One secret ingredient keeps these Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies chewy and tender for days. It’s a fail proof recipe that always turns out perfectly! These Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies are never cakey or dry – they stay perfectly soft, even after freezing! In This Article Video: Watch Us Make This RecipeWhy This Recipe Stands OutKey Recipe IngredientsSubstitutions And VariationsStep-By-Step Recipe InstructionsHow To Prep AheadCommonly Asked QuestionsSoft Chocolate Chip Cookies RecipeMore To Bake And Eat View more This post may contain affiliate links, at no additional cost to you. Video: Watch Us Make This Recipe Why This Recipe Stands Out These cookies are reminiscent of those soft-batch chocolate chip cookies that were crazy popular in the 80’s, except this homemade version is undeniably better. Here’s why: The Secret Ingredient: The reason these chocolate chip cookies stay decadently soft is because they’re essentially pudding cookies. Instant Vanilla Pudding mix leaves them perfectly soft and luscious. Fail Proof Recipe: These cookies are so easy to make, and they turn out equally delicious every time. Even the kids can help make this treat! Makes a Big Batch: This recipe makes 72 smaller cookies! You read that right… 72! Perfect for passing around at holidays and gatherings. Cookie Dough Stores Well: Like most of our favorite cookie recipes, Soft Chocolate Chip Cookie dough can be made in advance and chilled or frozen for later. Key Recipe Ingredients Butter – Different brands of salted butter have different amounts of salt, so we opt for unsalted butter to keep the results consistent every time. Brown Sugar – We use only brown sugar in this recipe. It balances out the lightness of the pudding mix, so that the cookies still have the deep molasses flavor of classic chocolate chip cookies. Instant Vanilla Pudding – Instant pudding is great in baked goods! It leaves these cookies unbelievably soft for days and adds an extra kick of vanilla flavor. Eggs – Eggs bind all the ingredients together in our cookies and help them hold their shape while baking. Chocolate Chips – We usually opt for semi-sweet chocolate chips for cookies, but chocolate minis and chunks work great too! Substitutions And Variations Here are some simple variations to Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies: Add your Favorite Mix-Ins: Try mixing in chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, pistachios, white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or coconut like we do in this recipe for Chewy Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies. Double the Chocolate: Make Double Chocolate Chip Cookies by replacing the vanilla pudding mix with chocolate pudding mix and adding more chopped chocolate chunks. Add Toppings: We love sprinkling some coarse sea salt on top of these cookies for a finishing touch. Another decadent topping is this 4-Ingredient Salted Caramel Sauce. Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions In a large bowl, combined flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add pudding mix, and beat until incorporated. Add eggs and vanilla to butter mixture and beat until incorporated. Add dry ingredients and fold until barely combined. Add in chocolate chips and mix into the dough. Cover dough and let chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Then, form 1″ balls of dough and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350F for 8 minutes or just until edges are golden. Let cool and enjoy! For full list of ingredients and instructions, see recipe card below. How To Prep Ahead Check out our simple tips for making these Chocolate Chip Cookies in advance: Chill Dough Overnight or Longer: Although the dough only needs to chill for up to 1 hour, you can chill it overnight and bake the next day. The dough will just need to sit at room temp until it’s pliable enough to work with. Freeze Cookie Dough Balls: Dough balls can be flash frozen on a parchment-lined baking sheet and transferred to a freezer-safe container to bake whenever you like. You can bake them straight from frozen; they’ll just take a couple extra minutes to bake. Store Baked Cookies: Baked cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temp for up to 3 days. After that you can refrigerate them for a week or freeze them for up to 1 month. They stay unbelievably soft! Commonly Asked Questions What can I substitute for the pudding mix in this recipe? Unfortunately, there really isn’t a good substitute for the pudding mix when making these cookies. However, you can still get totally soft and delicious cookies without pudding mix. Check out our recipe for Forever Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. Why do you only use brown sugar in this recipe? While we sometimes use a mixture of granulated and brown sugar for chocolate chip cookies, we find that only using brown sugar is best for these vanilla pudding chocolate chip cookies. The pudding mix makes the cookies extra light and fluffy, and the brown sugar helps them still have that signature deep molasses flavor that makes chocolate chip cookies so good! How can I tell when Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies are done baking? When baking any chocolate chip cookie, you’ll know they’re done when the edges turn golden-brown, but the center still looks slightly underdone. Even a slightly glossy top is totally fine, as they’ll finish cooking as they cool. How do I prevent my cookies from turning out too flat? First, make sure you’re not over-mixing the wet and dry ingredients. Gently fold them together until barely combined and then very gently fold in the chocolate chips. Second, make sure you’re chilling your cookie dough long enough. The dough will need to sit in the fridge for up to 1 hour before baking. These two tips will ensure your cookies turn out perfect every time. Print Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies One secret ingredient keeps these Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies chewy and tender for days. It's a fail proof recipe that always turns out perfectly! Course DessertCuisine AmericanDiet VegetarianMethod Bake Prep Time 20 minutes minutesCook Time 8 minutes minutesTotal Time 28 minutes minutes Servings 72 Calories 181kcal Author Amy Dong Ingredients4 ½ cups all purpose flour2 tsp baking soda1 tsp salt2 cups unsalted butter softened just to room temp1 ½ cups brown sugar packed6.8 oz instant vanilla pudding4 large eggs1 TB vanilla4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (minis and chunks work great too!) InstructionsIn a large bowl, add flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together well and set aside.In bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the softened butter and brown sugar on medium high, until light and fluffy. Add packages of pudding mix, and beat until incorporated. Add eggs and vanilla, blending well.Slowly add in the flour mixture. Using dough hook attachment, fold dry and wet ingredients together just until fully incorporatedAdd in chocolate chips and mix into the dough. If it gets too hard to mix, I sometimes use clean hands to work the dough.Cover tightly and chill in fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.Form 1 inch balls of dough and place on baking sheet. Bake about 8 minutes or just until edges look golden brown. Cookies may seem slightly underdone, but they will firm up upon cooling. Do not over bake.Cool on baking sheet about 10 minutes, and remove to wire rack to finish cooling. Video Notes Yields about 72 smaller sized cookies. If you’d like to make them larger, bake a couple minutes longer and just until edges are golden brown and center looks slightly under-baked. Key is not to over-bake.  These cookies keep very well at room temp in an airtight container. Unbaked cookie dough can be tightly wrapped up and frozen for later use. Make sure to pack the brown sugar into your measuring cup firmly for best results. Cookies will look under-baked out of the oven. But don’t worry. They’ll set completely as they cool! These cookies are part of our Delicious Cookie Recipes Collection.    If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and give it a rating. We hearing from you!  Join our Free Recipe Club and get our newest, best recipes each week! NutritionCalories: 181kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 87mg | Potassium: 95mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 178IU | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg More To Bake And Eat Brown Buter Chocolate Chip Cookies – Browning the butter when making chocolate chip cookies creates a toffee-like depth that is unmatched. Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies – A mix between decadent brownies and chewy chocolate chip cookies, this treat is perfect for chocolate lovers! Andes Mint Cookies – Andes Mint Cookies are chewy, minty, and chocolatey – and they freeze well too! M&M Cookies – This recipe is a must-have for our Christmas baking list. M&M Cookies are festive, colorful, and delicious. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies – We love all the melty chocolate and creamy peanut butter in these cookies. Plus, they’re naturally gluten-free! 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