These pudding cookies are hands down the best chocolate chip cookies we’ve ever had! THIS. IS. IT! My version of the perfect chocolate chip cookie includes soft insides with chewy yet crispy edges. This recipe checks every box!
The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies From Scratch
My love affair with these chocolate chip pudding cookies was fast and sweet. We met. Fell in love. And our relationship has been bliss ever since. It is the go-to homemade chocolate chip cookies recipe in our family.
I still love our NY Times chocolate chip cookie recipe because it has a little bit more of the buttery, traditional taste to it. But these pudding cookies are just so squishy soft I can’t decide which I prefer.
You’d better make both recipes and have a family vote! Or better yet, make both and take them to some friends and neighbors. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t love getting a plate a fresh baked cookies!
There are few things better in life then freshly baked, warm chocolate chip pudding cookies. Right? They are just heaven! Dip them in a glass of cold milk and life is SO GOOD!
Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients
If you’ve made homemade chocolate chip cookies before, I bet you already know what the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies are. Keep reading for our recipe though, because it’s the ratio of ingredients that affects how chocolate chip pudding cookies bake up.
Here’s what goes into these easy chocolate chip cookies:
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Instant vanilla pudding mix
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies
These pudding cookies are made just like all other cookies — wet ingredients, dry ingredients, chocolate chips, scoop, bake, EAT! Here’s an overview of soft classic chocolate chip cookie recipe:
- Cream together all the wet ingredients (softened butter, eggs, vanilla and almond extract) and sugars until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, and instant pudding mix).
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined, then add the chocolate chips and stir slowly.
- Scoop the cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet. We like to use silpats for baking these cookies.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the edges are set and the centers still a little gooey.
You want the cookies to be golden on top. I like to wait just a few minutes and eat one while it’s still warm and gooey delicious!
How Long to Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies
We’ve found that the sweet spot for baking homemade chocolate chip cookies is 8 to 10 minutes. Each batch varies slightly depending on how large the cookies are.
FAQs About Making Chocolate Chip Cookies
After testing countless gooey chocolate chip cookie recipes, we’ve encountered what seems like every cookie-related issue under the sun. Here are a few common problems that may pop up when making these easy chocolate chip cookies. If there’s an issue we haven’t addressed below, please leave us a comment and we’ll respond as soon as we can!
Why Are My Chocolate Chip Cookies Crispy?
It’s a delicate balance getting that perfectly golden, round and soft cookie. If your chocolate chip cookies from scratch are overly crispy, there are few possible culprits:
- Too much sugar was added
- The cookies were overbaked
- Dark cookie sheet was used
Why Do Chocolate Chip Cookies Spread?
There are a few reasons that can cause chocolate chip pudding cookies to spread or to go flat. The main reasons are:
- The butter was too soft or melted
- Your flour was under measured
- The cookie sheet was too hot when you placed the dough on it
Can I Add Extra Mix-Ins to These Pudding Cookies?
We’ve only made this pudding cookie recipe as classic chocolate chip cookies, but I don’t see why you couldn’t add other mix-ins like chopped nuts or dried fruit. Just keep in mind that if you add other mix-ins you should scale back the amount of chocolate chips you add to the cookie dough.
Should I Chill the Cookie Dough?
We didn’t think it was necessary to chill the dough for these gooey chocolate chip cookies. However, if you chill the cookie dough and these cookies turn out well for you, please leave a comment down below!
How to Store Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pudding cookies are made with the pudding powder, and no milk so it is safe to store them at room temperature. Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies will keep for 3-4 days at room temperature in an airtight container.
How to Soften Cookies
It is pretty frustrating when you spend time making the perfect chocolate chip pudding cookies and then when you go to eat them a few days later, they have become dry and hard. It is quite easy to soften them. Place your cookies in an airtight container with a slice of bread. They will soften right up in no time without altering the taste.
Can You Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookies?
You can also freeze the baked cookies. Allow the cookies to cool completely, and then store them in an airtight container. They will be good for up to 3 months. When you are ready to eat them, pull them out of the freezer and allow them to come to room temperature. You can also zap them in the microwave for like 20 seconds.
Can You Freeze Cookie Dough?
You can freeze cookie dough in bulk, or in individual balls. We like to freeze in individual balls so that it’s easy to pull out a few and bake whenever we have that chocolate chip pudding cookies craving!
- Freezing Cookie Dough in Bulk — Put dough in an airtight container and freeze. To bake, thaw dough and drop by spoon fulls on cookie sheet and bake.
- Freezing Cookie Dough in Individual Balls — Drop cookie dough into balls on a cookie sheet and freeze. When completely frozen, transfer to a freezer bag. Remove as many cookies as desired and thaw before baking, or bake from frozen.
This recipe makes A LOT of cookies, so freezing the dough is a great option.
Tips for Making the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
It’s very important that you purchase INSTANT vanilla pudding and not the cook and serve kind. The cook and serve style of pudding simply won’t work for this recipe.
When adding in the instant pudding mix, add it like any other dry ingredient. You don’t actually make the pudding mix like it says on the box. Just stir it into the dough like you would normal flour.
