Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe at Rachel Schultz's blog and decided to give them a try as she lists them as the "Softest Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever", and the recipe uses pudding mix rather than white sugar. Intriguing! Well, the cookies do cook up soft and they do stay soft for days. The only changes I made in Rachel's recipe was that I used sugar-free instant pudding, rather than regular, and semi-sweet chocolate chips, rather than milk chocolate chips. I really like the idea of less sugar in the cookies, though you certainly can't tell from the flavor that they aren't chock full of sugar! Nestles Toll House Cookie recipe calls for 3/4 cup white sugar and 3/4 cup brown sugar. In this recipe I used only 3/4 cup brown sugar, and so I feel much better about eating them at only 1/2 the sugar - I love cookies so I'll take any little rationalization I can get (and no, I'm not even going to think about all the butter that's in them, lol!) Rachel has some great recipes on her site so wander on over if you have the chance. And, these cookies are really worth trying!

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup  butter, softened
• 2 packages instant vanilla pudding (3.4 ounces each), or sugar free instant vanilla pudding
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups chocolate chips (milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl beat butter, brown sugar and pudding mix until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs and combine throughout.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoon size balls onto parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 8 - 11 minutes or until lightly golden.

Enjoy!