Secret Ingredient Sugar Cookies are made from a tried and true recipe in which the secret ingredient is a box of instant pudding mix. I first tried the pudding mix sugar cookies years ago and they've been a hit with soft sugar cookie fans ever since.
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I still get a laugh out of what motivated me to try them. It was this. How could I resist?
After baking the cookies I gathered reviews from my own group and had similar reactions, including a thumbs up from my daughter who really loved them. For sugar cookies, or any cookies, instant pudding mix cookies sugar cookies are excellent. They're soft in the middle, have crispy edges and a whole lot of flavor from the vanilla pudding mix.
Still Making Pudding Mix Cookies!
A (couple) decade(s) later I am still making Secret Ingredient Sugar Cookies! They still get compliments and the recipe makes a ton of cookies. If you don't need 80 or so cookies, you can halve it. I put measurements for a half batch in the notes. Also, you can make these with lemon instant pudding mix rather than vanilla. Just use lemon flavored pudding mix and maybe throw in a little fresh lemon zest.
Secret Ingredient Sugar Cookie Updates
This recipe has always worked well for people so I didn't want to mess with it, but it really was in need of updates. I made a few changes including adding the baking soda, cream of tartar and salt directly to the batter. This saves time and dishes. I also adjusted the salt. The old recipe just called for salted butter and no salt. I think even with salted butter, these benefit from ¼ teaspoon of salt. With unsalted butter, they need full teaspoon. That might not seem like a lot of salt for a recipe with 4 cups of flour, but pudding mix has a decent amount of salt in it.
Cookie Size
When made as directed with a small scoop or a level tablespoon, you should get about 80 cookies that are a little over half oz each. I usually make them a bit bigger and get 40 cookies.If you make them larger they'll need to bake longer, of course. The good news is it's hard to overbake these soft sugar cookies thanks to the pudding mix. I actually like them baked a little "browner" because they have crisper edges and (again) don't lose that soft center.
Pudding Mix Snickerdoodles
I don't know why I didn't try it sooner, but this recipe works well for Snickerdoodles. Just roll the dough in cinnamon sugar before baking
Sugar Cookies Without Pudding Mix
This recipe actually came from one that didn't originally include instant pudding mix. To make the cookies without the pudding mix, just follow the recipe and leave it out. The cookies should be similar to Sawdust Cookies.
Recipe
Secret Ingredient Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter (230 grams)
- 1 cup vegetable oil (safflower works really well!)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
- 1 cup powdered sugar (114 grams)
- 1 package instant vanilla or lemon pudding mix (3.4 oz size)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon salt, but reduce to ¼ teaspoon if using salted butter**
- Sprinkles optional
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (weigh or aerate your flour and measure with a light hand) (500 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, preferably a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the softened butter, oil and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add the dry pudding mix, eggs and vanilla and beat until fully blended, scraping the side of the bowl.
- Add the baking soda, cream of tartar and salt and stir well, then beat for about 30 seconds to make sure the leavening agents are evenly distributed. Add the flour one cup at a time, stirring by hand or using low speed of the mixer. Batter should be fairly soft and easy to scoop.
- Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches. apart or use a tablespoons size (small) cookie scoop. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar or skip the sugar and the glass and just press down and add sprinkles.
- Bake at 350° for 10 minutes (for small cookies or 12-15 minutes for larger cookies or until lightly browned. Remove from tray and let cool on wire rack.
Notes
For a half batch, use 1 stick butter, ½ cup each – oil, sugar, powdered sugar, 1 egg, ½ tsp. vanilla, ½ box of pudding mix, 2 cups flour, ½ each cream of tartar and baking soda and salt.
Anna says
Jennifer, I think it would work! You could always experiment and put the sprinkles in a section of the dough first.
Jennifer says
how do you think this cookie would hold up to sprinkles being mixed into the batter for a Funfetti-type cookie? I'm intrigued by this recipe, but also wanted to possibly do a Funfetti cookie (but would rather not do 2 sugar cookies with sprinkles!)
thank you!
