These are my favorite. The pudding mix combined with letting the mix rest in the refrigerator are the keys to this recipe.
I make a double batch and freeze individual cookie balls for 3 months or longer if I use a vacuum sealer. Scoop out cookie balls onto parchment lined cooke sheet and freeze for 1 hour before bagging.
You can cook them from frozen at about 20 degrees lower than normal temperature (330 F) and for about 2 or 3 minutes longer than normal (15 minutes).
You don’t need a cookie scoop!
- One ounce of cookie dough makes a 3 inch (large) cookie. There is a faster way to get 1 ounce portions from a batch of cookie dough.
- I made a double batch of dough and put it in a vacuum bag in the refrigerator overnight.
- I removed it from the refrigerator weighed it and it was about 70 ounces.
- I let it warm up just enough to be able to roll it out in a rectangle that had an even thickness.
- I cut the rectangle into 66 squares (11 x 6). This means each square weighed just over 1 ounce. There was no need to measure or scoop the cookies.
- I removed each square and rolled it into a ball.
- The entire process only took a couple of minutes.
Ingredients (using pudding mix):
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup regular sugar
- 2 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking soda (I used baking powder and it also worked but it isn’t required.)
- 1 cup butter or butter substitute
- 1 pkg instant pudding mix (3.4 oz. cheesecake)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups (by volume) semisweet chocolate chips
Ingredients (Without pudding mix):
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup regular sugar
- 7 teaspoons cornstarch
- 7 teaspoons milk powder
- 2 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking soda (I used baking powder and it also worked but it isn’t required.)
- 1 cup butter or butter substitute
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups (by volume) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions:
- Combine softened butter and sugars
- Add pudding mix (or cornstarch and milk powder)
- Mix together eggs and vanilla and add.
- Mix together flour and baking powder and add.
- Fold in nuts, chocolate chips or other ingredients.
- Cool dough in the refrigerator for 4+ hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Spoon the cookie dough onto an un-greased cookie sheet.
- Cook for approximately 12 – 15 minutes or until cookies brown.
Food Chemistry:
Many cookie recipes use baking soda instead of baking powder. For baking soda (a base) to work, it must come in contact with an acid during the cooking process. Baking soda is used in recipes that contain vinegar or buttermilk. Brown sugar is also slightly acidic so when it mixes with the baking soda, it makes C02 bubbles that make the cookies rise. If you substituted white sugar for brown sugar in this recipe, the cookies would not rise.
The butter provides most of the liquid in this recipe but it is solid at room temperature so the chemical reactions are delayed until the butter melts. It is important to mix the butter and sugars together before adding the other ingredients. The butter encapsulates the sugar and keeps it from reacting with the baking soda. It also helps turn the sugar to a liquid when it melts so the cookies don’t have a gritty texture.
