Candy Cane Pudding Cookies -- posted by Jessica

I think these cookies are some of the best Christmas cookies I have ever baked, and I've baked a ton of different cookies over the years! I had a box of Jello instant pudding mix - candy cane flavor - left over from last Christmas that needed to be used. I wanted to try something different with it rather than just making pudding (although it does make good pudding with a pretty pink color (from all the red 40, I know, I know! LOL) What-ev.
Anyhoo, I found a recipe online for pudding cookies and decided to use that recipe with a few changes. I had a couple of candy canes so I crushed those up on my mini chopper and stirred those into the cookie dough for some extra peppermint punch! These cookies turned out moist and delicious! Very holiday-ish! And so soft and chewy; my favorite kind of cookie!

Candy Cane Pudding Cookies

1/2 cup butter softened
1/4 cup plain yogurt (I did not have any yogurt at the time, so I used 1 Tb vegetable oil)
3/4 cup brown sugar (I used 2/3 cup since the pudding mix is already quite sweet)
1/4 cup white sugar (I used 2 Tb)
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 box (4 serving size) candy cane pudding mix
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 c. flour
2 crushed candy canes

Cream the butter, oil and sugars. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the pudding mix, salt, soda and flour. Gradually beat or stir into the creamed mixture. Stir in the crushed candy canes. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking pans and bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes. Cool for about a minute to set them up a bit then remove to a cooling rack. They soften a bit once they have been put into containers, so layer them with sheets of parchment or wax paper to prevent them from sticking to each other.  I got about 2 1/2 dozen.