Hot Cocoa Cookies Recipe

Course: cookie, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 12

Chill Time: 10

Total Time: 37

Servings: cookies

Calories: 169kcal

Author: Becky Hardin - Easy Dessert Recipes

These hot cocoa cookies taste just like a rich cup of hot chocolate! These chewy chocolate cookies have a sweet and fluffy marshmallow frosting—perfect for the holiday season!

Print Recipe

Equipment

Kitchen Scale (optional)
Hand Mixer
Cookie Portion Scoop
2 Baking Sheet
Piping Tip Set

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter 113 grams, room temperature (1 stick)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 170 grams
1½ cups brown sugar 300 grams
2 large eggs 100 grams, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 8 grams
½ cup hot cocoa powder 90 grams - NOT sugar-free!
1¾ cups all-purpose flour 245 grams
½ tablespoon cornstarch 4 grams
1½ teaspoons baking powder 6 grams
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips 177 grams
1 cup marshmallow fluff 128 grams

Instructions

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter and chocolate chips in the microwave. Start off with 1 minute on high, then stir well. If all chocolate chips aren’t melted yet, continue to heat in 30-second intervals until melted. Stir well after each round in the microwave, as you want these just melted but not too hot.
½ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
In a separate large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the melted butter/chocolate mixture with the brown sugar until well mixed, about 1 minute.
1½ cups brown sugar
Beat in the eggs and vanilla just until combined. Make sure the brown sugar and chocolate mixture is cool before adding the eggs so you don’t accidentally scramble the eggs. Set aside.
2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
In a separate bowl, whisk the hot cocoa powder, flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt together.
½ cup hot cocoa powder, 1¾ cups all-purpose flour, ½ tablespoon cornstarch, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat just until mixed. Do not overmix!
Fold in all of the mini chocolate chips.
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
Use a 2-tablespoon-sized cookie scoop to scoop the cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place the cookies close together (but not touching) so that they all fit onto 1 baking sheet to fit into the freezer.
Place the baking sheet of cookies in the freezer for 10 minutes. This is an important step so the cookies don’t spread too much during baking.
While the cookies chill, preheat oven to 350°F.
Now that dough balls are slightly frozen and less sticky, use your hands to shape these into round balls.
Line a separate baking sheet with parchment paper and place some cookies from the freezer onto this new baking sheet. The cookies should be spaced at least 2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookie edges seem set (tops will still look slightly wet, but they’ll finish baking on tray after removing from oven). Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cookies have cooled, place the marshmallow fluff into a piping bag and pipe it over the cookies.
1 cup marshmallow fluff

Video

Notes

Feel free to use milk or dark chocolate chips in place of the semisweet chocolate chips.
If you use salted butter, simply omit the kosher salt.
For a richer flavor, use dark brown sugar instead of light.
You can use any flavored hot cocoa powder you like, as long as it is NOT sugar-free!
For gluten-free cookies, use an equal amount of gluten-free 1:1 baking flour in place of the all-purpose flour.
For the mini chocolate chips, you can use any chocolate chip or baking chip you like, such as white chocolate, butterscotch, caramel, peanut butter, or mint.
If you'd like to add marshmallows to the dough, use freeze-dried mini marshmallows!
In place of the fluff, you can top each cookie with a regular-sized marshmallow right when it comes out of the oven. The marshmallow will melt slightly into the cookie.
Use room temperature butter and eggs for the best results.
Make sure the brown sugar and chocolate mixture has cooled slightly before adding the eggs; otherwise, you may scramble them.
Once you have added the dry ingredients, take care not to overmix the dough; otherwise, you may end up with dense, tough cookies.
Use a cookie portion scoop to get equal-sized cookies. This will allow them to bake more evenly.
Do NOT skip chilling the dough; otherwise, the cookies may spread out and become thin.
Let the cookies cool completely before frosting with marshmallow fluff; otherwise, the fluff will melt off.
When storing, do NOT stack the cookies. The fluff is sticky and will cause the cookies to stick together.

Storage: Store hot cocoa cookies in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Nutrition