Anna says
Thanks Katy! I'm so glad you like the recipe. If you're ever in the mood for chewy sugar cookies and want to try another recipe, I recommend this one. https://www.cookiemadness.net/2013/10/my-new-favorite-sugar-cookies/. You can't go wrong with the pudding mix cookies, though.
Katy Belle says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I've been using it for a few years. People always love them. They are super easy, festive looking, and the recipe makes a lot of cookies. I'm taking 6 dozen to Tuba Christmas today!
Mia says
Thank you so much for your response. I will try substituting the vanilla pudding for pumpkin spice pudding and see how that goes. I am looking for a sugar cookie but with pumpkin puree in it. I have had some really good pumpkin cookies but they are too cakey. If you know of any recipe that is sugar cookie and has pumpkin puree and pumpkin spices let me know. Thank you again 🙂
Have a beautiful day
Anna says
Mia, your cookie sounds really good! My only concern is that when you add pumpkin to it, the moisture from the pumpkin will make the cookie soft. Unless you can find some kind of pumpkin extract or dehydrated pumpkin powder, the only thing I can think of that would work would be to add the spice blend you mentioned or some pumpkin pie spice. Another thing that just occurred to me is that if you can find the seasonal Jell-O brand pumpkin flavored pudding, you could add that. Let me know if you need a great pumpkin cookie recipe because I've got lots of them, but I do think adding pumpkin to this one might take away from it's crispy texture.
Mia says
These are amazing 🙂 Thank you for these cookies.
With it being fall could I turn these cookies into a pumpkin cookie?
This what I was thinking of trying as a half batch first, do you think these would hold up with the below add-ins?
I was thinking of adding 1/2 cup or 1/4 cup pumpkin puree canned along with
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Thank you 🙂
Anna says
Lily, I think they'd be a little sweet, but I'm sure people will do it anyway.
Anna says
Hi Ann,
No, they are on the crisp side.
Ann says
Are these cookies cake like?
Lily says
Would these cookies hold up to a ganache filling that would turn them into sandwich cookies for the holidays ?
Thank you 🙂
andi winslow says
Hi Anna, I have made these wonderful cookies from your blog and they are posted today. Check them out. Excellent sugar cookies. Easy to work with. Thanks for a great recipe. It's a keeper. andi
thewednesdaybaker.blogspot.com
M K says
Oops I meant love your blog! I hate typos!
M K says
Thanks Anna! I ended up making the rest of the batch with my nephews the next day. They made great Spritz cookies last night! The rest of the dough is frozen and I will thaw and use the press with my nephews on Xmas eve (way easier and less messy than rolling and flattening with a glass). Seriously, these are the BEST cookies I've ever made! I'm thrilled and will make sure I always have a couple of boxes of instant vanilla pudding on hand! Love you blog!
Anna says
Hi MK,
Glad you liked the cookies! If it were me, I'd freeze the dough. The freezer won't hurt the texture of the baked cookies and you won't lose any flavor. Just make sure to wrap the dough tightly. I've found Glad Press & Seal plus a freezer bag works well.
M K says
I just made these and they turned out delicious! Only made half a recipe and made a 1 1/2 dozen to start. The rest of the dough is covered in wax paper in a ziplock bag. Will this keep for a week? I just don't want the delicate flavor to get messed up in the freezer. Please advise!
cait says
i substituted applesauce for the oil and they were delish 😀
Molly says
This looks great. I can't wait to try it out. I've put pudding mix in chocolate chip cookies and those were tasty!!
Melanie says
Considering the large yield, would it be possible to freeze a portion of the dough for later use?
Lourdes says
These cookies were fantastic! I made the mistake of creaming the butter and sugar first, then adding the oil. I started to panic, as the batter looked like cake batter. Once all of the flour was added, it looked better, but I was a little worried. Luckily, they all turned out just perfect anyway. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Steph says
I just finished making two batches of this recipe. After the kids started devouring the first batch, I knew I better make another.
