What Vanilla Pudding Mix Does in Chocolate Chip Cookies

Question

My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe has vanilla pudding powder added to an otherwise standard recipe.  I always try to decrease processed food and wondering what that does for the recipe?  It seems to impact the consistency of the cookie (in a good way) and impact more than just vanilla flavor...
Thank you!

Lynn Clark · Accepted Answer

Hi Amy - It's definitely not there for the flavor since there's actually not a whole lot of real vanilla flavor in vanilla pudding mix. Vanilla pudding mix is basically just sugar and cornstarch and it's the cornstarch that is the key ingredient in your cookies. The combination of cornstarch and flour in the cookie is creating an almost cake flour-like hybrid. Cake flour contains a relatively low amount of protein compared to all-purpose flour, which leads to less gluten formation. Cookies made with all cake flour will be very soft even when you've over-baked them. Since chocolate chip cookies are easy to over-bake and can become too crispy quickly, the pudding mix was added as a foolproof way to keep the cookies soft. They will, however, be more cake-y and lack the chew that comes from using higher-protein all-purpose flour, depending on how much cornstarch is in that pudding mix. I would experiment with eliminating the pudding mix and adding a couple of teaspoons of cornstarch to your dough to try to replicate it. Best, Lynn C.

What Vanilla Pudding Mix Does in Chocolate Chip Cookies

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