Hot Chocolate Cookies

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

3 Comments

5 from 3 votes
36 cookies
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
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Hot Chocolate Cookies are delicious hot cocoa Christmas cookies. Cookie dough made with hot chocolate mix, chocolate chips, and gooey marshmallows.

This Cookie Recipe is tastes like a mix between Chocolate Cookies and S’Mores, with extra chocolatey goodness. Enjoy with a cup of hot chocolate or wow everyone at your next cookie exchange with these tasty Christmas Cookies.

Hot Chocolate Cookie on baking sheet with bite taken out

HOT CHOCOLATE COOKIES

There’s no doubt that Christmas cookies are one of the best parts of the holidays. From fancy decorated cookies for gifts to old fashioned Sugar Cookies, the Christmas season is perfect for baking all kinds of cookies. And what goes better with cookies than Hot Cocoa?

These Hot Chocolate Cookies are the best parts of dunking warm chocolate cookies into a hot cup of cocoa all in one bite. They have so much rich chocolatey goodness and are packed with sweet vanilla marshmallow bits. They are the perfect Christmas cookie that you can enjoy all year round (but especially in the winter months!)

If you’ve never baked with hot chocolate mix, prepare to have your mind blown! It adds a creamy milk chocolate sweetness that takes any chocolate chip cookie to the next level. You can use hot cocoa mix in other recipes too, but these Hot Chocolate Cookies are one of my favorite ways to use it.

During Christmas, you are able to find so many other flavors of hot chocolate mix. Places like Costco sell multipacks of hot cocoa mix in flavors like peppermint, white chocolate, and S’mores to try. Any of your favorite hot chocolate mixes will taste delicious in these Hot Chocolate Cookies!
MORE HOLIDAY COOKIE CLASSICS:

HOW TO MAKE HOT CHOCOLATE COOKIES

  • Cream the butter: Use a stand mixer to cream the butter to ensure the butter is thoroughly creamed and give the cookies a creamier texture.
  • Prepare the dough: It can help to chill the dough for 5-10 minutes before forming it into balls, to ensure it’s easier to mold.
  • Place the marshmallows: Wait a couple minutes after the cookies come out of the oven before placing the marshmallows on them, so that the cookies don’t get smashed when you press on the marshmallow. Place the marshmallow cut side down so that they stick better to the cookie.
  • Broil: Watch the cookies closely when broiling to ensure the marshmallows brown lightly but don’t burn – this should take no longer than 15-30 seconds.

Hot Chocolate Cookies on baking sheet before browning marshmallows

VARIATIONS ON HOT CHOCOLATE COOKIES

  • Peppermint: Add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract to your cookie dough along with your vanilla extract. Top with bits of crushed candy canes to make it a super holiday cookie.
  • Chocolate Chips: Mix in your favorite baking chips like white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, mint chips, or peanut butter chips.
  • Mexican Hot Chocolate: Add a teaspoon of cinnamon and ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper to make a Mexican Hot Chocolate cookie. For even more authentic flavor, use Abuelita’s Hot Cocoa mix.
  • Cookie Cups: Roll cookie dough into balls and then press each ball into the cups of a muffin tin. Bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Fill your Hot Chocolate cookie cups with marshmallow creme, Hot Fudge, or bake with Hershey Kisses.
  • Chocolate Ganache: Drizzle a Chocolate Ganache over the top of the cookie for an extra pop of chocolate flavor!

CAN YOU FREEZE THIS COOKIE DOUGH?

Freeze Hot Chocolate Cookie dough on a baking sheet for one hour, then transfer to a freezer safe bag. You can take the cookie dough straight from the freezer to the cookie sheet to bake, no need to thaw. Another nice thing is you can cook just a few cookies at a time. This is perfect if you are craving Christmas cookies but don’t want to make a whole batch.

Hot Chocolate Cookies in stack

FAQs about Hot Chocolate

    • What cookies go best with hot chocolate? While pretty much every cookie goes great with hot chocolate, I think it’s hard to beat a cookie with chocolate chips in them. The chocolate chips melt a bit if you dunk them in your hot cocoa and it’s magic.
    • Can you use hot chocolate powder in baking? You can substitute hot cocoa mix for cocoa powder in most of your favorite chocolate desserts. Since it already has sugar in the mix, you will want to reduce the sugar in your recipe by about ¼ to ½ cup. Try it in Chocolate Cake or Brownies! 
    • What’s the difference between cocoa powder and hot chocolate mix? Hot chocolate mix has cocoa powder already in the mix, as well as sugar and oftentimes milk solids and cocoa butter. Most cocoa powder is unsweetened, so you have to add milk and sugar to make it into a drink.

MORE DELICIOUS CHRISTMAS COOKIES:

HOW TO STORE HOT CHOCOLATE COOKIES

  • Serve: These cookies will stay fresh at room temperature for up to 2 days wrapped tightly or in an airtight container.
  • Store: Refrigerate Hot Chocolate Cookies for about a week in a sealed container. Soften by popping in the microwave for 15-20 seconds.
  • Freeze: Baked cookies and raw dough can be stored for up to 3 months in the freezer in an airtight bag or container.

Hot Cocoa Cookies on baking sheet arranged in rows

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Dinner, then Dessert

Hot Chocolate Cookies

Hot Chocolate Cookies are delicious hot cocoa Christmas cookies. Cookie dough made with hot chocolate mix, chocolate chips, and gooey marshmallows.
Yield 36 cookies
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Hot Chocolate Cookies in stack
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 3/4 cup butter , softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs , room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2-1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup instant hot cocoa mix , about 3 packets
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 18 jumbo marshmallows , cut in half

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
  • Beat in eggs and vanilla.
  • In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa mix, baking cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder; gradually beat into creamed mixture.
  • Form tablespoons of dough into balls and place 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets.
  • Bake until set, 10-12 minutes.
  • Remove cookies from oven and set oven to broil.
  • Place a marshmallow half on top of each cookie and lightly smash down the marshmallow.
  • Broil cookies on top oven rack for 15 seconds.
  • Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutrition

Calories: 97kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 152mg | Potassium: 25mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 135IU | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg

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Hot Chocolate Cookies collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Made these cookies to give to our neighbors, they didnt make it out of the kitchen! The kids ate almost all of them! So delicious!! We will be making more tonight and doubling the recipe so that we can bless our neighbors with these amazing cookies! They turn out super pretty as well. Thanks for posting!

    Reply

  2. Sabrina, this recipe is so excellent! My family can’t get over these hot chocolate cookies. They are so chewy and delicious. We’ll surely add these to our Christmas treats menu. Highly recommended!

    Reply

  3. These cookies are irresistibly good! My family can’t get enough of these hot chocolate cookies. They are so decadent and satisfying. Would surely have these again. Thanks Sabrina for this excellent recipe.

    Reply