Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's been a loooonnnggg time since I've blogged about  baking, that's because I simply haven't baked for a really long time! The reason behind this baking drought is due to the mere fact that I was sick of making muffins - I needed something more challenging (relatively speaking), a recipe where I would actually need my Mom's Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer (which I have now inherited and is at my boyfriend's house! YAY!). And to celebrate such joyous occasion, I made my favorite chocolate chip cookies.


Below are my two loves: my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer and my stack of chocolate chip cookies =)

I've made these chocolate chip cookies once a few years ago back at home and they were a huge hit. They are from allrecipes and again, with a name like "Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies",  5,715 reviews with an average of 4.5 / 5 stars, you cannot possibly go wrong. This is really the chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need - the cookies are perfectly soft and they are thick like those store-bought cookies.

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies - Adapted from allrecipes.

(Yields 36 cookies)

Ingredients

• 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
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1.5 cups of chopped walnuts (optional)

Got this at Longo's. Comes in 3 packages.

2 cups = one package of this.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 

2. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. 

4. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. 

5. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. 

6. Blend in the flour mixture. 

7. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips. 

8. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

9. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Another good thing about these cookies is that they don't spread much at all when they are baking, which means you know exactly how much room to leave in between cookies =)

TADA!!! So here they are, right out of the oven and on to the cooling rack.

The cookies turned out lighter than I wanted because I only had light brown sugar with me at the time (instead of dark brown sugar). Still very yummy though!

I love how stacked cookies look =)

Let me emphasize again that this is the one and only chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need.