Hot Cocoa Cookies - Handle the Heat
Filed Under: Chocolate | Christmas | Cookies

Hot Cocoa Cookies

By Tessa Arias
  |  
November 21st, 2017

Soft, gooey, sticky, and chewy, these Hot Cocoa Cookies are loaded with chocolate and topped with a toasted marshmallow for the perfect Christmas treat. Click here to download our 10 Favorite Christmas Cookies!

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook: 10 minutes

Tessa's Recipe Rundown...

Taste: Like hot cocoa but WAY better. Tons more chocolate and marshmallow flavor.
Texture: The best part. Soft, ooey, gooey, sticky, and completely crave-worthy.
Ease: Super easy! Just be careful if you’re toasting the marshmallows with a broiler, they go from toasted to burnt VERY quickly.
Pros: Perfect Christmas cookie recipe.
Cons: Difficult to store or travel since the marshmallow gets sticky.
Would I make this again? I make these every winter!

What’s better than sipping hot cocoa on a chilly winter evening…? Biting into a still-warm cookie that’s an explosion of chocolate and marshmallow in the best possible way.

Soft, gooey, sticky, and chewy, these Hot Cocoa Cookies are loaded with chocolate and topped with a toasted marshmallow for the perfect Christmas treat.

These Hot Cocoa Cookies are my JAM. Everything you could want in such a small package. Allllll the most mouthwatering textures in a single bite. And all of the flavors of the Christmas season. They’re kind of perfect!

Plus it’s a pretty simple and straightforward recipe to make. Like I mentioned in the Recipe Rundown, you can use your broiler to toast the marshmallows but I find a kitchen torch gives you way more control. And it’s more fun. Maybe this is the year to add one to your Christmas wishlist?

This recipe actually comes from my digital cookbook Tessa’s Christmas Cookies. It has all of my go-to holiday cookie recipes plus fun gift packaging ideas. There’s also a bonus kit of Christmas Cookie Exchange printables! Click here to see more.

How to make
Hot Cocoa Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups (191 grams) all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup (32 grams) hot chocolate mix**
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (170 grams) milk chocolate chips
  • 8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet chocolate, cut into 20 equal pieces
  • 10 large marshmallows, cut in half

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, hot chocolate mix, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
  2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until well-combined and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat until combined. Add the vanilla extract. On low speed gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. Chill for about 1 hour, or until the dough is no longer sticky.
  3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  4. Using a spoon or spring-loaded scoop, drop 1 1/2-tablespoon sized balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets.
  5. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top each cookie with a piece of semisweet chocolate and 1 marshmallow half, cut side up. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 4 minutes, or until the marshmallow begins to melt slightly. Use a kitchen torch to toast the tops of the marshmallows. Alternatively, place the cookies under the broiler for about 30 seconds to toast the marshmallows. Be careful as the marshmallows can go from toasted to burnt very quickly!
  6. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
  7. Cookies are best served the day they are made due to the marshmallow but may be stored in an airtight container in one flat layer for up to 3 days.

Recipe Notes

**For a deeper chocolate cookie color like in these photos, use a DARK chocolate cocoa mix such as Ghirardelli.

Tessa Arias
Author: Tessa Arias

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Tessa Arias

About Tessa...

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Find Tessa on  

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Recipe Rating




  1. #
    Laine — December 2, 2020 at 2:36 am

    Hello! A fan of yours for quite a long time. This will be my first time to try this one out and I am just wondering if I can skip the cinnamon? I am not much of a fan of cinnamon anymore (sorry, I think I have had too much in the past and I am done with it yaiks!) Is there a substitute or it’s totally fine to leave that out?

    Thanks!

    • #
      Tessa — December 2, 2020 at 4:51 pm

      This recipe should still turn out just fine without the cinnamon! Hope you love these cookies.

  2. #
    Farida — November 19, 2020 at 9:54 pm

    How long do chocolate chunks stay melted inside the cookies?

  3. #
    Chloe — December 23, 2018 at 11:54 pm

    These turned out so gooooood. I didnt have marshmallows but they were lovely on their own. Would recommend

  4. #
    April — December 15, 2018 at 6:37 pm

    What makes them so dark? Mine turned out just slightly darker tan a regular chocolate chip cookie. I keep double checking the ingredients but I didn’t miss anything…

    • #
      Tessa — December 23, 2019 at 9:20 am

      Hi April! It’s simply the brand of hot cocoa mix used. I always use Ghirardelli dark hot cocoa mix because it has more chocolate flavor and a deeper color 🙂

  5. #
    Allie — December 9, 2017 at 9:14 am

    Is there a substitution we can make for the hot cocoa mix? Perhaps using cocoa powder?

  6. #
    sabrina — November 28, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    yes, love the textures here, these are wonderfully different from any Christmas cookies I’ve ever made, so thank you for this recipe!

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