Attempt #277

Before I give the impression that I'm baking one batch of chocolate chip cookies after another, night after night, I'll settle the score that it's not quite that often. I've got a bit of a backlog of posts. I actually made these last weekend to bring to my Bible Study...naturally, I came home with a ton of them (a group of girls, no matter how many, never seem to eat that much food!).

I somehow strained my knee (maybe from all this strenuous baking?!?!?), so I haven't been able to run or do the elliptical as much this week, so the leftovers promptly went into the freezer so that I would resist the urge to help myself.

So, the "unique" thing about this recipe is that you throw in some instant vanilla pudding. Supposedly, that helps keep them soft (although, I find the piece of bread in the tupperware with the cookies - as long as you separate it from the cookies with a piece of parchment paper - works very well). These were good. They definitely had more of the "look" I wanted.

I'm definitely not counting these cookies out - they were very good and much better than the chocolate chip cookies I've made before. But a few of you sent some great suggestions and recipes and I want to see if we can beat this one. I will try every one of them. Thank you for your feedback!

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

allrecipes.com

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

My notes: I did not include nuts and I actually halved this recipe since this was my first try. I also used chocolate chunks instead of chips, as well as 3 oz of dry sugar free instant vanilla pudding (that's what I had on hand). If/When I make these again, I'll use the regular vanilla instant pudding to see if I can tell any difference.