Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

I can see the "?" above your head as you read that title.  "Um, vanilla pudding?  In cookies?"  I can feel your doubt - I'm hurt.  Would I ever lead you astray by giving you a bad recipe?  No, not me.  Unless I choose to follow along in King Arthur Flour's footsteps and post an April Fool's Day post of all my recipes that just didn't stand up to my high expectations.  Like my attempt at pumpkin pie bread.  I honestly think that bread could have been classified as a lethal weapon, it was so hard.  Maybe I should've kept it around for my husband irritates me.  I could hit him with it...........  *shakes head* Okay, I'm back with you now.

There are many things in life that are distracting.  My dog is a good example.  She moves and I notice it.  She breathes funny and I'm suddenly on alert (although I'm sure that's more my vet training kicking in).  Another thing I find distracting?  Books of any and all kinds.  I love books.  When Ryan and I moved into our new house all those months ago, the majority of our boxes contained clothes and books.  (I think the clothes boxes only edged out the book boxes by a few.)  My husband got the bright idea to get me an e-reader a couple of years ago and I've amounted over 200 books on it.  I told you I liked to read.  So on the note about liking to read... I love, love cooking blogs!  Probably because I love to cook.  Combining my love of cooking with my love of reading - happy Jamie!  I find myself reading blogs sometimes all day, wasting paper on printing tons of recipes when I already have tons of recipe books. Yeah, cooking blogs are super distracting.  You can look at all the pretty pictures and all the stories for hours on end.  I'm not joking, I've done it before.  Many times.

While on the subject of cooking blogs, I do have my favorites.  In case you haven't noticed, on the right hand side of your screen, if you scroll down far enough, you'll find my favorite cooking blogs.  They all have great recipes.  You cannot go wrong with those blogs.  Some of them, I like simply because I'm amazed by the creativity of them (Sweetapolita and Bake at 350 are simply droolworthy) yet they all have very easy to create recipes.  Although I could never decorate cookies the way Bridget at Bake at 350 does.  My hands just wouldn't cooperate.  I'm lucky if I get a smooth spread on my sheet cakes for crying out loud!

(And, hey, if you don't take my word that putting pudding into cookies can be a good thing, go to your local grocery store and find a box of Betty Crocker Super Moist Cake Mix and look down at the bottom of the front of the box.  It says, "Pudding is still in the mix!"  So it's not just me... or the people who made the recipe.)

Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

courtesy of Two Peas and Their Pod

1 c. Butter, room temp
1/4 c. Sugar
3/4 c. Brown Sugar
3.4 oz. package Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 1/4 c. All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
2 c. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350.
Blend together butter and sugars until creamy.
Next, mix in pudding, eggs, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda.
Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir until combined.
Mix in chocolate chips.
Taste cookie dough - realize how yummy it is.
Drop cookie mix by the tablespoon (again, cookie scoop works great here) onto a cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden.
Let cool on a cooling rack.

My husband is from Texas so I have no idea why I bought this mug.