I used the same techniques described in the Unix Chocolate Chip... really long creaming time for butter/oil -- until really light and almost white. Then creamed in the sugar for a good 3 minutes and added the beaten eggs/vanilla over a four minute mixing time.
I ended up with the most delicious, bumpy, soft in the middle, crunchy on the edges cookie. Really great! I used lemon pudding, but they really don't taste too lemony.
Laura says
I hate the taste of vanilla pudding mix, so I was unsure if I would like these, but they were really good. I had already mixed up the batter when I realized that I had the cook-and-serve rather than instant pudding mix. They tasted great but didn't look as puffy as yours look in the photo (mine were very flat). Do you think the type of pudding would cause that difference? Regardless, the cookies were popular with my friends.
Anna says
Hooray! Glad I'm not the only one who likes these.
Kitty, thanks for mentioning the baking powder substitution. I'll have to add a note. I wonder 1 teaspoon of baking powder would work.
kitty62 says
omg! these are the best!!! only thing i changed in the recipe was the cream of tartar because i didnt have any. i substituted the cream of tartar and baking soda, with 2 teaspoons of baking powder and i thought they were wonderful. yum - o!!!!! im puting this recipe right next to the chocolate chip recipe that i got off of this site. mmmmm cookie heaven.
C L says
Popular was an understatement! I took just over 4 dozen large cookies to work...the 2 left at the end of shift were spoken for...did I mention we had only 7 drivers today? LOL I will definitely make these again. I'd like to try them with semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips or chunks too. Thank you, Anna, for posting this recipe! 🙂
C L says
These sugar cookies are fantastic! i just baked a batch and will make these again. The only changes I made were to chill the dough overnight (due to my schedule), and to make the dough balls 2 tablespoons of dough each because the "cookie hounds" at work like bakery size cookies. The taste is just right, and I know they will be very popular at work. 🙂
Lynette says
I just baked a batch of these cookies, and I totally agree--they are perfect! I was afraid of the pudding because I'm not a fan of the chocolate chip cookies with it, but these are just the perfect consistency and taste. I baked them for 11 minutes, and they came out soft and heavenly. Thanks so much, Anna. I love your blog!
janet says
I just made these and they are the best!!! So easy and they tasted delicious! i was surprised, honestly, vanilla pudding??? Thanks so much, Anna! I'll be making this recipe instead of my regular roll out cookie recipe!
Martha says
I noticed this recipe in the Taste of Home Cookies Cookbook (my newest cookie cookbook purchase) and wondered how they would be since I haven't made many cookies calling for vegetable oil. Glad to hear they are that good and can't wait to try them.
Annette says
Sounds good! I am going to try these sounds.
Amanda says
Ooohhh I may have to try those! I have a big batch of homemade vanilla pudding mix, so this would be a good recipe to use some up on 🙂
Anna says
Gloria, I'm interested in your cookies! Email me the recipe if you have the time. Would love to try it.
Sue, I have made a couple of different chocolate chip cookie recipes with pudding. Usually they are very moist -- borderline cakey, but dense and good.
Ghislaine, I just used Jell-O brand instant. I might make these again with lemon or coconut flavor.
Janet, I think these would spread too much for cut-outs.
Melissa, thanks for the wine tip! If there's anything I like as much as cookies, it's red wine. Preferably inexpensive but good. I haven't tried Tin Roof, but have seen it and will get some.
Shelly, believe it or not the cookies are light and crisp. I thought they might be chewy, but they weren't chewy at all.
Clara, your cookie looks great! They almost appear to have oatmeal in them, but I see that the recipe doesn't call for it. The one I use (pudding cookie) is the allrecipes cookie where in the intro, the person says her daughter "Tegan" won a prize. Every time I hear the name "Tegan" I think of pudding cookies.
I will have to email you about NYC recs. Milk Bar and Levain are a must, but try to hit City Bakery for a pretzel/croissant. There are a few others I've tried, but I'm sure new ones have popped up since then.
Clara Curtis says
These look amazing, I've found a chocolate chip cookie recipe with pudding and its VERY good: http://clarabakes.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/when-the-going-gets-tough-the-tough-get-cookies/.
