Quadruple Chocolate Pudding Cookies — These pudding cookies are packed with cocoa powder, chocolate chips and chunks, and chocolate pudding mix to deliver seriously chocolatey flavor!
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Chocolate Fudge Cookies … Using Pudding Mix!
My first foray into pudding cookies went so well that I wanted to try a chocolate version. So I did with four kinds of chocolate in one cookie. May as well go big or go home.
These chocolate fudge pudding cookies are super soft, tender, slightly chewy, and are for true chocolate lovers. Chips, chunks, cocoa, chocolate pudding.
They’re thicker, bakery-style cookies that are bold and rich, not overly sweet, and oozing with melted chocolate. As you bite down, there’s a little chocolate explosion that happens in your mouth.
There’s an abundance of melted chocolate in every bite between the chips and chunks. I like to use both so that there are varied chocolate flavors and textures present. If you only have one or the other, use what you have.
Keep in mind that chopped chocolate melts in an oozing way, whereas chocolate chips have stabilizers. So while they do melt, they stay more intact.
Sometimes darker chocolate cookies can be almost overpowering but these are one of my favorite non-peanut butter, all-chocolate cookies that I’ve ever made. Pudding mix, I’m sold.
Chocolate Pudding Cookies Ingredients
These chocolate chip pudding cookies use most of your typical cookie ingredients, plus lots of chocolate. Here’s what goes into these chocolate fudge cookies:
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Instant chocolate pudding mix
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Chopped dark chocolate
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Chocolate Cookies with Pudding Mix
These chocolate chip pudding cookies are made like most of my cookie recipes are. Quick, easy, and no-fuss!
Here’s an overview of how the fudgy pudding chocolate cookies are prepared:
- Cream together the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla.
- Then, mix in the dry ingredients followed by the chocolate chips and chunks.
- Scoop out the cookie dough and shape it into balls.
- Place the cookie dough onto a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 2 hours in the fridge.
- Once chilled, place the cookie dough onto a Silpat-lined baking tray and bake until the edges of the pudding cookies have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked and glossy in the center.
Recipe FAQs
The pudding mix helps keep the cookies softbatch-style soft, supple, and gives them a surprising lightness. That’s paradoxical considering how much chocolate is packed into them, but they’re not lead balloons. Nor are they airy or cakey. They’re just right, says Goldilocks.
Yes, absolutely. Do not bake with unchilled dough because the chocolate chip pudding cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
If you’re not into pudding mix or don’t have it in your area, this probably isn’t the recipe for you. You can simply omit it, although the results won’t taste the same. There’s really no substitutions. Luckily I have oodles of other chocolate cookie recipes that don’t use it and recommend one of those.
The instant pudding mix gets added to the cookie dough like a dry ingredient. You do not actually make the chocolate pudding — just dump it into the cookie dough straight from the box.
You likely can add other mix-ins like chopped nuts or dried fruit, but you’d need to scale back the amount of chocolate chips you add to the cookie dough to compensate for the extra mix-ins.
Make sure to buy instant pudding mix and not the cook and serve kind. You also can’t use sugar-free pudding mix in this pudding cookie recipe. Don’t ask me why, sugar-free instant pudding mix just doesn’t deliver the same results.
Yes! I prefer using dark chocolate in this pudding cookie recipe, but you’re welcome to use a mixture of milk and dark chocolate if that’s what you have on hand.
I have made these for my family and friends on many occasions and everybody loves them! Around the holidays I’ll dip them in white chocolate and sprinkle peppermint crumbles on top. My favorite cookies ever!
Patty
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Fudgy Chocolate Pudding Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 packet instant chocolate pudding mix, about 3.7 to 3.9 ounces (not sugar-free and not ‘cook & serve’)
- ¼ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 5 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (I used Trader Joe’s 72% Pound Plus Bar)
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 4 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the pudding mix, cocoa, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, baking soda, optional salt, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the chocolate chips, chopped chocolate, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.
- Using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or your hands, form approximately 17 equal-sized mounds of dough. Roll into balls, and flatten slightly.
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet).
- Bake for about 10 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked and glossy in the center. Don’t overbake which is easy to do with dark cookies. Cookies firm up as they cool.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.
Notes
- Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Chocolate Cookie Recipes:
German Chocolate Cookies — An EASY recipe for soft, chewy, fudgy chocolate cookies that are topped with a rich and creamy pecan coconut frosting! If you love German chocolate cake but don’t want to deal with layering and frosting an entire cake, these cookies are PERFECT!
Dark Chocolate Chunk and Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies — Rich, soft chocolate cookies with chocolate chunks and peanut butter chips
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies — These chocolate crinkle cookies are slightly chewy around the edges with a very fudgy interior and perfectly crinkly seams!
Hot Chocolate Cookies — These gooey hot chocolate cookies are complete with big gooey marshmallows and chunks of melted dark chocolate. This is the perfect holiday cookie recipe!
Andes Mint Chip Soft Fudgy Chocolate Cookies — These quadruple chocolate Andes mint cookies are big, bakery-style cookies that are rich, not overly sweet, and loaded with chocolate and mint chips.
