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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Pinterest and Pudding

 
I have spent way too much time on pinterest. In the amount of time that I have spent on pinterest, I could have learned a new language, taught myself how to knit then knitted an entire sweater, painted my entire house, cured diabetes and discovered a new solar system. Ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but, basically, I have logged more hours on pinterest than I probably should have. But hey, I'd say its better than facebook. Instead of feeling really creepy constantly looking at pictures and reading notifications about people I don't even really talk to anymore, at least I'm learning new tips and tricks regarding crafts, cooking and beauty products. (Isn't it amazing how people have pretty much learned how to make everything homemade... maybe we're reverting back to subsistence living)Some of the ideas recorded online and pinned on pinterest have spurred a creative epidemic, teaching even the shopaholic, dinner-out-every-night types to experiment with at home projects and epicurean adventures. I'd say, even if time spent on pinterest may be a little excessive for some, much good has come out of the vast sharing of photos and ideas on the site.
 

 
My personal favorite part of pinterest is the Food and Drink section. Even before I joined pinterest, I would search and peruse countless food blogs looking for exciting new recipes. When I found a recipe I liked, I would copy and paste the instructions onto a work document and save my disorganized findings for later. This became a bit cumbersome after awhile because I had a word document of about 40 pages of random recipes filling up space on my computer. When I found the Food and Drink section on pinterest, I was able to continue my search for creative recipes with an easier method of organization that included pictorial reminders of the dishes I had pinned. It also let me see other people's collections broadening my perspectives of food blogs and creative recipes.



One of those reoccurring recipe ideas I found during my countless hours on pinterest... (I'm going to refer to it as "research" from now on because it sounds better than "useless distraction" and makes me sound all scientific and such)  I mean, during my research was a recipe for pudding cookies. I am NOT a fan of pudding. Ice cream.. defininetly... Jello... sometimes... Pudding... NEVER. So, needless to say, I was skeptical. But blogger after blogger touted the chewy goodness of the resulting cookies after adding pudding to the batter. Despite my disdain for pudding, I am a huge fan of chewy cookies. The softer the better and if they stay soft for more than a day or two, that's fantastic. After enough drool-worthy pictures of pudding cookies on pinterest, my desire for chewiness surpassed my distaste for pudding and I decided to give them a try.
 
My family and I are glad I did. The cookies came out and stayed soft and chewy. The pudding only added a slight flavor, but, with 2 full cups of chocolate chips and other add-ins, the true chocolate chip cookie flavor dominated. My mom ate 2 (sometimes 3) for breakfast for many consecutive days and, once my dad found out about them, they disappeared exponentially faster. So, OK pudding, you win this one, but only because my "research" seamed to be whole-heartedly on your side. You can revel in your victory but I am the real winner because now I have a delicious recipe for SUPER CHEWY cookies.

 
Though I found countless recipes online I adapted mine from Picky Palate. I mean, just look at those pictures on her blog. Pretty convincing scientific evidence, right?

 
Oreo Pudding Cookies
Ingredients
  • 1 stick/1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose Gold Medal Flour
  • 3 tablespoons Oreo Pudding Mix
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I prefer Ghiradelli)
  • 2 King sized bars of Cookies and Cream, cooled and chopped
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with  parchment paper.
  2. In a large mixing bowl cream your butter and sugars until well combined. Add your egg and vanilla mixing to combine. Add your flour, pudding mix, baking soda and salt, stirring to combine. Add chips and m and m’s stirring to combine.
  3. With a medium cookie scoop, place dough 1 inch apart from each other. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cooked through. Let cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.


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