Vanilla Pudding Cookies

Since this is the first official recipe I am posting here I'd like to warn you that I am NOT a good photographer and my kitchen has the worst lighting!  Because I believe we eat with our eyes, I want to try to add as many pictures of the recipe as I can but please don't pay attention to (or judge me) on my bad photo skills :). 

These cookies seem to be all the rage in blog-land (I can't even remember where I got this recipe) so I decided to give them a try.  We are BIG chocolate chip cookie fans in my house and this is by far my new favorite recipe for this all-time favorite.   I am not against convenience foods but taking the time to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch is definitely worth it.  They just taste so much better than pre-made cookie dough in my opinion.

I have actually made these cookies three times since copying down the recipe a few weeks ago.  The first two times I made them as the recipe states and used vanilla pudding mix.  When I made them for this post I decided to try it using chocolate pudding.  Whichever flavor you use they will be YUMMY!  The pudding mix seems a little odd but you can't taste it in the cookies and it makes the cookies so incredibly soft! 

                               The Stars of the Show...a.k.a. the ingredients

You will need flour, baking soda, salt, butter, brown sugar, white sugar, instant pudding mix (this picture shows vanilla and chocolate but you use one or the other, not both), eggs, vanilla and chocolate chips.

The first thing you need to do is combine your dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Here you can see my cute little helper, Muffin Man helping me.  It's kind of ironic (or maybe not) that both my kids' nicknames are foods.

Next you cream together your softened (or squishy as Muffin Man calls it) butter with the sugars, add the pudding mix, eggs and vanilla.  I usually scrape the bowl a few times during this process to make sure it's all incorporated.  Once it's all creamed you add your flour mixture and once that is all combined you stir in your chocolate chips.

        I found these jumbo chocolate chips at the store and love using them in chocolate chip cookies!

                               

Once the chips are stirred in you are going to place them onto a cookie sheet.  I like to use a scoop for this because it makes them all the same size.  Uniformity makes me happy.  But it also ensures the cookies all bake at the same rate.

Here is what they look like when they are done.  I always like to slightly under-cook my cookies because we like them soft.  All ovens are different but in my oven these cookies take 10 minutes.  After I take them out of the oven I leave them on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before I remove them to a cooling rack.  Little brown gobs of chocolaty deliciousness!

These are the chocolate version.  I think I'll be enjoying one or two (or four or five) of these babies with some iced coffee after dinner tonight!

Vanilla Pudding Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3.4 oz pkg vanilla instant pudding mix
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Scrape down the bowl and beat in the pudding mix.  Scrape the bowl again and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.  Add vanilla.  Add half of the dry ingredients and mix just to combine.  Scrape down the bowl and add the rest of the dry ingredients.  Mix until fully incorporated.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Using a tablespoon size scoop, place 2 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake 10-12 minutes, until slightly golden and set.  Let cookies cool on sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.