Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients needed

When it comes to the ingredients, there’s nothing too fancy or out of the ordinary needed – just the usual: flour, baking soda, butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Then comes the secret ingredient: the chocolate pudding mix. Adding an instant pudding packet right into the batter makes these soft, flavorful, and perfectly sweet. The texture is perfection – with crispy edges and a soft center! These pudding cookies truly melt in your mouth with each bite. Here’s everything you’ll need to make them:

• Flour. All-purpose flour is my go-to when I’m making baked goods. Flour gives the cookies structure and depending on its ratio to the other ingredients, will make them either chewy, fluffy, cake-y, crisp, or crumbly.
• Baking soda. For the perfect lift. Be sure that your baking soda is fresh and not expired.
• Salt. A small amount of salt is VERY important to balance the sweetness.
• Unsalted butter. I always use unsalted butter, so I can control the amount of salt going into a recipe. Be sure your butter is softened to room temperature, so that it combines properly with the sugars. Room temperature butter is still a bit cool to the touch and it should indent slightly when you press on it with your finger. Take butter out of the refrigerator about 1 hour before beginning your recipe. However, if you forget, like I often do, you can soften butter quickly with this trick.
• Sugar. Using both brown and white granulated sugar, with a bit more brown sugar than white sugar, ensures a soft and chewy texture.
• Instant chocolate pudding mix. It’s important to use a dry INSTANT pudding mix… no mixing or making the actual pudding. Just add the dry mix!
• Vanilla extract. Adds flavor and a touch of sweetness.
• Eggs. Eggs act as a binder in the dough. Two eggs give these a rich flavor and wonderful texture. Room temperature eggs will combine best with the other ingredients.
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips. The quality of your chocolate truly matters. These call for standard-sized semi-sweet chocolate chips, but feel free to use chunks or mini semi-sweet chips. I think dark chocolate or a combination of dark chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate would also be wonderful. I have tried milk chocolate and I felt like it took away from the flavor of the cookie.
• Flaky sea salt. I HIGHLY recommend sprinkling some flaky sea salt over these just after they come out of the oven. I like Maldon Sea Salt Flakes.
• White chocolate + sprinkles. If you’d like to dress these up for the holidays, you’ll need some white chocolate and colorful sprinkles.

Quick tip: This double chocolate chip cookie recipe calls for the smaller box (3.9 ounces). If you can only find the bigger one, add in a little more than half a box! It will be fine if it is not exact.

How to make this recipe

These chocolate cookies are quick and easy to make. No chilling required! Just follow these easy steps:

Please see the recipe card for the full, printable recipe with all of the details.

• Prep. About an hour before starting this recipe remove the egg and butter from the refrigerator. Preheat the oven and line your baking pans with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.
• Dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• Wet ingredients. In a large bowl, using an electric hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugars, pudding mix and vanilla. Next, beat in the eggs to the butter mixture.
• Add dry ingredients. On low speed, gradually add in the flour mixture until just combined. With a spoon, gently fold in the chocolate chips without over-mixing the dough, which can lead to toughness.
• Scoop dough. Use a large spoon or cookie scoop to drop the cookie dough balls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
• Bake. Place in the oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes. Do NOT over-bake! Remove right when edges start looking set. The centers may look slightly underbaked, but they will continue to cook even after they are removed from the oven.
• Cool. While still warm, press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops and sprinkle on some flaky sea salt. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to continue to cool.
• Add white chocolate. Once completely cool, microwave chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips in a small bowl that is microwave-safe in 20 second increments, stirring each time. Dip the cookies into the white chocolate and add festive sprinkles. Alternatively, you can drizzle white chocolate over the tops and add sprinkles.

Frequently asked questions

Expert tips

There are tons of tips and tricks for baking the perfect cookies, but follow the suggestions below and you’re sure to have a really delicious treat!

• Measure flour correctly. Using a food scale is the most precise method for measuring ingredients, especially flour. If you don’t have one available, lightly spoon flour (don’t pack) into a measuring cup and without shaking the cup, use the straight side of a butter knife (or another straight edge) to level the flour across the measuring cup.
• Fresh baking soda. Be sure that your baking soda is fresh! It loses potency over time. When I open a new container, I always write the date on the lid with a Sharpie. Discard the opened container after 6 months.
• Bake on parchment or silicone. Parchment paper, or better yet, a silicone baking mat makes for the most perfect cookies. Greasing the baking sheet creates an overly greasy foundation, which will cause the cookies to spread too much. Silicone baking mats will grip onto the bottom of your cookies to prevent them from spreading too much. The mats also promote even browning.
• Don’t over bake! For the perfect soft and chewy texture, under bake these a bit (I pull them out as soon as the top is no longer glossy or wet looking). Mine were done after only 8 minutes!

Packaging for gift giving

These festive double chocolate chip cookies made with pudding are one of my favorites to gift to friends. There’s nothing better than a homemade holiday present, and my friends and family love to receive treats. You can get creative with the packaging to make the gift extra special. Here’s some ideas:

• Holiday tins. Purchase festive tins at your local dollar store, then line them with parchment paper.
• Christmas plate. Choose a decorative Christmas-themed plate, then arrange different types of cookies on the plate.
• Cellophane bags. Pack these into little clear bags, then tie them at the top with a festive bow.
• Mason jars. Stack these in a glass jar, seal the jar, then tie a ribbon around it.

Storing & freezing recommendations

• Freezing cookie dough. This cookie dough can be stored in the freezer, which is especially convenient as December is particularly busy with shopping and other Christmas events. Keep a batch or two of the dough in the freezer for freshly baked cookies at a moment’s notice. Scoop out dough balls and place them in a freezer-safe baggie. Frozen dough will keep well for up to 3 months. Be sure to label the bag with the date.
• Bake from frozen. Baking from frozen will work just fine. The tops of your cookies may darken a bit more, but they will still be delicious. Follow all of the cooking instructions, but add a minute or two onto the bake time.
• Freezing baked cookies. Store in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
• Storing. These will keep in an airtight container or zip-top baggie at room temperature for about 1 week, but I can’t imagine them lasting that long!