I mean it when I tell you these are the best melt-in-your-mouth fudge cookies you can make. They’re gooey right off the sheet and still perfectly soft days later. Every bite of the deeply rich chocolate flavor demands a cold glass of milk. What I’m saying is you need to do yourself and everyone around you a favor and make a batch right now.
The soft chewy texture is thanks to the secret ingredient of pudding mix. Spoiler alert: you can add pudding mix to almost any cookie recipe and it’ll be amazing. We always add vanilla pudding to our regular chocolate chip cookies, and you can change up the flavors however you want. The go-to for this recipe is chocolate fudge but I’m impatient to try other seasonal flavors like peppermint.
The honest truth is that adding the flavors of espresso, cayenne, and cinnamon brings out the very best of baked goods with dark chocolate. They’re in such small amounts that you couldn’t put your finger on it if you didn’t know they were there. If you’re not feeling it, feel free to leave them out, but give it a try just once – I’m not in love with cinnamon but it just works.
This dough is very different than most cookie doughs. It’s silky and fluffy, almost closer to a very thick cake batter, and irresistible to lick off the spoon and bowl and your fingers. Just make sure not to bake them too long or they lose that magical texture.
Chocolate Chip Fudge Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 3.4 oz. chocolate fudge instant pudding mix
- 2 eggs
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 t. baking soda
- ½ t. salt
- ½ t. instant espresso powder
- ½ t. cayenne
- ¼ t. cinnamon
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 12 oz. chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Cream the butter and sugars in a large bowl until fluffy.
- Beat in the pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla.
- Mix in the cocoa powder, baking soda, and spices until just combined.
- Slowly add the flour and mix until it’s just incorporated, then mix in the chocolate chips.
- Lightly roll into balls and place on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 350° for 10 minutes, just until they aren’t shiny – if you’re not sure, pull them out sooner rather than later!
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a rack.
How much flour do you put?
Whoops! Great question. 🙂 You’ll need 2½ cups flour and 12 oz. chocolate chips.