Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

My dad visited us a week ago and while he is not a huge sweet lover he does have a special place in his heart for chewy chocolate chip cookies. Not the cakey type, but just a nice soft cookie that you can sink your teeth into and that will hold up well after a quick dunk in some cold milk. Determined to please my father’s craving, I whipped a batch of cookies that I knew would fit the ‘soft and chewy’ bill.

I have had this recipe for what seems like a decade. I rarely make these, not because they are not good, but because I never seem to have their ‘special’ ingredient in my pantry. These cookies use vanilla pudding mix as their secret weapon  that allows them to remain soft and chewy long after cooling. It is the cornstarch in the pudding (or so I hear) that holds the magical power. You can use other flavors, I like butterscotch and vanilla the best. 

Just as I knew these would, they baked up gorgeous (slightly lighter in color that other cookies) and had the perfect texture my dad was looking for. How was the flavor? Well, for a non-sweet  eater, the proof in the taste was that he ate 6 of them right after he finished off steak and potatoes for dinner.

Like I said, these are not cakey but do bake up a bit fuller than other cookies. They remail soft and chewy after cooling and have great taste. If you have the ingredients, take some time and whip these up!

I am unsure where I received this recipe or where it originated from since it is on a random piece of paper in my cookbook but will give credit to the blog that most recently made these in my google.reader account.

I rate these cookies an 8.5
My dad rates these a 9.5

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
as seen here

2 1/4 cup AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup  brown sugar
1/4 cup  granulated sugar
1 small (3.4oz) pkg vanilla instant pudding mix (or other flavor)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips (i used milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate)

Preheat your oven to 350. Line yourbaking sheet with parchment.
In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing  bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
Add the pudding mix and mix until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl after each addition eggs. Add vanilla.
Slowly add the flour mixture to the batter and mix just to combine.
Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop rounded spoonfulls of cookie dough onto prepared pan.
Bake cookies 10-12 minutes, until slightly golden and set.
Let  cool on sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool fully.