These pudding cookies are soft, sweet, and all dressed up in red, white, and blue for the 4th of July. Happy birthday, America.

Is there such a thing as too many pudding cookies?
I know I post about pudding cookies pretty often (go ahead and take a look). But there's a good reason for it. They are consistently delicious! Plus I think that they come out being good looking cookies just about every time, too. There's nothing wrong with an ugly cookie (provided that it tastes good), but ugly cookies aren't exactly photogenic for a food blog.
Pudding cookies are also endlessly customizable. Switch up the mix-ins and pudding flavors to suit your needs. I obviously went red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July, but you can switch things up for any holiday or occasion.

What ingredients go into these cookies?
- Butter: I (almost) always use unsalted butter, to better control the saltiness of the final product.
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar imparts a chewiness to these cookies, in addition to helping sweeten them.
- Egg: It's an egg. Just 1 large chicken egg.
- Vanilla extract: Use the stuff you buy at the store or make your own!
- Vanilla instant pudding: They are pudding cookies, after all! Using instant pudding mix makes these cookies nice and soft, and also gives them a stronger vanilla flavor.
- Baking soda, Kosher salt, all-purpose flour: Pretty standard stuff.
- Red, white, and blue sprinkles: Sprinkles will go in the dough as well as on top of the cookies.
- Red, white, and blue M&Ms candies: Same thing with the M&Ms; they go in the dough and then some get pressed into the tops of the cookies.
One of the fun things about these cookies, in my opinion, is that you can switch up the colors of the sprinkles and M&Ms depending on the season, your mood, or whatever. Want to make these for Valentine's Day? Go red, pink, and white. Cheering on your favorite team? Go with your team's colors!
How do these cookies come together?
It's a pretty standard cookie recipe, really. Butter and sugar get creamed together until light and fluffy. Egg and vanilla extract go in next.
Next, the dry ingredients meet the wet. Add a bunch of sprinkles and M&Ms for festive-ness.
Scoop the dough balls out onto a cookie sheet and stash them in the fridge or freezer for a while. DO NOT skip this step. Not chilling the dough will likely result in them spreading wayyyyyy out when baked.
After the dough has chilled, bake those cookies! Press additional M&Ms into the top of the dough once they come out, and let 'em cool completely.

Want to see more pudding cookies? Check these out:
- Confetti Pudding Cookies
- Chocolate Cookies and Cream Pudding Cookies
- Lemon White Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
Where did this recipe come from?
This recipe is adapted from one found on Crazy for Crust.
✨ Recipe

Firecracker Pudding Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 tbs unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3.4 oz 1 box instant vanilla pudding mix
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup red white, and blue sprinkles
- ¾ cup red white, and blue M&Ms, plus more for pressing into the top of the cookies
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add the pudding mix, baking soda, and kosher salt. Mix until combined. Add the flour. Mix again until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed. Add the sprinkles and M&Ms and mix on medium-high speed until they are well distributed throughout the cookie dough.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop ~1.5 tbs balls of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.
- When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the chilled balls of cookie dough on the prepared baking sheets, approximately 2 inches apart. Bake 9-11 minutes, or until the edges just start to turn brown.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and press additional M&Ms into the warm cookies, if desired. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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