Oh, off topic a bit. For Spring Break (and my 18th birthday, where did my youth go?) my ad is taking me to NYC. I'm going to try to get to Milk Bar and Lavain Bakery, are there any particular cookies that you recommend? I just saw "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on Food Network and Rocco DiSpirito said that Levain's double chocolate chip cookies were to die for. I'm having cravings now...
shelly (cookies and cups) says
Love a secret ingredient! Pudding I bet makes it super yummy and chewy!
Melissa (MelissaLikesToEat) says
Hi Anna!!! Thanks for visiting my blog. The Merlot I'm drinking is Tin Roof and it costs about $10 at Costco and I love it. Thanks for the wine rec....it sounds heavenly! Oh how I love wine! 🙂
janet says
Well, you got my attention with this one! I have a cutout sugar cookie recipe I have used for a long time, however, I love to try new recipes. Thanks for this one! I look forward to making them.
Ghislaine says
Anna, this is fascinating! Could you reveal what brand of pudding you used? I find some have quite a bit of an aftertaste.
Melissa (MelissaLikesToEat) says
I, too, have not found a sugar cookie recipe that I like. I'm excited to give these a try. Thanks for sharing!
Sue says
Thinking about sugar cookies and I remembered making sugar cookies from Mary Engelbreit's Cookie Companion. They were a hit. Have you ever made them? The recipe is here: http://lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com/2007/11/joy-of-baking-sugar-cookies.html
The author of that blog used all butter and I think I did too because I never have margarine.
Sue says
One of my good friends has a CCC recipe that she loves above all others and it calls for pudding mix. I don't love them because I swear I can taste the pudding mix. Since you're so smitten with these I'm probably going to HAVE to try them at some point. I love how you're always inspiring me to try new things!
C L says
I must make these! The picture decided it for me! They look simple and yummy! 🙂
Anna says
Hi Amalia!
Like you said, It's not really a large amount of butter and oil if you consider the proportions. There are 4 cups of flour and a pack of pudding mix to buffer the fat. So while I wouldn't call these low fat cookies, they're not much worse than most other crispy sugar cookies ounce for ounce. And ounce for ounce they are still lower in fat than shortbread because they have sugar and eggs to buffer the flour and (huge amount!) of butter that you usually find in shortbread.
Thanks for the link to those chewy cookies. I'll try to make them this week. Love your blog!
Amalia says
Wow that's a large amount of butter and oil! but is a large batch of cookies right?
I've been also searching for a perfect sugar cookie and I found the ULTIMATE chewy one, I dont think I need to try other ones, seriously, is THAT good. I just posted them on my blog
http://buttersweetmelody.blogspot.com/ I wrote about how I found them and the link to the original recipe. I think the story of the girl is quite cute and interesting (: It was a strike of luck to find these, but they are extremedly chewy, delicate and perfect!
Gloria says
These look delicious! I've never heard of adding pudding mix, but it makes cakes and Amish friendship bread even better so why not cookies? I usually add a small amt of almond flavoring to my sugar cookies to give them a kick....I have an excellent recipe for chanukah sugar cookies if anyone is interested-they also take almond and cream of tartar...Clipped it out of the newspaper about 15 years ago. It just happened to be my old best friend's mom's recipe plus they had her picture and an article about her!
Bev says
I'll have to give these a try. My favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie also takes a box of instant vanilla pudding.
Anna says
Tracy, I don't think this dough would make good cut-outs.
Tracy says
Would this dough stand up to cut-outs and decorating?
Kerstin says
I love sugar cookies, but also haven't found a version I'm happy with yet. I'll definitely be trying these - thanks Anna!
Louise says
I have my heart set on a chewy crispy sugar cookie like I have in my food memory. My dad and I used to get them at a bakery where we also got huge elephant ears. It's an endless search. 🙁
Angelica Macklin says
I can't wait to try these. I have yet to find a sugar cookie recipe that I'm totally happy with. Thanks for posting!