Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies are ultra soft with an intense sweetness from the pudding mix. Add in some chocolate chips and toffee bits for the ultimate easy cookie recipe!
If you’re looking for a similar recipe without any pudding mix, try these Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
It’s no secret with the hundreds of baked goods I’ve shared over the years that baking is a huge passion of mine. I love experimenting and working through pounds of butter, sugar, and flour to bring you the best-possible baked goods. And while a lot of what gets shared is from scratch, there are also a lot of recipes that use boxed baking products to add some ease and unique flavors.
Like using a brownie mix for these Brownie Cookies, frozen whipped topping in these Brownie Oreo Ice Cream Bars, or a boxed cake mix to make these Bundt Cake recipes–sometimes getting a little help from our packaged friends results in a great-tasting treat!
So today we’re using another fun product: pudding mix! It lends an unbelievably soft and chewy texture to cookies and adds a unique flavor. It adds sweetness to the cookies, so be prepared for an ultra-sweet treat when making Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies!
Ingredients
- Butter: Softened butter creams well with sugars to create a light and fluffy texture. Tip: Soften by leaving out at room temperature; avoid melting to prevent greasy cookies.
- Sugars: Brown sugar adds moisture and a slight chewiness due to its molasses content, while white sugar helps the cookies spread and adds crispness.
- Eggs: Bind the ingredients together and adds structure.
- Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Salt: Mix the dry ingredients together before adding them to the wet ones. This helps everything rise evenly.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances flavor, adding depth to the sweetness.
- Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix: Use instant pudding mix, no other version works here.
- Toffee Bits & Chocolate Chips: Adding chocolate chips on top right after baking makes cookies look more amazing and are delicious.
What Pudding Mix To Use
While it would be nice if any boxed pudding worked in this recipe, this part of the recipe is very specific.
We’re looking to use instant pudding mix and not the cook-and-serve type. We also want to ensure the pudding mix is not sugar-free or reduced-calorie — those varieties won’t work the same.
The other thing to keep an eye out for is the pudding box size. There are typically two sizes — a larger and smaller one. We want to get the small 3.4 ounce (96g) box.
When using the pudding mix in these cookies, use the dry mix — don’t prepare it according to package directions.
And finally, for this recipe, I recommend vanilla pudding. If you’d like to play around with flavors, definitely do that, but we do like vanilla (or butterscotch) pudding best with chocolate chips. More on flavor variations below.
How To Make Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
- Cream softened butter with brown and white sugar.
- Mix in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla.
- Separately, mix flour, pudding mix, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Combine wet and dry mixes. Fold in toffee bits and chocolate chips. Don’t overmix to keep cookies soft.
- Chill dough for 20-30 minutes. Chilling helps prevent cookies from spreading too much.
- Roll dough into balls and bake at 350°F for 9-12 minutes. Roll balls taller for thicker cookies.
- Cool and optionally press extra chocolate chips on top.
How To Make Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
- Cream softened butter with brown and white sugar.
- Mix in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla.
- Separately, mix flour, pudding mix, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Combine wet and dry mixes. Fold in toffee bits and chocolate chips. Don’t overmix to keep cookies soft.
- Chill dough for 20-30 minutes. Chilling helps prevent cookies from spreading too much.
- Roll dough into balls and bake at 350°F for 9-12 minutes. Roll balls taller for thicker cookies.
- Cool and optionally press extra chocolate chips on top.
Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies Variation Ideas
If you’d like to completely change the flavor of these cookies, here are some ways to do that with different pudding mixes and add-ins.
- Cookies and Cream: Use cookies and cream flavor pudding mix with crushed up Oreo® cookies or coarsely chopped Hershey’s® Cookies & Creme bars
- Pistachio: Use pistachio pudding mix with coarsely chopped roasted pistachios and/or white chocolate chips
- Lemon: Use lemon or white chocolate pudding mix with white chocolate chips and the zest of 1-2 lemons (plus a touch of lemon extract if you’d like an even stronger flavor).
- Banana: Use banana cream pudding mix with coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans.
If you want to keep with the vanilla pudding, but still try something new, try adding different mix-ins. Below are some ideas for different mix-ins to add to this recipe. Be sure to keep quantities of add-ins consistent and the cookies will be great!
- Different types of chocolate: Pick your favorite or a combo of a few — milk, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate.
- Swap chocolate chips for white chocolate chips.
- Use peanut butter baking chips and/or coarsely chopped mini Reeses®.
- Use regular or miniature M&M’s® baking candies.
- Add in some butterscotch baking chips.
- Mix in some jimmies sprinkles (like in these Funfetti cookies).
Storage
- Room Temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Freezing Dough: Freeze dough balls on a tray, then store in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding 1-3 minutes to baking time.
More Cookie Recipes
- Magic Cookie Bars with a graham cracker crust
- Maple Cookies with a maple glaze
- Salted Caramel Cookies with a cream cheese frosting and caramel glaze
- Cake Batter Cookies with sprinkles and white chocolate chips
- Peanut Butter Cookies dipped in chocolate
Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
Equipment
- Sheet pan 15 x 21-inch, lined
Ingredients
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2-1/3 cups flour
- 1 (3.4-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix dry, see note 1
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup toffee bits
- 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Pull butter out about an hour before using to get it to room temperature. Don't melt the butter in these cookies—it will cause greasy and flat cookies. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl, add the room temperature butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Cream together until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes. Once incorporated, stop mixing, you don't want to beat too much air in. Add in the vanilla and 1 egg. Mix until incorporated. Add in the other egg and mix again until incorporated.
- In a different bowl, add in the flour, dry pudding mix, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Add in the toffee bits and chocolate chips. Fold these ingredients into the dough. Cover the dough tightly and place in the fridge for 20–30 minutes. This allows the pudding time to firm up the dough. Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Roll the cookie dough into large balls, about 2 tablespoons each, shaping them taller rather than wider. If the dough becomes too warm while rolling, freeze the balls for 5–10 minutes to firm them up. If the dough feels wet and soft, it may spread too much and flatten while baking.
- Add cookie dough balls to the prepared and lined baking sheet, about 6–8 cookies at a time. They spread a lot while baking and need ample room! Bake for 9–12 minutes or until edges are lightly golden brown. Be careful not to over-bake as they firm up while cooling.
- Remove tray from the oven and press a few more chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies within 1–2 minutes of pulling them out. This ensures even placement of chocolate and also makes them look pretty. Allow cookies to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Repeat, baking the remaining dough balls until all the cookies are baked.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These cookies are unbelievably delicious and simple! My kids know this recipe by heart we make it so often! Thanks for the amazing recipe Chelsea!
Thanks so much Justin! 🙂