The Best Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies — One of my absolute favorite recipes for chocolate chip cookies thanks to a special ingredient! Just one bite and I think you’ll agree!!
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies…With Pudding!
These really are my new favorite soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies. Now, that’s a big statement because I haven’t cheated on this recipe in years!
I’ve used the base of that cookie recipe for Twix Bar Cookies, Snickers Cookies, M&M’s Cookies, S’mores Cookies, and many others when I want a hearty, but buttery dough base. Any cookie I’m going to stuff with add-ins or candy, that’s not a peanut butter cookie, I use that base.
But all good things eventually get knocked off their pedestal and something better, shinier, and newer comes along. Enter: these big, chewy chocolate chip cookies . Spoiler: these sot and chewy chocolate chip cookies are made with vanilla pudding mix!
The dough is buttery and moist with hints of vanilla, and it’s the perfect canvas for the melted chocolate chips.
So it’s ‘the best’ according to me and my family, and of course, this can change. Food bloggers, we change our minds, if you haven’t noticed. But for now, these gooey chocolate chip cookies are the top dog.
I can’t wait for you to try them and let me know if you agree.
What’s in These Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies?
These gooey chocolate chip pudding cookies are thick enough to sink your teeth into, with slight chewiness at the base and edges.
It’s just enough to balance the very pillowy soft centers and give me the mouthfeel I want in a perfectly baked, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie.
Here’s what you’ll need to make the absolute best chewy chocolate chip cookies:
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Instant vanilla pudding mix
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
How to Make Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
To make truly soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies, you first need to cream together the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Beat the mixture for a good 4 minutes — don’t skip this step!
Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, then fold in the chocolate chips.
Note that you add the pudding mix like a dry ingredient. You do NOT actually make the pudding. Scoop the cookie dough into balls using a large cookie scoop, then place on a large tray and cover with plastic wrap.
I baked my chewy chocolate chip cookies for 11 minutes, but if you choose to make smaller cookies, you’ll need to bake for less time. How much less? I don’t know.
Tip: The secret to making the best chewy chocolate chip cookies is keeping them a touch underbaked. I think that’s the secret to most good cookies!
Can I Omit the Pudding Mix?
The pudding cookie craze certainly isn’t new. I’ve used instant pudding mix in my Soft M&M’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, Dark Chocolate Chunk and Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies, and Quadruple Chocolate Soft Fudgy Pudding Cookies and I wanted to create a classic chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe with it.
This chocolate chip pudding cookie recipe is nearly a carbon copy of my old standby. The significant change is that I omitted 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and replaced them with one packet instant vanilla pudding mix.
If you don’t like pudding mix or can’t find it in your area, I recommend you use this soft chocolate chip cookie recipe because there are really no substitutions you can use in this chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Do I Have to Freeze the Cookie Dough?
As with all my cookies, you must chill the dough before baking these chewy chocolate chip cookies with vanilla pudding mix. It’s absolutely crucial for thick, puffy, full cookies.
If you bake with warm, limp dough, your chocolate chip cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter. Why bother? Plan ahead and chill your dough.
Can I Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookies?
Yes, although I actually recommend making the cookie dough and freezing it in balls rather than freezing baked cookies. You can bake the cookie dough straight from frozen, just note that you’ll likely need to add a few extra minutes to the bake time.
But if you’ve already made these gooey chocolate chip cookies and want to freeze some for later, just pop them in a freezer bag. When you’re ready to eat them, leave them on your counter to thaw or reheat them in the oven.
Can I Make These Gluten-Free?
Without having tried it myself, I can’t say for sure. If you find a way to make these chocolate chip cookies with vanilla pudding gluten-free that works for you, please let me know in a comment below!
Can I Add Extra Mix-Ins?
I’m sure you can! These thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies can be loaded up with chopped nuts, M&M’s, chopped candy bars, and more. Just be sure to add no more than 2 cups of mix-ins total.
How to Store Chocolate Chip Cookies
These chocolate chip cookies with pudding can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 6 months. I like to reheat frozen cookies in the microwave or oven so the chocolate chips become gooey.
Tips for the Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Tip 1: The big, chewy chocolate chip cookies are slightly larger than you may be used to baking. There are about 4 tablespoons of dough (1/4 cup) per cookie, and the batch makes just 14 large-ish cookies.
The cookies are still so much smaller than cookies I see for sale at bakeries and coffee shops, and eight comfortably fit on a baking tray.
I’d rather bake fewer bigger cookies because frankly, it’s less work. But also because the size and the related surface area does matter in terms of the final taste and texture.
Tip 2: Smaller cookies tend to dry out faster and relatively speaking, there’s more chewy edge than soft center.
Conversely, bigger cookies have softer, tender, juicy bites loaded with chocolate due to a greater interior surface area. Christina Tosi speaks very eloquently about this in her book.
