Reese's Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies
These Reese's Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies are loaded with candy. The pudding mix keeps the cookies soft and chewy for days.
These Reese's Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies are loaded with candy. The pudding mix keeps the cookies soft and chewy for days.
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 - 3.4 box instant vanilla pudding
- 1 1/4 cups halved reese's mini peanut butter cups divided
- 1 cup mini reese's pieces divided
- Carbohydrate 19.5111584366752 g
- Cholesterol 23.9968750129556 mg
- Fat 11.9779411648037 g
- Fiber 0.462833916887091 g
- Protein 1.30402434116427 g
- Saturated Fat 6.85416018925146 g
- Serving Size 1 1 cookie (44g)
- Sodium 848.641847173141 mg
- Sugar 19.0483245197881 g
- Trans Fat 0.769501768978885 g
- Calories 183 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Beat the butter until creamy. Add the peanut butter and sugars and beat again.
- Add the eggs, honey, and vanilla and beat until mixed in.
- Stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and pudding mix. Slowly add to the butter mixture until everything is mixed in.
- Stir in the chocolate chips, 1 cup peanut butter cups, and 3/4 cup Reese's Pieces gently. Use a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop to make 36 dough balls. Press the remaining candy into the tops of the dough balls.
- Place the dough balls on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Let rest on the hot cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then gently move to a piece of parchment paper. Let the cookies cool completely before storing in a tightly sealed container.
Why does adding a dry box of instant vanilla pudding mix fundamentally change the internal crumb structure of a standard drop cookie? Commercial pudding mixes contain modified starches, specifically pregelatinized starches that bind free water molecules aggressively and prevent the starches in all-purpose flour from fully crystallizing during the oven stage. This chemical quirk traps moisture efficiently, yielding a soft and yielding center that resists staling far longer than a traditional flour-and-sugar formula. Professional bakers frequently exploit this specific commercial additive to extend shelf life without relying on chemical humectants or complicated dough-stretching techniques.
- Cream the softened butter and sugars thoroughly for at least three minutes to incorporate tiny air pockets that allow the baking soda to expand the heavy peanut butter dough evenly.
- Judge the correct doneness visually by observing the edges; they should appear set and lightly golden while the center retains a slightly glossy, underbaked appearance before resting on the hot pan.
- Allow the baked cookies to sit undisturbed on the warm baking sheet for precisely two minutes so the residual heat finishes setting the fragile structure without overcooking the bottoms.
