Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'll be the first to admit that I have a sweet tooth. I have quite a few of my favorite "Baking Bloggers" on my "Feedly" reader that I visit on a regular basis. I indulge my love of baking food porn, this way. I look. I lust. I "pin". But, I tend to post more savory recipes than I do baking.  This is purely for my own self-preservation, I can assure you.

I have a feeling, my dear friends and readers, that many of you share my love of desserts.  My traffic stat reports show me that when I posted my "Incredible Cherry Pie", that my number of post readers quadrupled!  So, there you go. Omni and Paleo Dieters... my hat's off to you-- I would have a really hard time giving up white flour and sugar, forever, and I doubt that I am alone

Thank goodness that I have a young adult son who stands at 6'4" in his stocking feet.  His BMI numbers are really low-- essentially, he is very lean, and his doctor told him he needs to gain more weight. The flu and some health issues took a toll on his frame. Now that he's well, he is drinking protein shakes and emptying out the refrigerator faster than I can stock it! For a mom who loves to cook and bake, this is music to my ears.   That I have yet, another one week staycation, for Spring Break, means I can crank up the oven and plug in my stand mixer more often than usual.

Last night, I made a batch of "Rainbow Cookies". They are, pretty much, a very thick and chewy chocolate chip cookie that is made with melted butter-- and they are really good.  By this morning, they were all gone. They are a good cookie (of course, they are a Cook's Illustrated recipe).


I've been spotting chocolate chip cookie recipes that uses vanilla pudding mix.  When I saw that "Bunny's Warm Oven" (one of my favorite baking sites) posted these, and she raved about them-- I had to see, for myself,  what the fuss was all about.

I couldn't resist buying M&M's in all the pretty spring colors, so this seemed like a perfect time to put them to good use.

The dough is a bit soft to work with. As a side note, the cookie dough is delicious! My son stole a few spoonfuls, and I admit that I did, too. (The raw egg warnings have never affected us, so far.)

These are baked at 370F for exactly 10 minutes. No a minute more!

The cookies might look unbaked in the center, and slightly brown on the edges. This is good. They do spread out a bit thin, and will be puffy in the center. Wait a few minutes, and then carefully put them on a cooling rack. 

Once they are cooled, they will be thin and firmer to the touch.

TASTING NOTES: Until I try another of the many "best" chocolate chip recipes I've seen-- these are now my favorite chocolate chip cookie! Who knew?  The balance of vanilla is pronounced, but it's not over-the-top. The texture is just the way I like for a cookie to be-- crispy on the edges, chewy and tender in the middle. 

I "halved" the recipe, which yielded almost four dozen cookies. 

Once again, I am practicing great restraint from eating more than my fair share of these. My son, on the other hand, is eating these with abandon.  Doctor's orders! I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that my husband is also fairly tall and lean.  He also has a wicked sweet tooth, so desserts disappear fast-- into their tummies.  Is it fair that men can lose weight so easily? Sigh.

It looks like I need to keep a box or two of vanilla pudding mix, on hand.  I have a feeling these cookies will become a regular request.  A printable recipe card is at the very end of this post.