Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

This recipe has become my go to cookie recipe.  Who doesn't like good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies?  They are so comforting and easy to make!

The special ingredient, vanilla pudding mix, keeps the cookies soft and tasting fresh for days.  All the other ingredients are what you would expect; butter, flour, eggs, baking soda, sugar, vanilla and chocolate chips.

The cookie dough comes together really quickly.  I cream the butter and sugar in my standing mixer, add the pudding mix, then eggs and vanilla.  Then hand mix in the flour and chocolate chips.

Using an ice cream scoop, I scoop out equal mounds of dough.  (When these pictures were taken, I wasn't baking in my kitchen, so I improvised with a measuring cup)  I like to use an ice cream scoop or measuring cup as it makes sure all the cookies are an equal size and bake evenly as well.




 I baked them on a parchment sheet for about 8 minutes.  I like to slightly under bake the cookies, so that they have a nice soft chewy center.  I take them out of the oven just before the center looks fully done and leave them on the baking sheet to cool.  They will continue to cook for a bit from the heat of the baking sheet.  I was baking in a convection toaster oven, so it may take longer in a full size oven.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes

Yield: 6 dozen

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups butter, softened

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven.

 

S'mores Cookie Bars

A few weeks ago, I made some s'more cookie bars for some guys at work.  What could be better than all the ingredients of a s'more plus a chocolate chip cookie?!


The recipe was straight forward and only took about 30 minutes. I doubled the recipe below and used a 10"x10" tray.

I started with the graham cracker crust, which is just graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.  Once that was pressed into the baking tray, I followed the recipe to mix the remaining ingredients together (minus the topping) and spread it as evenly as I could on top of the crust.








After it had baked for about 10 minutes, I took it out and sprinkled the remaining marshmallows and reese's pieces on top.







Once it was done baking, I left it to cool for a couple of hours and then cut it into cubes.  I thought it was severely under baked when I went to cut it, but it turned out the right amount of gooey by the next day when we ate them.

These cookies went over well at work, but if I was to make it again, I would reduce the sugar by at least half.

Recipe adapted from Chocolatechocolateandmore

Yield: 16 bars

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini marshmallows plus a few extra for the top
1/2 cup reese's pieices

1. Line a square baking pan with parchment paper. Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Place in bottom of prepared pan and press down to form a crust.
2. Cream 1/2 cup softened butter, add in sugars and cream again till fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla. Mix again. Combine Flour, baking soda and salt, then add to butter mixture. Once all combined, fold in chocolate chips and marshmallows. Spoon Cookie dough on top of cookie crust as evenly as possible. Don't worry about spreading perfectly. Dough will spread as it cooks to fill in any gaps. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
3. 8-10 minutes before bar is done cooking, sprinkle remaining marshmallows and reese's pieces on top, just to decorate. Return to baking for remaining time. Remove pan from oven and let cool completely before cutting.