The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies (With Vanilla Pudding!)

Chocolate chip cookies with vanilla pudding are soft and gooey, with just the right amount of chewiness. This recipe is only for those who love chocolate chip cookies that melt in your mouth!

 

Why We Love Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

• Soft And Chewy – The extra added pudding makes the inside into super soft cookies. This recipe makes chewy cookies on the outside, but the inside just melts when you take a bite. It is a little less chewy than classic chocolate chip cookies, but it is the perfect cookie if you like a soft cookie recipe that still has a little crispness golden brown on the outside.
• A Hit With Family And Friends – These cookies always disappear fast when I share them with family and friends. This is a well-loved recipe that has become one of our favorite cookie recipes at our house.

Ingredients For Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

• unsalted butter softened
• brown sugar
• white sugar
• eggs
• vanilla extract
• vanilla instant pudding mix must be instant
• flour
• baking soda
• salt
• chocolate chips –  I used semi-sweet chocolate chips but you can use dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips or white chocolate chips. You could also make chocolate chunk cookies.

How To Make Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer.

2. Add the eggs, extra egg yolk, vanilla extract and mix until combined. Pour in the instant pudding and mix until fully mixed in.

3. In a separate bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix to combine. Add this dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix with an electric mixer until a cookie dough forms.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips and mix into the dough. Chill the dough for 30 minutes. Don’t skip the chill time, it gives you thicker cookies.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
6. With a medium cookie scoop. portion the dough into two tablespoon dough balls. Leave two inches between cookies when placing on the prepared cookie sheet. Top each cookie dough ball with several extra chocolate chips for best results for a prettier finished cookie.

7. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until they set at the edges are lightly browned. You don’t want to overcook these, it’s better to underbake in the middle slightly for a gooier cookie.
8. Let the cookies cool for 2-3 minutes on the pan, then transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely. Enjoy!

What Does The Pudding Do In This Recipe?

The Instant pudding gives these cookies an extra soft bite that just melts in your mouth! The instant pudding adds some moisture to the cookies, as well as adding flavor.

If you don’t have instant pudding on hand, try the maraschino cherry cookies which taste like chocolate covered cherries, but don’t use pudding. Or my chewy chocolate chip cookie sticks or M&M cookie bars will also give you that great chocolate chip cookie flavor. If you’re feeling a more over the top treat, try the Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies, the gooey toffee chocolate chip cookies or the fudgy flourless chocolate cookies.

Can I Swap In Cook And Serve Pudding For The Instant Pudding?

No you can now swap in a cook and serve pudding in this recipe. The instant pudding thickens on it’s own much easier, to thicken the cook and serve pudding you have to cook it on top of the stove.

The cook and serve pudding just won’t work well in this recipe as it is.

How Long Will Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies Last?

Expect these cookies will last 4-5 days when stored in a covered airtight container on the counter.

Honestly, we usually have the cookies all eaten long before five days.

Do These Cookies Freeze?

You can freeze the cookie dough or the cookies after baking. I like to portion the cookie dough into cookie dough balls and then store in a freezer bag.

You can bake the dough straight from frozen. It often takes an extra few minutes to bake, so watch them carefully.

How Do I Keep Leftover Cookies Soft?

If you place a slice of fresh white bread in the same container as the cookies it can help keep the cookies soft. The moisture in the bread will help keep inside the container with just enough moisture to keep the cookies softer.

If you use other flavors of bread it can sometimes make the cookies taste like the bread. This especially happens with a bread like rye which has a really distinct flavor!