Award-Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Christmas is officially over, and we had a very merry Christmas, indeed. I thought I would share Jonathan's favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I have another chocolate chip cookie recipe on the blog (found here), which may be my favorite, but this is Jonathan's fav hands-down. This is a recipe I modified from allrecipes.com.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
1 (3.4 oz.) package instant vanilla pudding
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract (use good quality!)
2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. chopped walnuts (optional--I don't use them, but it sounds good)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder together. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding powder until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture gradually. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips (and nuts, if desired).

Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets (I like to line mine with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, but this is purely preference). Bake for 10-11 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Soft and chewy :)