Caramel-Stuffed Quadruple Chocolate Cookies — The cookies are thicker, bakery-style cookies that are bold and rich, and are oozing with melted chocolate and stuffed with Rolos.
Chocolate Ganache Chocolate Cookies — There are chocolate chips and cocoa powder in the cookie dough and the cookies are topped with a rich, cream, fudgy chocolate ganache.
Mexican Chocolate Shortbread Cookies — These buttery shortbread cookies are full of chocolate, cinnamon-and-sugar, and a bit of spice thanks to a couple unique ingredients! They remind me of a good cup of Mexican hot chocolate, in cookie form.
Originally published February 8, 2014 and republished with updated text February 5, 2020.
Love this Recipe!! My husband’s favorite cookies. I have also made them with gluten-free flour + they are just as great!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad to hear they are your husband’s favorite cookies and that you’ve made them GF successfully too!
Can i swap the dark chocolate for white chocolate?
For me, these cookies are really great with the dark/rich all-chocolaty taste but if you prefer white, Im sure it would be fine.
I love love the recope. I read in an old Crisco recipe about chilling the dough. It says roll the dough into a log in parchment paper. 2 inch diameter same as 1/4 cup diameter. And chill. Rather than making mounds to chill. To save space n less equipment
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad you love the recipe!
Oh my gosh! I love making cookies using your recipes! My 3 year old and I made the chocolate cookies tonight and they were so YUMMY! We ended up with 18 cookies and cooked them for 13 minutes…they still came out nice and gooey. Thank you for the amazing recipes! I get so many compliments when I make your Snickerdoodle…like people actually BEG me to make more. You’ve got a talent for this stuff <3
Thanks for the five star review on these cookies and I’m glad you love the snickerdoodle cookies as well and that people beg you to make them, that’s awesome!
We love these cookies! I feel like I work at a bakery when I make them, they are that good. I have tried other chocolate cookies and they don’t compare to these. YUM! Thanks!
I am glad that these are your favorite chocolate cookies and that others don’t compare!
Hello! Is it okay if I use the Jell-O Instant Chocolate Fudge pudding? I accidentally bought the wrong pudding — so not sure if it will still work. :(
I think you bought the correct one – you just want the normal, ‘basic’, pudding mix that’s been around forever. Sounds like that’s what you bought.
IM making these now but realized I only have bittersweet chocolate bar / and chips !
Will it change it drastically
You will be fine.
These were fantastic. I love, love, love all of your recipes. I tend to like my cookies undercooked and gooey 🙃 so everyone else will have to deal !! I also made your lemon buttermilk blueberry bundt cake twice last night!!
Glad these hit the spot and yes I only want my cookies to be underbaked and gooey. Dry cookies are not worth the calories to me…lol.
These cookies were AMAZING! Followed the recipe as written, but made one goof—when I grabbed a couple dark chocolate bars at the grocery store, I grabbed two different bars. One was 72% and the other was 88%. So maybe I made Quintuple Chocolate Cookies? They are a new go-to recipe for me!
You can never have too much chocolate :) Glad these were a total hit and will be a new go-to!
Hi there! I want to make these I do not have pudding mix … I want to use up my Chocolate pudding already made before it goes bad!! What do you think? I am curious if it will mess up the recipe.
You cannot use premade pudding. It has to be dry pudding mix only.
I’m not sure if someone already asked this question, and if so l apologize. Would it be possible to substitute half of the butter with coconut oil?
Thank you,
Sarah
While I do have many recipes for cookies made with coconut oil such as this one (which is amazing), https://www.averiecooks.com/2014/03/the-best-soft-and-chewy-coconut-oil-chocolate-chip-cookies.html I haven’t specifically tried this recipe with coconut oil so can’t say for sure how it will work. LMK if you do.
These were amazing! I always botch cookies but these came out perfect. So chocolately and soft. Thank you!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
Any tweeks for sugar free that could work,like almond or coconut flour?
Not that I can think of….
If I needed to use sugar free jello mix instead could I? I know it’s not recommended but what does it change specifically in the cookies?
I’ve read on other blogs that sugar free pudding can cause the texture to be off…I haven’t personally tried it but that’s what I’ve read.
I made these the other day. Added Ghirardelli 60% chips and milk chocolate too. Instead of the bar. (It’s what I had) and added a splash of buttermilk to ensure it stay moist. They are the best cookies ever! Well assuming the person eating likes super rich fudgey soft moist cookies! If you like crunchy cookies, idk if this is for you. Will make again!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Love the idea of buttermilk and yes I bet they’re super rich fudgey soft moist cookies!
I did ur racbi it’s amazing thank u soooooo much I love u put I couldn’t find the chocolate pudding so I used 2 tbsp cornstarch plus 4 tbsp cocco powder it’s lovely
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
Guys try them, just do it. This was my second time making these and *gasp I was out of chocolate chips!!! How does that even happen!? After checking my cabinets I found some inspiration, divided my dough in half and mixed in crushed thin mint girl scout cookies, in the other half mini marshmallows and crushed graham crackers. Baked as directed. They were a hit! I brought them to work and had to share your site with a few friends ;-) Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Amazing job on the improv with the Thin Mints and then a smores version! Love both of those ideas!