These hot chocolate cookies taste just like the cozy drink, with a rich chocolate flavor and gooey marshmallow center. They’re divine!…
Here’s a holiday cookie we just can’t say no to. These Hot Chocolate Cookies taste just like the holiday drink! The cookie batter channels just the right flavor of the liquid chocolate: it’s textured with sugar crystals and studded with chocolate chunks. The best part? A marshmallow center ties it all together, forming a melty lake of gooey bliss. These are divine. We’re not big cookie people (I know, gasp!), but these blew us away.
Ingredients in hot chocolate cookies
These Hot Chocolate Cookies are essentially a chocolate sugar cookie with a marshmallow center. The base cookie is inspired by a book by one of our favorite bakers, 100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer. Instead of mini marshmallows, the center’s got half of one big marshmallow, which melts into a gooey pile. Here’s what you’ll need:
- All purpose flour
- Dutch process (dark chocolate) cocoa powder: see notes below
- Baking soda and kosher salt
- Granulated sugar
- Butter
- Vanilla
- Eggs
- Dark chocolate
- Large marshmallows
Notes on Dutch process cocoa powder
The cocoa powder in these Hot Chocolate Cookies is special: it’s Dutch process cocoa powder. It’s been treated with an alkali to make it pH neutral, which gives it a darker color and milder flavor. It makes the flavor ultra chocolaty, like in Chocolate Banana Muffins and Healthy Chocolate Pudding.
You should be able to find Dutch process cocoa powder at your local grocery next to the regular cocoa powder. If you can’t find it, you can buy it online: try Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder or Ghiradelli Dutch Process Cocoa Powder.
Tips for baking hot chocolate cookies
These Hot Chocolate Cookies are easy to make, but you should know two things before you start. Here’s what to know:
- Baking 1 tray at a time makes the most even bake. Our oven is a little uneven on the two racks, so cookies can come out a little different based on their difference from the heating element. To make perfect cookies, bake one tray at a time. (We know, it takes longer! But it’s worth it.)
- Important: refrigerate the formed dough balls while baking. The dough becomes warm as it sits, so you’ll want to get those formed dough balls into the fridge during baking. If the dough is too warm, the marshmallow simply melts (instead of looking white, it turns clear). Trust us: we know from experience!
Otherwise, Hot Chocolate Cookies are pretty simple to make. Flatten the dough into a disk, add half of a large marshmallow, make a ball, and roll it in a plate of granulated sugar. It’s easy as that and they come out simply beautiful. The perfect Christmas cookie, in our opinion!
This hot chocolate cookies recipe is…
Vegetarian.
Hot Chocolate Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
1x
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup Dutch process dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar plus more for rolling
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 4 ounce dark chocolate bar chopped into chunks
- 15 large marshmallows cut in half
2x
- 4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup Dutch process dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cup granulated sugar plus more for rolling
- 2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 8 ounce dark chocolate bar chopped into chunks
- 30 large marshmallows cut in half
3x
- 6 cup all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cup Dutch process dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 3 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 ½ cup granulated sugar plus more for rolling
- 3 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 eggs
- 12 ounce dark chocolate bar chopped into chunks
- 45 large marshmallows cut in half
Instructions
- Preheat: Preheat 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Mix the dry ingredients: Stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and kosher salt.
- Mix the dough: In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, cream the sugar and room temperature butter on medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes until fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the vanilla and eggs. Once incorporated, add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
- Form the cookies: Prepare a plate with a layer of granulated sugar. Pull out 2 tablespoons of dough. Flatten it into a disc, then place a half marshmallow on top and wrap the dough around the marshmallow. Roll the ball in the plate of sugar. Repeat until you make 8 cookies.
- Prep for baking: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add 8 cookies to a pan and stagger them so they have as much space as possible around them. You can bake the first batch immediately (go to Step 6). While the first pan is baking, form the other 22 balls and place them on a baking sheet in the refrigerator. It is important to chill the unbaked cookies because if they’re are too warm, the texture is off (you can also chill the dough and form the balls right before baking).
- Bake: Bake one pan at a time on the center rack for 12 to 14 minutes until the marshmallows are melted*. Store for 3 days at room temperature, 1 week refrigerated, or several months frozen.