Candy Cane Chocolate Chip Cookies

Are you ready??

1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant Candy Cane Pudding mix
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla (if you like your stuff REALLY minty, you may want to add 1/2 tsp peppermint extract. I thought they were perfect the next day without the extract)
1/4 teaspoon salt
30 mini candy canes broken into chunks
1 cup Ghiradellli 60% cacao semi-sweet chocolate chips
food coloring, optional

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Cream together butter and sugars (add food coloring, if desired). Beat in pudding mix until blended. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix to combine. Stir in candy pieces and chocolate chips.

Place golf ball sized dough balls on a cookie sheet (I use a baking stone) lined with baking parchment (of course this is optional, but when baking with candy you'll have sticking if you dont). Bake at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes. Do not over-bake! Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet before moving to a cooking rack. Store in air-tight container (I suggest doing this while they're still a little warm if you like your cookies on the chewy side)