My Grandma Alice was a pretty special lady. She taught me to sew when the ears were coming off of my velveteen rabbit. She started teaching me to crochet, but I was pretty well occupied by straight stitching an entire ball of yarn, so we never got around to the rest. She kept a Game Boy Color at her house for my cousins and I, giving me my first access to video games. She was gossipy and stubborn and a hell of a hard worker. And she loved me unconditionally. Like the Platonic Ideal of grandmotherly love. #GrandmaGoals

When a matriarch like that passes on, her descendants remember her with love, often in the kitchen. My aunt makes her gorgeous, pink, peppermint angel food cake. I make these cookies.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 sticks softened butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 large boxes Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding mix
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. In one large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
2. In another large bowl, mix flour, pudding mix, baking soda, and chocolate chips.
3. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture until incorporated. You may need to knead with your hands towards the end.
4. Form slightly lumpy dough balls on your cookie sheets. (As opposed to rolled into smooth balls, but that’s personal preference.)
5. Bake at 350 degrees 10 minutes, letting sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack