Celebrating 1,000 page-views with Instant Pudding...Biscuits??

Happy 1,000 page-views to the IBS blog!!! I still can't believe anyone bothers to read what I have to say about baking (or any topic...) but thank y'all for your kind contributions to making this 'milestone' in blogology :-) Yes, there is a counter that I see when I go behind-the-scenes and write posts, and yes, I do keep an eye on it...but a better measure of 'success' is your feedback in person (or comment!) - and it's much more encouraging, too! So feel free to drop me a line under any post, or if you're on Google + go ahead and message me (my profile is linked on the right-hand side of this page). 

Ok, that's it with the plugs, now onto the noms...

Biscuits (/cookies) as they should be: large, soft and choc chunk-filled.

Well, admittedly they can be other flavours but chocolate was all I felt like. Although I was trying to think of a post worthy of the 1,000 view mark, I couldn't get past the humble biscuit. That, and they were all I baked the entire weekend, after a not-so-subtle hint from the husband!

I looked in my trusty, 'if it can be baked it'll be in there' cook book, the NZ Rally Cook Book 2, and out popped this crazy-sounding recipe: Instant Pudding Biscuits. Because of my afore-mentioned desire not to break copyright, I trawled the internet and easily found replications of this recipe to reference. 

In the depths of the pantry I had stashed a packet of instant dessert mix for a 'rainy day'...

Chocolate was a good start, but several recipes online - including the one from the Greggs website - suggested adding things like nuts. But why add nuts when you can have more chocolate?! Although choc chips go with cookies like...well, I go with cookies, I'd run out and they tend to be at least a dollar more expensive for a smaller packet compared to baking buttons. And chopped up buttons are way more decadent, giving that bought-cookie choc-chunk texture...ooohhh I'm salivating now!!!

Add some sugar, flour and an egg, and you have instant(ish) happiness! Here's the recipe based on the one from a site claiming to speak into the quintessential Kiwi recipe...

Instant Pudding Biscuits (Cookies)

175 grams butter
1 cup sugar
1 packet instant pudding (approx. 70g)
1 & 1/2 cups plain flour
3 Tablespoons cornflour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped up chocolate buttons

Cream butter and sugar until butter is pale yellow and fluffier. 

Before and after - thanks to my ninja Kenwood handbeater!

Add egg and beat until combined, then add instant pudding and beat until combined. Sift flours and baking powder into mixture and stir with a spoon until just combined. Add your chocolate chips/chunks and stir through.

It even looks like instant pud at this stage!

Roll into small teaspoon-sized balls for small biscuits or tablespoon-sized balls for larger ones, place approx. 4cm apart on lined baking trays and flatten each ball slightly with a fork.

It should be noted: when I used the recipe book, the quantity of flour was given by weight and I underestimated it, as well as the butter quantity being more. So I couldn't really roll my mixture and it was very sticky. 

Bake 190 degrees Celsius  for approximately 10 minutes (keeping an eye on the bottom tray, even switching trays in the oven when cooking timeis halfway through, to avoid burning).

This recipe makes between 30 and 50 biscuits, depending on whether you want big or small ones. An addition half a cup of flour (2 cups total) will make the mixture easier to roll, but produce more solid cookies; this recipe makes lovely soft ones that spread as far as you'll let them!

I really think chocolate is unbeatable, but admittedly the instant pudding mix doesn't make much more of a difference than some cocoa and a bit more sugar would. Tasty alternatives could include using butterscotch pudding mix with butterscotch chips (I hear they exist?!), or strawberry pudding mix with dried fruit. Enjoy!