crunchy, crisp, and chocolatey with caramelized flavor. They are so addictive, you can’t stop with just one cookie!
Many people love Famos Amos cookies and so do I. They were one of my favorite cookies when I was a child. I was so happy that I finally found this Famous Amos Style Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe. They are simply a childhood dream come true.
Tell Me More About These Cookies
For those who are unfamiliar with these cookies, they are:
- Mini bite-size cookies
- Super crunchy and crisp all throughout
- Have caramelized flavor
Be warned, though, that they are so addictive! It is easy to pop one after the other into your mouth until you have lost track of how many you have eaten.
Secret Ingredient
These Famous Amos Style Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies have a slightly special ingredient, which is malted milk powder. Malted milk powder is a powder made from a mixture of malted barley, wheat flour, and evaporated milk.
It is a light yellow powder in color with a mellow, nutty sweetness flavor. Adding malted milk powder to baked goods imparts a toasty caramelized and nutty flavor. It gives an extra umami flavor!s
At the supermarket, you can find malted milk powder sold in the same section as powdered milk. You can use Horlicks, Nestle Carnation, or Ovaltine brands for this recipe.
What to do if you can’t find malted milk powder in your area? Try to find it online as it is really needed to recreate the Famous Amos cookies flavor. But if you can’t find any, you can substitute it with regular full-fat milk powder.
Why Do You Need to Chill the Cookie Dough?
I totally get it, why bother to take the time and patience to chill your cookie dough? Does chilling cookie dough really make any difference? The short answer is yes, chilling the cookie dough prior to baking does make a difference.
I have made this recipe multiple times. I baked some of the cookie dough on the same day of making it and I put the rest of the dough in the fridge and continued to bake cookies after 24, 48, 72 hours of chilling. Sadly, the ones I baked on the same day turned flat and lacked flavor. The longer the dough sat in the fridge, the texture of the cookies improved and the flavor got deeper and more caramelized with every batch.
So, what does chilling cookie dough do?
- Control spread. Chilling the cookie dough before baking solidifies the fat in the cookies. As the cookies bake, the fat in the chilled cookie dough takes longer to melt than room-temperature fat. And the longer the fat remains solid, the less cookies spread.
- Concentrate flavor. As the dough chills, it gradually dries out, concentrating the flavors of all the ingredients. Something else also happens as the dough rests. Part of the flour breaks down into its component parts, including a simple carbohydrate, sugar. Thus, since sugar is a flavor enhancer, the cookies may taste more flavorful and sweeter after aging.
- Change texture. The dough gradually dries out during chilling. The drier it is, the more concentrated the sugar. It makes a crisper/chewier texture during baking.
What If You Really Can’t Wait to Enjoy the Cookies?
Totally understandable! You can simply bake off a few cookies after making and shaping the dough, then send the rest to chill in the fridge. You can even save a few of the ones you baked immediately to compare the results of the chilled ones!
How to Chill the Cookie Dough?
You can do so by chilling the entire mass of the dough, or portioned cookie dough balls. If chilling the entire mass of dough, place it in an airtight container. After the chill period, allow the dough to sit at room temperature until it is malleable enough to scoop.
The easier method is to shep the dough right after you make it, then place the dough balls in a single layer in an airtight container or cover tightly with plastic wrap. This way, you can bake the cookie dough balls directly from the fridge.
Can You Freeze the Cookie Dough?
If you want to freeze the cookie dough, simply do it after the 24-72 hours chilling period. Do not skip the chilling period. Once you put the dough in the freezer, the moisture in the dough will freeze. If you freeze right away and skip chilling your dough, you won’t get the same benefits.
This Recipe Makes a Lot of Cookies
These cookies are so tiny that they make hundreds of cookies. I like to make a full batch and keep some portioned, unbaked cookie dough in the freezer for those times you need a little something sweet to share to enjoy yourself.
You will want to use mini chocolate chips here for the full mini effect. Regular chocolate chips would overwhelm these little cookies. If you only have regular chocolate chips or even chocolate discs or bars, try chopping them into smaller pieces to simulate the size of mini chips.
Portion these cookies into third-quarter teaspoon balls. I use a teaspoon scoop to portion the dough for these cookies. I always recommend using the measuring spoon to get consistent sizing to help make sure that they all bake evenly.
More Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Black Sesame Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mini Crunchy Hojicha Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Eggless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Alton Brown’s The Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup (150 gr) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150 gr) light brown sugar
- 6 tbsp (75 gr) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tbsp (10 gr) malted milk powder
- 2 1/4 cups (270 gr) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup (180 gr) mini chocolate chips, more to decorate
Instructions
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy. Scrape the side with a spatula.
- Add egg, vanilla extract, and malted milk powder. Beat until well combined.
- Sift in all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat on the lowest speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips with a spatula.
- Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Scoop 3/4 tsp of dough and roll into a ball, making sure the shape is taller rather than wide, almost like a cylinder. This helps the cookies bake up thicker. Place in an airtight container.
- Gently press some mini chocolate chips on top to decorate. This step is optional.
- Chill the cookie dough for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. The longer the dough is refrigerated, the better the flavor and texture are.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 320F/160°C. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.
- Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheets. Arrange at least 1 1/2 inch apart because the cookies will spread during baking.
- Bake until golden brown for 12-15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the pan for 5 minutes to let them set.
- Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Cookies crisp up as they cool.
Just made these cookies for the first time, and they’re wonderfully crunchy were so delicious! Your recipe is a keeper, thanks for sharing❤️
Thank you so much ❤
Just baked the cookies just now. They are so good! Crunchy and chocolatey!
Thanks for the review! Enjoy the cookies 🍪
Hello,
Are there any substitute options if I can’t find malted milk powder? Would regular powdered milk be ok?
Hi, malted milk powder is the key to get the taste of Famous Amos cookies. It really makes a lot of difference. If you can’t find malted milk powder, it is okay to substitute it with regular powdered milk but let me remind you that the cookies will not taste the same.
I just made these cookies and they are phenomenal! I couldn’t find malted milk powder so I just used regular powdered milk and I didn’t have mini chocolate chips so I just chopped up a chocolate bar into tiny bits (I live in a place where baking at home isn’t common so some supplies are hard to find). They turned out amazing, just the right amount of crunch. Thanks for a great recipe, I’ll be making these on a regular basis.
Is the oven setting on fan forced or just normal bake? Thank you!
Hi Lil,
The oven setting in all my recipes are normal bake.
Thank you!
Hi, if I’d like to yield double of this size, just got to multiply all ingredients by 2 including baking powder and baking soda as well?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Josephine,
The recipe makes about 180-200 small cookies. If you want to double the amount (360-400 cookies approx.), yes you need to multiply all the ingredients by two including the baking powder and baking soda.
hi, if i’d like to multiple the all the ingredients by 2, do I need to multiple the time and speed when beat the butter and sugar?
Hi Dita, use high speed and beat until when you see the butter and sugar are pale and fluffy.
If I want to add in almond/macadamia nuts & marshmallow, can it be done using your recipe? If can, how many cup/gram should I use? Thank you in advance.
Hi Rohayah,
You can substitute some or all of the chocolate chips with other add-ins of your choice. The add-ins should be 1 cup in total (the same chocolate chip volume measurement in the recipe).
These cookies are quite small, about 3/4 tsp of dough each. If using nuts, you should roughly chop them first before adding them to the dough. I am not sure about adding marshmallows to these cookies, mainly because of the size of the cookies.