Tip 3: You also need to make sure the butter is truly soft. If it’s not, cheat and zap it in the micro for 5 to 10 seconds.
It’s best to plan ahead and set your butter out 2 to 4 hours ahead of time, but it’s better to cheat with the micro than try to cream cold butter.
Your dough will seem overly dry and crumbly after adding the dry ingredients if your butter wasn’t sufficiently softened. I used Trader Joe’s unsalted butter.
A few more tips and tricks for making the best chewy chocolate chip cookies:
- You’ll want to use a high-quality flour like King Arthur. It has just a bit more protein (gluten) than other brands so your baked goods have more structure and will rise higher.
- As I’ve already mentioned, you MUST chill the dough so the cookies bake up thick and don’t spread as much.
- Underbake so the cookies are (almost) as good on the third day as they are right out of the oven.
- And bake on a Silpat because it provides traction so the cookies don’t slip-and-slide around a slippery greased baking sheet.
- Use a cookie scoop. I first portion out the dough with the scoop so all the mounds are the same size, and then I smooth them out with my hands so they’re perfectly smooth.
- Finally, you want to strategically re-positioning the chocolate chips while smoothing the mounds.
Obsessive? Yes, but I am asked all the time what my tricks and secrets are, and now you know.
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The Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- one 3.5-ounce packet instant vanilla pudding mix, not sugar-free and not ‘cook & serve’
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- one-12 ounce bag, 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Trader Joe’s)
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 flour, pudding mix, 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, 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 14 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) and bake for about 11 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center; don’t overbake. 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
- *Tip – Strategically place a few chocolate chips right on top of each mound of dough by taking chips from the underside and adding them on top.
- 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, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, 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 Pudding Cookie Recipes:
ALL OF MY PUDDING COOKIE RECIPES!
Cream Cheese White Chocolate Chip Cookies — These soft and chewy white chocolate chip cookies use two special ingredients to achieve their pillowy texture: instant pudding mix and cream cheese!
Soft and Chewy M&M’s Cookies — These big, bakery-style cookies are very soft, slightly chewy, buttery, and loaded with M&M’S and chocolate chips.
Quadruple Chocolate Soft Fudgy Pudding Cookies – For true chocolate lovers, these super soft cookies are loaded with chocolate!
Mounds Bar Chocolate Chunk Cookies — These big, thick, bakery-style cookies are pillowy soft in the interior, slightly chewy at the edges, and are loaded with chocolate chunks and hunks of Mounds Bars.
Oreos and Sprinkles Chocolate Chip Cookies — The cookies are loaded with Oreos, sprinkles, chocolate chips, and are adapted from my favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies.
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.
Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies— You won’t miss the butter at all in these coconut oil chocolate chip cookies! They’re so soft and ever so slightly chewy. Dangerously good!
This is a repost of this 2014 recipe, and while I’ve made many other chocolate chip cookies since then, these particular cookies are some of my absolute favorites.
Best cookies ever. If you are like me and check the reviews of recipes before making them, my advice is to make these cookies. I also got quite a bit more than 14 out of the batter and I used a 1/4 cup to form the cookies!
Hi Taylor, thanks for making them, for chiming in (I do the same thing you do when I read online recipes) and yes, if you make just-at the 1/4 cup size, you’ll get more. I go to the heaping 1/4 cup range and that’s about 14ish. But if yours are smaller, you’ll yield more. I just get to the point where I can’t form any more balls and start making heaping ones :)
THESE ARE AMAZING. I baked these for my grandfather and his wife who I’m going up north to see tomorrow, but now I’m sad because I want to keep all of these cookies to myself. I only have one question for you. Will you PLEASE adopt me? I just want to spend the rest of my life eating these cookies and all of the other delicious things you make :D
So glad you loved these enough to want to keep them for yourself! Your grandpa and his wife will be so happy that you baked for them I bet! And I would love to adopt you! I donate *so much food* every week, it’s nuts. Between what makes it onto the blog, the near misses, the cookbooks, etc. the sheer volume of treats in and out of this house is astounding. I wish I had more hungry mouths to feed!
These were incredibly delicious when I baked them! However, before baking the cookies, I placed them on a cookie tray covered in non-stick tin foil. I didn’t use the silpat (don’t have one) and the bottom of the cookies came out burnt. I scraped as much as I could and they taste delicious afterwards but I was just curious why the bottom of the cookies came out so burnt… is the silpat essential?
Aluminum foil is highly conductive and most definitely is the reason the cookies are burnt on the underside. You should invest 20 bucks in a Silpat for best results or simply bake on a cookie sheet, but not with foil! I truly believe in Silpats as taking baking results to the next level and for me, is welllllll worth the small investment.
