Hot Chocolate Cookies are everything you love about a mug of hot cocoa, baked into cookie form. With rich chocolate flavor, gooey marshmallow, and a drizzle of melted chocolate on top, they're the kind of treat that both kids and adults will love!
Jump to:
What do you crave when the weather outside is frightful? Hot chocolate, of course.
Today I have a recipe to share with you that will pair perfectly with your hot cocoa on a cold snow day... hot chocolate cookies!
These cookies are an easy-to-make special treat made with rich chocolate and topped with a marshmallow, just like all good hot chocolate is.
While I'm presenting them as the perfect winter treat, I don't think anyone would complain about hot chocolate cookies in the middle of summer (you can always call them frozen hot chocolate cookies if you prefer!).
❤️ Why this recipe works
Multiple kinds of chocolate: not only do these cookies contain cocoa powder, but they're also packed with chocolate chips and they have a melted chocolate drizzle on top.
Visible marshmallow tops: instead of baking the marshmallows into the cookies, I add them when the cookies need just a couple minutes more of baking. This keeps them looking pretty and delicious.
Dry milk powder is used: this ingredient adds a little dairy sweetness and helps boost the "hot chocolate" flavor without extra liquid that would make the dough too thin and cause spreading.
Made with melted butter: instead of creaming butter with sugar, I use melted butter for these to make the cookies fudgy and a little dense, almost like brownies would be.
No special equipment needed: I usually use a stand mixer or hand mixer for my cookie recipes, but since this one uses melted butter, you just need two mixing bowls and a whisk and spatula.
Fun to decorate: I love using snowflake sprinkles in the wintertime, but you can decorate these cookies with any sprinkles you want to fit any occasion.
🗒 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make these fun hot chocolate cookies (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- All-purpose flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Dry milk powder: if you don't have this, you can replace with 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour. You could also use malted milk powder or coffee creamer powder.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips
- Marshmallows (large)
- Melted chocolate: you can melt chocolate chips or use melting wafers
- Sprinkles
🍪 Recipe tips
- After you melt the butter, let it cool just slightly so that it doesn't melt the sugars.
- Mix your dough until just combined, taking care not to over-mix.
- Chill dough for 20-30 minutes in the bowl. This will help prevent the cookies from spreading in the oven.
- If you chill the dough longer than 30 minutes, let the bowl sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften slightly.
- I use a #40 cookie scoop, which is roughly 2 tablespoon of cookie dough to form balls. This is the perfect size to fit a marshmallow half on top, but you can make your cookies whatever size you want.
- Cut the marshmallows in half width-wise before adding to cookies.
📧 Email Me This Recipe
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
- I recommend baking the cookies for about 8 minutes, until the edges are just set, but the centers are still a little underbaked. Pull them out of the oven, top with marshmallow halves, and put back to bake for another 2 minutes, until marshmallows have softened and puffed a bit.
- Let the cookies completely cool on a metal rack before decorating.
- You can decorate the cookies however you want, but I highly recommend a chocolate drizzle and the sprinkles of your choice.
These are the kinds of cookies that both kids and adults will absolutely love. They're super rich and chocolatey and the marshmallow adds a sweet and gooey center.
Plus, they are so fun looking! And go perfectly with a mug of hot chocolate on a cold wintry day.
But I also wouldn't say no to a hot chocolate cookie in the middle of summer. They truly work for any time and for anyone who enjoys the rich chocolate and marshmallow combination.
⏲️ How to store
You can store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3-4 days.
To prevent marshmallows from sticking, I recommend placing parchment paper or wax paper between cookie layers.
You can also feel free to freeze these cookies for up to 2 months. I recommend freezing the baked cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet until firm and then transferring them to a freezer-safe bag or container.
🎉 Variations on recipe
Just like you can make hot chocolate in a million different ways, there are tons of little twists you can put on these cookies!
Here are some ideas:
- Add a little peppermint extract for peppermint hot chocolate cookies
- Add a little cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne for Mexican hot chocolate vibes
- Drizzle cookies with caramel sauce instead of chocolate
- Use dark chocolate cocoa powder, dark chocolate chips, and dark chocolate drizzle for even richer cookies
- Use white chocolate chips instead of semisweet
- Add a little espresso powder for mocha hot chocolate flavor
- Add mini marshmallows into the cookie dough
- Top the cookies with a flavored marshmallow instead of traditional
Basically, you can make these cookies however you link to drink your hot chocolate!
🍫 More chocolate cookie recipes
I have so many cookie recipes on my blog, but some of my favorites involve chocolate! Here are my top picks if you're in a chocolatey mood:
I also highly recommend these chocolate surprise cookies if you love chocolate and marshmallows together!
I hope you enjoy these cookies on a cold winter day or any time you're craving a rich, chocolatey treat!
📖 Recipe
Hot Chocolate Cookies
📧 Email Me This Recipe
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoon dry milk powder (can be replaced with with 1 tablespoon malted milk powder, coffee creamer powder, or all-purpose flour)
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- 12 large marshmallows cut in half
- ¼ cup melted chocolate for drizzling
- Sprinkles if desired
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, dry milk powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, brown sugar, and melted butter until smooth. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and whisk until thick.
- Add dry ingredients to bowl with wet ingredients and mix gently just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Cover bowl and refrigerate dough for 20-30 minutes. While dough is chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop about 2 tablespoon of cookie dough (I use a #40 cookie scoop) onto the prepared baking sheet about 1 ½ inches apart.
- Bake for about 8 minutes, until edges are set and centers look soft and slightly underdone. Remove baking sheet from oven. Gently press a marshmallow half onto the center of each cookie.
- Put baking sheet back in oven and bake for another 2 minutes, until the marshmallows are softened and puffing slightly.
- Let cookies cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, drizzle cookies with melted chocolate and add sprinkles.
Notes
- To store cookies: keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. Layer with parchment paper to prevent marshmallows from sticking.
- If you chill the dough longer than 30 minutes, let the bowl sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften slightly.
Comments
No Comments