Exactly a year ago, I boarded a plane from Denver to Miami and another one to the Dominican Republic. I had no idea what was in store for me. (Maybe I would have stayed home if I had known that breakfasts of saltine crackers slathered in mayo and dinners of greasy, fried cheese awaited me for the whole month of October…) A little over a year ago, I packed up my Kitchen Aid mixer in Seattle, not knowing when or where I would unpack it. I unpacked it a couple weeks ago in Boston, almost a year later. And yesterday, I finally used it.
Instead of welcoming it back with a fancy, complicated dessert, I opted for some simple chocolate chip cookies. Everyone has their own favorite chocolate chip recipe. Or if you’re me, you have multiple favorite chocolate chip recipes. This one has a secret ingredient–pudding mix. Sounds weird, but makes them chewy and fairly dense.
So welcome back Apple Green Kitchen Aid! I’ve missed you and look forward to some more quality time very soon.
Chocolate chip cookies
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 vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups semisweet 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. (the cookies don’t expand much at all, so you can put them close together)Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown. The cookies should look soft and maybe a little underdone when you take them out. They’ll firm up when they cool off.