Hi, I stumbled upon your blog and I love it so far! However I’m from Manila, Philippines and I don’t think I would be able to get my hands on a pudding mix, any suggestions for other/alternative ingredients? i’ve been dying to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Hope you know how to help. :)
Use the recipe I linked that I mentioned I used for over two years. That’s the best alternative.
Hello! I’m coming from Greece, I would like to make these cookies but in the ingredients exist the vanilla pudding mix and i cannot find it in my country. Have you got any suggestion with what I can replace it? Thank you in advance for your time.
Use the recipe that I said I used for over 2 years. That’s going to be the closest to this if you can’t find pudding mix.
I refrigerated the dough like I was supposed to, but I forgot to put plastic wrap over them..is that a big deal? Or will the cookies be okay?
These are SO GOOD. The chilling step is key. I actually froze my dough balls overnight (unintentionally – I had meant to quick-chill them in the freezer so I could bake them earlier) so I moved them to the fridge the next morning to rest while the oven preheated. They baked up beautifully! I used about a cup of mini chocolate chips, along with about 2/3-3/4 cup total of chopped walnuts plus caramel bits, for a “turtle” variation. Delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I freeze all my dough, not right away (if I plan to bake it within 5 days, I just refrigerate it) but if I only bake 6-8 cookies at once, then the rest I freeze and store the frozen balls for up to 6 months. Your strategy of moving them to the fridge while preheating and the caramel/turtle idea, sounds great!
I just posted about Turtle Brownies yesterday :) https://www.averiecooks.com/the-best-turtle-brownies/
Hi Averie
I don’t have access to pudding mix so is there some alternate ingredient i could use? Like maybe swap it for cornstarch? If I did would i use the same amount as the pudding mix quantity?
These cookies look DELICIOUS :)
If you don’t have pudding mix, I would make the cookies that I linked in the post that I referenced not cheating on for a few years. They’re excellent and you would use the amount of cornstarch called for in that recipe. Enjoy! Love those cookies!
This recipe sounds wonderful! I want to make two pizza pan size cookies for my Daughter’s 30th Birthday. How long should I bake them?
I don’t know since I’ve never done that before.
ok, well thanks anyhow! :)
Just pulled these out of the oven and sunk my teeth into one- so delicious!! Really some of the best I’ve had. Making for a friend after a breakup, and think these will cheer her up :) I did an eighth of a cup size cookie (versus a quarter cup), and only used one cup of chocolate chips (vs. 2). I would do what you think best- you do want some in every bite though. 2 cups just seemed like a lot once they were in the batter! Chilled for about 7 hours and baked for exactly 11 mins. I even did some chocolate chip repositioning! In love with these cookies and will be repinning and making again soon :) Thanks for sharing!
Glad you loved them and that’s sweet of you to bake for a friend who’s going through a rough patch. These are certain to cheer anyone up! I love pretty chip-loaded cookies but if you got by with 1 cup and are pleased, that’s all that matters!
I made these cookies and they turned out great. I was wondering what the nutrition facts are for these cookies and if I could use your pictures.
No you cannot use my images and I am unsure of the nutritional stats.
Great tasting cookie dough, and great tasting cookie! Lol found that 11 minutes was way too long though. Baked mine for 8-9 minutes at most. The 11 minute ones turned ou more crispy than chewy. But still taste great!
Thanks for trying them and yes, all ovens can vary. The size of the cookies I normally make is on the larger side so I do need all 10-11 minutes (and I love barely cooked centers…ha!) but if you made them smaller and/or your oven runs hotter, I can imagine 8-9 minutes was perfect. Nothing wrong with under-baking, that’s for sure!
Can you just PLEASE adopt me!! It would make things so much easier! LOL
I can’t get past the photography! Seems like I should be able to reach out and take a nibble!!! Incredible mouthwatering photography. I’ll have to try the recipe next weekend and report back on the flavor. If it’s as amazing at the photos, I’m in trouble!!! Thanks for a wonderful post and blog Averie!
Thanks for the glowing and complimentary comment, especially about my photography – I try! And I’d be happy to adopt you! I give so.much.food away every week. I’m like a one-woman food bank :) There’s no way we can eat it all so it gets rehomed. If you try these, LMK what you think!
Wow!! For years I have been depressed over subpar chocolate chip cookies. These are what I’ve been searching for. Just made them last night and they are positively delicious. Extremely rich, but the perfect chocolate chip cookie, hands down. Thank you for sharing!!!
So glad that you finally have your new go-to after years of sub-par CCC’s! :)
I made these tonight. They were FABULOUS!!! Such a simple recipe too! They will be my new go-to cookies!!!
Glad you loved them and feel they live up to their title and that they’ll be your new go-to!
These were probably the best cookies ever! Thanks!
Glad you felt they lived up to their title!