Recipe: Best Ever Soft-Baked Choc Chip Cookies??

I'm still very much a beginner at baking stuff, because it requires some sort of precision and technical understanding. I'd much rather cook day-to-day dishes because it allows me to improvise based on whatever I could get my hands on in the fridge!

Of late, I've been researching on the net on Soft-baked Chocolate Chip cookie recipes - because Kays absolutely LOVES them, but always has a hard time looking for good soft-baked cookies. So far, his choices have been limited to Subway & Pepperidge Farm (sold at supermarkets), and we always wished that Marks & Spencer would stock something like this, but with no such luck. So this weekend I decided to give him a little treat:

 Ah Mak's Soft-baked Chocolate Chip & Macadamia Nut Cookies

After going through various recipes, I'd realised that the common ingredient amongst all of them was Jell-O instant vanilla pudding mix! THAT is the secret to the soft & chewy centre, while the outer crust is nice and crispy.

Another tip when trying out recipes from the net. If you're not experienced or not sure whether you'd like it, reduce the portions stated in the recipes PROPORTIONATELY so that you don't end up with a huge batch of food which you don't like. Since this is the first time ever I've tried out cookies, and I'm always worried that they'd turn out too sweet or too many, I halved the original recipe and and luckily so because it still yielded almost 25-30 cookies!

This recipe is so amazingly simple, and best of all, minimal washing required! The family was happily chowing them down and Kays has requested for white chocolate chips + cranberries next, and Mous suggested sultanas/ raisins~. The dough is standard, so knock yourselves out coming up with new combinations!

Yields 25-30 Cookies (depending on size)
Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups All Purpose/ Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup Butter (approx 230g) - softened at room temperature and cubed
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Caster Sugar
1 pack (1.5oz) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped Macadamia nuts (I was too lazy to chop them up and decided they'd have giant chunks instead!)

All ingredients are easily accessible 

(instant vanilla pudding mix can be found at Cold Storage/ Marketplace outlets)

Directions:
1. Preheat Oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
2. Sift together Flour & Baking Soda, set aside.
3. In a mixer with paddle attachment (or if you want to tone up those arms - do it by hand!), cream Butter, Brown & Caster Sugar until smooth & shiny. Add Instant Pudding Mix and blend till well-incorporated.

My Red Kenwood Patissier Mixer - BFF since I discovered baking!

4. Stir in Eggs & Vanilla Essence (at this point the mixture looks a bit gross, like pulpy oatmeal coated in clear jello... but it's normal!)
5. Gradually add in flour and mix till it becomes a nice smooth pasty dough.
6. Remove from mixer and add in Chocolate Chips & Macadamia nuts.
7. Wrap bowl with cling wrap and place in fridge to chill dough for 20 mins.
8. Line baking tray with ungreased baking sheet and spoon dough mixture onto tray. As a rule of thumb each optimal size for me was about half an ice-cream scoop. Allow around 2 inches of space between cookies so that they have room to "grow" in the oven... I was too greedy - scooped too much placed them too close together!! (ref: pics below)
9. Place in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean. Let cool on rack and store chilled in an air-tight container.

See how crowded and fat my cookies became! :(

But thankfully they still turned out alright! 

I had to gently cut them apart when they're done.

I'm happy to report that this recipe is perfect! Not too sweet, just crumbly & crispy enough outside and cake-like soft centre on the inside!

Eat Up!