Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

It seems like everybody has their own special chocolate chip cookie recipe. And, I don't want to toot my own horn, but these cookies are delicious and have come to be known in my family as the BEST chocolate chip cookies EVER. If you like soft chocolate chip cookies (rather than crisp), then this recipe is for you! And guess what? They stay that way!

Sure, anybody can make soft chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven, but these cookies manage to stay soft for however long you can manage to keep them in your house. (Which, by the way, won't really be that long!)

The recipe as written makes approximately 1 million cookies, or maybe it just seems that way. But after you taste them, you'll see why you would want to make the whole recipe and not half it. (They're that good!)

You'll notice that the ones pictured above have been "fancied up" for the Halloween season. I felt like these needed some decoration for a Halloween party. So, I added some orange sprinkles to the cookie dough at the same time I added the chocolate chips:

And these have been dolled up for Christmas:

How much sprinkles you ask? Well, I'm a rebel, so I just eyeballed it and crossed my fingers. I would wager that it was about 4 Tbsp for 1/2 of the recipe. (I made 1/2 of the recipe as regular cookies and then added sprinkles to the remaining cookie dough.) Do what feels right to you.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

4 sticks butter, softened

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2, 3.4 oz. packages instant vanilla pudding mix

4 eggs

2 Tbsp vanilla extract

4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the pudding mix until blended. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture in small increments until all of it is incorporated. Finally, use a spoon to stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.
6. Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheets before moving to cooling racks to cool completely.

I hope you'll give this recipe a try - it's a real winner!