Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies

Even though it is quite a long time after Christmas, it seems like I still have a lot of random candy sticking around the house. Where did it all come from? I’m sure some of it was Christmas candy, some Easter, and other sorts of travel snacks that we’ve picked up here and there. Trying to be thrifty, I decided that I would use up at least one type of candy in some cookies. I had about a cup of Reese’s Pieces, and I went looking for recipes with that as the inspiration.

There are lots of recipes, but most of them are basically chocolate chips cookies (or bar cookies) with Reese’s Pieces. This recipe was a little different, using pudding mix in the dough. I have made other cookies with pudding mix in the dough and it usually makes a lovely cookie. Yes, these cookies are not super fancy, but you really can’t go wrong with cookies with peanut butter, chocolate chips, and Reese’s Pieces.

I didn’t vary this recipe too much, although the original recipe had the optional extra ingredient of dried banana pieces. Since I dislike bananas greatly, I excluded them! I made these cookies a little bigger than I normally do; they don’t spread very much either. I made 4 dozen cookies from this batch of dough. These cookies are really soft and chewy, probably from the pudding mix in the dough. They taste like peanut butter chocolate chips cookies, but then you get a bite of the Reese’s Pieces and get a burst of peanut butter flavor!

Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3.4 ounce box instant vanilla pudding

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup Reese's Pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium for one minute after each addition. Stir in the honey and vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and instant pudding mix. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture; do not over beat. Stir in the chocolate chips and Reese’s Pieces with a spatula.

Spoon onto the prepared baking sheets, using about 1-1/2 tablespoons dough per cookie. 

Bake for 11-13 minutes, until the cookies are barely browned along the edges. The tops of the cookies may look too pale, but the cookies will set as they cool. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Inside BruCrew Life