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Our bakery style Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies are incredibly soft and chewy thanks to the not-so-secret ingredient: instant pudding mix! The pudding adds a deep buttery vanilla flavor and gives these cookies that thick bakery style texture we love!
No flat cookies, please!
Pudding Cookies? I’ll Take A Dozen.
Gosh, I love my husband, but you know what? The man eats too many cookies.
I can not keep up with his cookie demands. Seems like I’m constantly baking a new batch for him! 😉
And okay, I might help him eat them. I mean, our perfect chocolate chip cookies really are perfect and I make them at least once a week.
But sometimes we change things up and make these chocolate chip pudding cookies.
Pudding cookies are a super popular cookie thanks to their thick, bakery-style look. Never flat or crispy, just soft and chewy with a deep, buttery vanilla flavoring throughout.
3 Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
No chilling required. Most thick cookie recipes make you chill the dough for hours. These go straight from mixing bowl to oven and still bake up perfectly thick and chewy.
Foolproof bakery-style texture. The instant pudding mix adds cornstarch and extra flavor that creates that signature soft, thick texture you get from expensive bakery cookies.
Ready in 30 minutes. From start to finish, you’ll have warm cookies on the counter in half an hour. Perfect for when you need a quick dessert or treat for unexpected guests.
What Readers are Saying!
“I made them and they are yummy! But the dough might be better than the baked cookies, just saying. My daughter does not like icing, so she always has cookies for her birthday, and this year we are doing these. YUM!”
– Michele
Ingredient, Swaps, & Tips:
Pudding flavors: Vanilla is our go-to, but try butterscotch pudding for a richer flavor. Use instant pudding mix here.
Chocolate chip options: Semi-sweet is traditional, but milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or even white chocolate chips work great. Mini chips distribute more evenly if you prefer that.
Don’t overbake: These are perfect when they still look sightly underdone in the oven. The centers should still look a little soft when you pull them out – they’ll finish setting as they cool.
Room temperature butter: Make sure your butter is actually soft. If you forgot to take it out early, cut it into small pieces and it’ll soften faster.
Freezer-friendly: Scoop the dough into balls, freeze on a baking sheet, then transfer to a freezer bag. Bake straight from frozen, adding 1-2 extra minutes.
How to Make Pudding Cookies:
Cream together the butter and sugars using an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
Mix in the dry ingredients to form a thick, delicious cookie dough.
We use a large cookie scoop to scoop out the perfect sized cookies! Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.
The cookies will look a bit underdone when you remove them, but they’ll finish setting up as they cool.
My Favorite Cookie Scoop!
We use cookie scoops for everything from baking cookies to scooping meatballs to easily filling muffin tins.
More Cookie Favorites:
Serving Ideas
These chocolate chip pudding cookies are perfect:
- Warm from the oven with a cold glass of milk
- Packed in lunch boxes (they stay soft all day)
- For cookie exchanges or potluck desserts
- As ice cream sandwiches (they’re sturdy enough to hold up)
- With coffee or tea for an afternoon treat
Store them in an airtight container and they’ll stay soft for up to a week – no joke.
More Cookie Recipes:
- Cake Batter Cookies
- Air Fryer Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Keto Snickerdoodles
- Sugar Cookie Balls
- Fruity Pebbles Cookies
Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3.4 ounces dry instant vanilla pudding mix
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips any variety
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the butter and sugars to a large mixing bowl and cream together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter and beat until just combined.
- Add the pudding mix, flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Use a large cookie scoop to scoop out balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheet 1 to 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until edges are golden and tops are still moist, but set. Do not overbake.
- Let cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This recipe was originally published in February 2010 as one of the first recipes on this website. It’s been updated with new photos as of April 2022. Original photo below.
Wendy says
These cookies are amazing! I’ve made them twice now and my family loves them! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
Michele says
I made them and they are yummy! But the dough might be better than the baked cookies, just saying. My daughter does not like icing, so she always has cookies for her birthday, and this year we are doing these. YUM!
I made a “sample” batch to take to work and they were inhaled. Thank you!
I want to make some donuts, but need a donut cutter, so I put it on my wish list.
Mandy (Mandy's Recipe Box) says
These are absolutely calling my name!
Megan says
I love all your photos! These cookies sound absolutely delicious. I can’t wit to try them 🙂
Mikael says
I just made these and everybody finds them fabulous and wonders if I really baked them. I haven’t successfully baked cookies my entire life, I’m a 20 year old male.. Follow the recipe and don’t forget to soften the butter.. hehe
Amy (Sing For Your Supper) says
These are some of my favorite cookies!! And the dough is FABulous!! 🙂 Great pictures!
Jenn says
I got this recipe from the newspaper a few years ago. If you think its good with vanilla pudding, try butterscotch pudding! AMAZING!!
Maria says
The cookies look very tasty!
Carla Wells says
Interesting. I’d never thought or heard of using pudding mix in cookies! I’ll have to try that!
shelly (cookies and cups) says
Great tip! I will have to try this 🙂
Barbara says
Good heavens! That IS a surprise ingredient! I’ve used vanilla pudding in cakes but never cookies. I assume from what you say (and the photos) that it makes them moist and fluffy. Can’t wait to try this!
grace says
instant pudding mix does wonderful things for cakes, too–i think it definitely adds a moist factor. lovely cookies, and here’s hoping you were able to sate both your chocolate and kiss cravings. 🙂
Sook @ My Fabulous Recipes says
Oh pudding! I’ve never thought of adding pudding to chocolate chip cookie dough. That is an awesome idea and I will definitely try it the next time I crave choc. chip cookies. 🙂
Anna says
Oh, yes! The vanilla pudding recipe is my husband’s favorite. Although, I have to say that we use milk chocolate chips for this one. I think it fits the sweetness of the cookie a little better than semi-sweet.
Cody says
Cool secret ingredient… I’ve heard of using pudding in cakes, but I hadn’t thought of using it in cookies. Now I’m curious.