Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

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These super moist and incredibly delicious chocolate chip pudding cookies are easy to prepare and can be made with either vanilla or chocolate pudding mix.

A plate of baked vanilla and chocolate pudding cookies

When it comes to the best chocolate chip cookie, everyone has an opinion. Some people are on team moist and gooey, and others are on team crisp and chunky. And even among these two factions, the teams are subdivided even more. Nuts or no nuts? Semi-sweet chips or dark chocolate?

The delicious cookie recipe I am sharing with you today guarantees the most moist cookies you’ve ever had. And the secret ingredient is probably sitting in your pantry, right now. So let’s get to these amazing pudding mix cookies!

Why this recipe is so great

For many years I learned to add a packet of instant pudding to my box cake mix to make it super moist. This was no secret by any means and pretty soon all the big cake mix companies started advertising that their new cake mixes already had pudding inside, no need to add more!

Pudding mix makes cookies uber moist. It also adds more flavor, whether you are adding more chocolate or more vanilla flavor. These cookies go so fast once baked. My family goes crazy over them.

Freshly baked chocolate chip pudding cookies on a cooling rack

Ingredients you need

Ingredients labeled and needed to make chocolate pudding cookies

Butter: The fat base of this cookie is butter. Use unsalted butter.
Instant pudding mix: You can use either vanilla or chocolate pudding mix – just be sure it is INSTANT pudding mix.
Eggs
Chocolate chips: You can use semi sweet, bittersweet, dark or milk chocolate chips
Walnuts (optional): If you like you mix in chopped nuts like walnuts, pecans, peanuts or macadamia nuts.
Pantry staples: brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, all purpose flour, baking soda, salt

Step-by-step directions

1. Using a stand mixer, whisk butter and sugars until creamed and light yellow in color.

Softened butter in a mixing bowl with brown sugar

2. Mix in instant pudding mix until well blended. Stir in eggs and vanilla extract.

Chocolate cookie batter in a mixing bowl with eggs in it

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in dry ingredients into wet until fully incorporated. Do not over mix at this point.

Adding flour mixture to chocolate cookie batter

5. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts (if using).

Mixing nuts into chocolate pudding cookie dough batter

6. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet or line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy removal.

Chocolate pudding cookie dough with nut on a baking sheet ready to bake

7. Bake at 350ºF for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cookies rest in the baking sheet for one minute, then using a spatula place onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Freshly baked chocolate pudding cookie dough with nut on a baking sheet

Expert Tips and Recipe FAQS

The beauty of these is cookies is that you can use either vanilla or chocolate pudding mix. Just be sure you use INSTANT pudding mix and not cook and serve variety. The ingredients in each is different and it’s the cornstarch in instant pudding mix that is so vital in this recipe.

What can I mix into cookie batter?

You can mix in chopped nuts like walnuts, pecans or peanuts. You can mix in any variety of chocolate chips from semi-sweet to dark to even white chocolate chips. Other fun things you can add to your cookies include M&Ms, peanut butter pieces, dried cranberries or even chopped peppermints.

Can you freeze pudding cookies?

These pudding cookies should last about 5-7 days in a sealed container. You can also store baked and cooled pudding cookies in refrigerator or freeze them. The raw cookie dough can also be frozen and baked at a later date. You can freeze balls of cookie and then bake them right from the freezer. Just add a few more minutes in baking time.

Close up of baked vanilla and chocolate pudding cookies

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Yield: 30 cookies

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

These super moist and incredibly delicious chocolate chip pudding cookies are easy to prepare and can be made with either vanilla or chocolate pudding mix.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Additional Time 30 minutes

Total Time 57 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
3 ½ oz box of vanilla or chocolate instant pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 TBS vanilla extract
2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Using a stand mixer, whisk butter and sugars until creamed and light yellow in color.
Mix in instant pudding mix until well blended.
Stir in eggs and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In batches, mix dry ingredients into wet until fully incorporated.
Using a scraper, fold in chocolate chips and walnuts (if using).
Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet or line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy removal.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.
Let cookies rest in the baking sheet for one minute, then using a spatula place onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

You can use any flavor of instant pudding mix that you like.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1 cookie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 216Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 74mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gProtein: 3g