To make our homemade chocolate chip cookies even prettier, we like to add a few extra chocolate chips on top of the dough balls right before baking. It’s an extra step, but it’s so worth it!
More COOKIE RECIPES You’re Going to Love:
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Reese’s Pieces Cookies
- NY Times BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies
- Glazed Lemon Cookies
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Million Dollar Cookies
- Thick Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Nutella and Dulce de Leche Stuffed Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Lemon Drop Cookies
- Best Cut Out Sugar Cookies
- Copycat Swig Sugar Cookies
- Cowboy Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- All our COOKIE RECIPES here!
Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
Description
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Butter, Unsalted (4 sticks)
- 4 Eggs
- 1 ½ Cups Granulated Sugar
- 2 Cups Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract
- 5 to 5 ½ Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 5.1 ounce Pudding Mix, Box Instant French Vanilla, (the large box)
- 3 Cups Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine butter, eggs, sugars, vanilla, and almond extract in large bowl until evenly mixed.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, and vanilla pudding.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients into the large bowl of wet ingredients.
- Once ingredients are combined slowly mix in chocolate chips.
- Place on greased cooking sheet.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Notes
- Baked cookies and unbaked cookie dough can both be frozen. Please see the post above this recipe card for instructions on how to freeze cookies and cookie dough.
Nutrition
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Susannah
I started making these with the thought to half the recipe. After I creamed together the sugar butter and egg I realized my box of pudding was cook&serve. 🤦♀️
I did however have instant pistachio pudding. I took a risk and continued on using pistachio instead making a few adjustments. I left out the brown sugar and used white chocolate chips instead.
My first batch was a disaster but thanks to your tips I realized it was because I didn’t add enough flour. On the next batch after adding more flour it worked! They turned out absolutely delicious. The hint of almond extract was perfection with the pistachio flavor.
Next time I’ll be more prepared and follow the actual recipe. But I’m very pleased with the risk I took and making them pistachio.
Sweet Basil
Oh man I love pistachio pudding and almond extract so these sound divine! I’m so glad you took the risk! Thank you so much for taking time to give us feedback and leave a comment.
Becky
I have made a lot of chocolate chip cookies and these definitely take the cake! Hands down the best!! I ran out of all purpose flour and had to use bread flour. But they turned out great. Thanks for another great recipe.
Sweet Basil
Hurray!! So glad they turned out the way you hoped! They sure get devoured in our house!
Cecelia Woodward
Beautiful family!
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much Cecilia!
Angel
These look delicious! Do you use real butter (not margarine)? Salted or unsalted?
Sweet Basil
Thank you Angel! Yes, real butter and I always use unsalted so that I can control the saltiness of my recipes. Hope you enjoy these!
Roudia Alceus
do you use an electric mixer to combine the butter, eggs, sugars, vanilla and almound extract?
Sweet Basil
Yes, or sometimes by hand if I don’t feel like pulling it out.
Roudia Alceus
I would like to make this recipe but I believe I am having difficulties understanding if 5-51/2 means 5 cups and 51/2 cup of flour. I would really appreciate the clarification.
Sweet Basil
Hi Roudia, it’s 5 cups to 5 and 1/2 cups as sometimes people measure flour different so if 5 is too soft a dough we are saying you can add up to 1/2 cup more of the four but no more than that. 🙂
Pam
Recipe states a large box of pudding which is 5.1 ounces. One of the questions asks what size pudding mix and it states 3.4 ounces. Which should I be using?
Sweet Basil
Hi Pam, sorry about that, it’s 5.1. For a bit we had halved the recipe, but I just didn’t think it turned out as perfect and I’m a bit of a cookie snob so they have to be perfect. 🙂
Lex
Is it best to use the butter cold from the fridge, melted, or room temp?
Sweet Basil
always room temperature unless it states otherwise :O)
Lucy Adams
Please for your Australian fans, what size/weight would a french vanilla pudding box be?
I am looking forward to baking this…
Sweet Basil
Hi Lucy, 3.4 ounces
Billie Zastresek
Please what kind of pudding instant or cook or dose it not matter
Sweet Basil
Hi Billie, it’s instant.
Carol Hutchinson
On the Choc Chip Pudding cookies. I take it that the pudding is instant pudding. Or is it cook pudding?
Kelly
I could not wait to make these and mine taste fine but look terrible!! I always use a silpat mat and even so, they did not bake evenly. And I always use a cookie scoop and usually have thick cookies, but these spread all over and were thin and greasy. I have gone over and over the recipe and can’t figure out where I went wrong.
Sweet Basil
Hi Kelly,
I would say that it could be a butter issue if there was grease and spreading. What kind of butter did you use and how soft was it?
Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
ohmyGOODNESS!!! These cookies look sooo soft and gooey and chewyyyyy
Sweet Basil
Which is the best kind of cookie!
Ester G Perry
I AM TRYING THIS RECIPE TONIGHT
Sweet Basil
Hope you love it!
Christina @ The Beautiful Balance
I love how soft pudding cookies are. This recipe looks so tasty!
Sweet Basil
Thanks Christina!
Rocky Mountain Woman
They look adoptable to me!
Gaby
These cookies are right up my alley! YUMMY!
conscious
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Milan Toniatti
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Suzi
can't wait to make these!!!