These Hot Cocoa Cookies start with brownie-like cookies that get topped with a gooey marshmallow and drizzled with chocolate. The chocolate cookie base is made with hot cocoa mix for a treat that tastes just like your favorite mug of hot cocoa!
Festive, delicious, and decadent. Those are the top 3 words I would use to describe these Hot Cocoa Cookies. They are a chocolate lovers dream!
These festive cookies have all the flavors of a mug of hot chocolate but in cookie form. And since its the holidays, we aren’t choosing one over the other around here (the holidays are a time to indulge, after all). There is nothing better than curling up on the couch with a warm mug of hot chocolate and a plate of these hot cocoa cookies on a cold day!
The soft and chewy chocolate cookie base is delicious on its own but when it’s topped with a gooey marshmallow and drizzled with chocolate, it becomes ultra decadent and downright addictive. I mean, what’s a hot cocoa without marshmallow? Incomplete, that’s what it is.
Did I mention that the cookie has hot cocoa mix blended right into it? You can use any dry mix you like or make your own for a cookie that’s truly reminiscent of your beloved mug of hot cocoa.
Bonus? This cookie dough whips up in your stand mixer for an easy recipe and much quicker clean up.
Why we love this Hot Cocoa Cookies recipe
- These cookies are downright delicious! They have all the flavors of a delicious mug of hot cocoa including a gooey marshmallow topping.
- The recipe is easy to put together. You can whip up the dough right in your stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer).
- They have the perfect amount of sweetness without being overly sweetened.
- You can make the dough in advance and freeze it. I love freezing cookie dough since you can make it ahead of time and simply bake as many cookies as you need when you are ready to.
Ingredients in Hot Cocoa Cookies
- Butter: softened. The butter should be room temperature.
- Sugar: white granulated sugar.
- Egg: 1 large egg.
- Milk: any type. I use 2% because that is what we have on hand but skim milk, 1%, or even whole milk will do. You can also use a nondairy milk.
- Vanilla extract: for flavor.
- Cocoa powder: a good quality cocoa powder will help add a richer chocolate flavor to the cookies.
- Dry hot cocoa mix: You can use your favorite variety of hot cocoa mix for this recipe. As most have similar sweetness levels, I have adjusted the sugar in the recipe to account for that already.
- Baking soda: leavener.
- Salt: a little salt added to baked goods enhances the flavor.
- Flour: regular all purpose flour.
- Marshmallows: large marshmallows, cut in half. I use kitchen scissors to cut them easily.
- Semi-sweet baker’s chocolate: I recommend using Baker’s chocolate for this recipe since it melts to a better consistency than other chocolates like chocolate chips, for example. Depending on how generously you wish to cover the cookies, you will use about 1 box of baker’s chocolate (8 oz or 225g). The chocolate can be spooned over the marshmallow or drizzled using a piping bag or ziploc bag with the tip cut off. If you drizzle the chocolate, you can get away with using less chocolate so you can reduce the amount of baker’s chocolate to 6 oz, if you wish.
- Sprinkles: optional, to decorate.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
How to make Hot Cocoa cookies
1. Prep the oven and baking sheets: Preheat oven to 350F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy (a couple of minutes).
3. Add the wet ingredients. To the bowl, add the egg, milk, vanilla extract and mix to combine.
4. Mix in the dry ingredients. Add the salt, cocoa powder, hot cocoa mix, and baking soda and mix to combine. Slowly add the flour until incorporated.
5. Roll dough balls. Scoop out dough (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) and roll the dough into a ball. Place the dough balls on the baking sheets, 2 inches apart and chill for 30 mins or more if needed.
6. Bake and top with marshmallows. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven and top them with a halved marshmallow. Place the cookies back in the oven and bake them for 2 more minutes. Remove from oven and use a spoon to press down on the marshmallow to flatten it. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
7. Melt chocolate and decorate. Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for 20 seconds, stir, and then again for another 20 seconds. Continue this until the chocolate is all melted. Spoon the melted chocolate over each cookie or place it in a piping bag or a resealable ziploc bag with the a small piece of the tip cut off and drizzle it over the cookies. Add sprinkles. Let the chocolate set. The cookies should be set in 60 minutes.
Storing hot cocoa cookies
These hot chocolate flavored cookies are best eaten the day they are baked, but they will keep for a few days when stored correctly. Store them in an air tight container at room temperature. You can stack layers of cookies provided you use parchment between layers and place the layers on top of each other very gently without pushing down as this will crack the chocolate topping.
Can you freeze hot cocoa cookies?
Yes, you can easily freeze these cookies. I recommend freezing the unbaked dough vs the baked cookies. To freeze the dough, roll them into balls and then freeze the dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet until they are frozen solid. Once frozen, they can be transferred to a freezer safe ziploc bag or container.
To use the frozen dough, you will need to thaw the dough first. I recommend placing the dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet and then placing them in the fridge to thaw overnight. Then you can proceed to bake the cookies as described in the recipe.
Baked cookies can also be frozen but keep in mind that freezing the chocolate topping may cause it to bloom when thawed (giving the chocolate a white discoloration). Bloomed chocolate is still good to eat, but it will alter the appearance so that is why I recommend freezing the dough if you know you are making these in advance.
I hope you enjoy these festive hot cocoa cookies as much as we do! We personally love these with a mug of Hot Chocolate because if you are going to indulge, why stop at just a cookie?
Happy baking!
-Cathy
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Looking for more chocolate cookie recipes? You may also like:
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Kiss Cookies
Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Hot Cocoa Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup dry hot cocoa mix
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
For the topping:
- 10 large marshmallows cut in half
- 8 ounces semi-sweet baker's chocolate or 225g, chopped. (If you drizzle the chocolate vs spooning it over the cookies, you will likely end up using less chocolate so you can reduce the amount of baker's chocolate to 6 oz.)
- sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy (a couple of minutes). Add the egg, milk, vanilla extract and mix to combine. [If you don't have a stand mixer, this can be done in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer.]
- Add the salt, cocoa powder, hot cocoa mix, and baking soda and mix to combine. Slowly add the flour until incorporated.
- Scoop out dough (I like to use a small sized cookie scoop- about 1 1/2 tablespoons) and roll the dough into a ball. [If the dough is too sticky to roll, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes]
- Place the dough balls on the baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Place the cookie dough in the fridge to chill for 30 mins or more if needed. [If the butter warms up, the cookies will spread more in the oven so to prevent this, err on the side of caution and chill the cookie dough before baking. I place the whole cookie sheet in the fridge.]
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven and top them with a halved marshmallow. Place the cookies back in the oven and bake them for 2 more minutes. Remove from oven and use a spoon to press down on the marshmallow to flatten it.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Once the cookies are cooled, you can melt the chocolate. To do this, place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for 20 seconds, stir, and then again for another 20 seconds. Continue this until the chocolate is all melted.
- Spoon the melted chocolate over each cookie or place it in a piping bag or a resealable ziploc bag with the a small piece of the tip cut off and drizzle it over the cookies. If you are using sprinkles, add them immediately so they stick to the cookies before the chocolate sets. Let the chocolate set. The cookies should be set in 60 minutes.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
