Pudding Mix Black and White Cookies

Instant pudding mix is such a great "secret" ingredient. A few of the things I use it in are chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies and my great grandmother's "top secret" back of the box lemon cake. And now I have a new use for it -- Pudding Mix Black and White Cookies! This recipe is adapted from one of Food & Wine's best new chefs, Liz Johnson, who had the brilliant idea to put instant pudding mix in Black and White Cookies.

Most of the ingredients are pantry basics and the (very soft) dough is quick to throw together. It does require some chill time, though.

Black and White Cookie Frosting

The chocolate frosting is a quick and easy ganache that calls for melted chocolate, cream and corn syrup. The white frosting is another story. The Food & Wine version calls for ½ cup corn syrup, 2 tablespoons of sugar and an egg white all of which gets boiled to 240, and whipped etc. etc. I tried it, but wasn't a fan. For some reason mine smelled funny and didn't have much flavor so I changed the recipe to an easy white icing that crusts over.

Serving and Storing

The cookies, at least when made as directed, are supposedly better when covered and chilled 24 hours. We thought they were good after a couple of hours. Because I changed the vanilla icing to one with a little butter, the cookies are best stored in the freezer and brought to room temperature when ready to serve.

So here's the slightly new rendition, and thanks to Liz and Food & Wine for sharing.  It's always fun to get a new twist on Black and Whites. As for the original version, you can find it here (their link doesn't work anymore). If you try this one or the original, let me know! Our family really loved the instant pudding twist.

Recipe Note Regarding Pudding Type

This recipe relies on instant pudding mix for structure; substitutions such as cook-and-serve or sugar-free pudding will affect the way the cookies bake.

More Tips -- Testing in 2025

This recipe was originally posted in 2018. I re-tested it in 2025 and the cookies baked up just as well as I remembered. They are nicely shaped and not flat. That said, this is a high-butter dough, so like many classic bakery-style cookies, it benefits from good technique. If your cookies tend to spread, the tips below will help keep them bake up at the proper thickness. Keep in mind that these are not super thick cookies to begin with, as you can see from the photo.

• Soften the butter properly. It should be pliable but still cool to the touch -- not greasy or warm.
• Don't over-cream the butter and sugar. Beat just until smooth and creamy. You're not aiming for light and fluffy here.
• Use room temperature eggs so they emulsify smoothly into the butter and sugar.
• Chill the dough as directed. For eve easier slicing, you can place the shaped log in the freezer for about 30 minutes before slicing.
• Bake a test cookie. These bake best at 325°F, but if your test cookie spreads more than you like, increase the oven temperature to 350°F for the remaining batch.

• Black Bottom Cupcakes
• Favorite Black and White Cookies
• Sugar Cookie Mix Black and White Cookies
• Old Fashioned Black Walnut Pound Cake
• Easy Black and Orange Cookies

Recipe

Black and Whites Instant Pudding Mix

Anna

Black and White Cookies made with a secret ingredient -- instant vanilla pudding mix.

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Prep Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 42 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 20

Ingredients

 

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (180 grams)
• 1 box instant pudding mix, vanilla flavor (95 grams)
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or scrape out a vanilla bean
• 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, cut into chunks (180 grams)
• ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (180 grams)
• 2 large eggs

Black Frosting

• 3 oz 70% cacao dark chocolate
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup

White Frosting (this makes plenty)

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (56 grams)
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar (230 grams)
• 2-3 tablespoons whole milk plus more as needed
• ¼ teaspoon of vanilla can use regular or clear
• pinch of salt

Instructions

 

• Whisk together the flour, pudding mix, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating and scraping sides of bowl, then beat in the vanilla extract.
• Add the flour mixture and stir by hand to form a very soft yellow dough. Cover bowl and chill for about 30 minutes.
• Scrape dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a log. Wrap log and chill for an hour or until firm.
• To form the cookies you have a couple of options. You can cut ½ inch rounds or you can flatten out the dough and punch 2 ½ inch rounds. This really depends on how good you are at making perfectly round logs.
• After forming about 20 rounds, arrange them 2 ½ inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time at 325 degrees F. for about 15 minutes or until edges just start to brown.
• Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on sheets, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• To make the chocolate frosting, heat the 3 tablespoons of cream with the corn syrup just until it starts to boil. I did this in the microwave and it took about 30 seconds. You can also use a saucepan. Combine with the chopped chocolate and stir until mixture is smooth. Let cool slightly and then carefully spread over half of each cookie. Allow the black to set while you prepare the white frosting. I recommend putting the cookies in the refrigerator to set it quickly. It makes things less messy when adding the white.
• To make the white frosting, mix together the softened butter and sugar, then add 1 tablespoon of the milk. Beat until blended and keep adding milk until the icing is smooth and thin enough to spread. Beat in vanilla and salt. Pipe or just carefully spread icing on other half of cookies. You''ll probably have some left.
• If you have some freezer space, put the cookies in a container with a lid that won't touch the frosting, then let them freeze. When frozen, transfer to a freezer bag and store in the freezer. Allow the cookies to come to room temperature before serving.

Notes

The measurements from the magazine are 1 ½ cups of flour and 6 ⅜ oz. This is a pretty light measurement for 1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour but pretty much exactly the weight of 1 ½ cups of cake flour. If you are using all-purpose, I recommend weighing the flour. If you don't have a scale, stir the flour well and measure with a very light hand.

Keyword Black & White Cookies, Instant Pudding Mix

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