Award Winning Chocolate Chip Cookies

My mom gave me this recipe quite a few years ago and it has become my favorite go-to cookie recipe when the kids and I need a sweet fix.  The secret ingredient is pudding mix.  It keeps the cookies soft and chewy.  The original recipe called for vanilla pudding and regular chocolate chips, but I decided to mix it up at use chocolate pudding mix and white chocolate chips because it's what I had on hand and they were so good I might make them this way all the time! 

The kids love to help me bake, and are great about taking turns running the mixer.  Big Sister has an aversion to clothing and hair brushing these days, which is why she looks like she's being raised by wolves!  I really do bathe them! :)

We decided to send a dozen of these to their gramma for her birthday. She'll be so excited!

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.

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 ungreased cookie sheets.               

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be just barely golden.               

Other pudding/chip combos to try:

Butterscotch chips & pudding
Vanilla pudding w/ semi-sweet chocolate chips
Pistachio pudding w/ pistachios
Chocolate pudding w/ mint or peanut butter chips.

Feel free to play around with the flavor combinations.  I'd love to hear what other combos you come up with!