Chocolate Chip Cookies + hurricane!

Here on the east coast of Virginia we're getting ready for Hurricane Hermine to make its way up. We're usually not too intimidated by impending hurricanes since most of the time we're protected by the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Usually it hits there first and and is less intense by the time it gets to us here in Hampton Roads. We haven't been hit hard in a good 5 years though, the last big one we had was Hurricane Irene, so who knows?! We can already feel the storm coming though. It's a good 10 degrees cooler today than it has been the last couple of days and pretty breezy so I figured I should at least be somewhat prepared and ran to the grocery store for some essentials. I grabbed some water, batteries, milk and a few non perishables for Reaghan. Of course, thinking about staying up late tonight watching the storm roll in made me think of needing snacks. Right?! So I grabbed some ingredients for some chocolate chip cookies!!

I realized as I was baking the cookies that I've never shared my favorite Chocolate Chip Recipe on here before. I found it about 2 years ago and I promise you, they've turned out perfect every. single. time. (Okay, except for one this one time that I accidentally grabbed cook&serve pudding and not instant pudding and they came out super runny!) I say this because it's totally not me making them turn out so good. This recipe is just that fool-proof.

Also, it stinks making cookies when you're pregnant cause you can't chow down on the cookie dough.  Especially when you're husband keeps coming in and sneaking bites.

I probably wouldn't have even made this last little bit into cookies and would've just eaten it out of the bowl. But alas, raw things + pregnancy = no go. 

Don't judge my poorly spaced out cookies. I was just trying to squeeze the last few on one pan!

My food photography skills could use some serious improvement.

Recipe:

2 sticks of butter (room temperature)

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1/4 cup of sugar

2 eggs

1 (3.4oz) package of vanilla instant pudding 

1 tsp. of vanilla

2 1/4 cup of all purpose flour

1 tsp of baking soda

2 cups of chocolate chips (I prefer using milk chocolate over semi-sweet!)

Directions:

Cream butter and sugars until completely mixed

Add in pudding and vanilla

Add in remaining dry ingredients until just combined

Hand stir in the chocolate chips - don't over mix the dough!

Drop spoonfuls onto baking sheet

Bake 9-10 minutes at 350 degrees! 

**I like to bake mine right at 9 minutes and then let them continue to bake on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes or so out of the oven as they cool. It makes them perfectly ooey-gooey! But cook to your desired gooey-ness!*

And thats it! The yummiest chocolate chip cookies ever! Looking forward to snacking on these later and praying that Hermine is just a little wind and rain as it passes through!

Side Note - if you substitute the vanilla pudding for banana pudding and the milk chocolate chips for white chocolate chips - you won't be disappointed! Discovered this one day by total accident - I was planning on making these cookies with white chocolate chips one day because it's all I had in the house and I'm pretty sure the pudding company accidentally put banana pudding in the vanilla pudding box. Out popped the most delicious cookies I've ever had in my life. I shared with my family and they totally agreed! I recreated it again a week later after I purposely bought banana pudding and they came out exactly the same! So now I have 2 different-ish cookie recipes in one! I'm sort of tempted to try different combos just to see. Like chocolate pudding with white chocolate chips or something like that!