I’m sharing one of my all time favorite cookies with you today, my hot chocolate cookies. When I first made these hot cocoa cookies, adding hot cocoa mix to a cookie seemed like it would taste good. But I didn’t quite expect for them to be SO delicious. These Hot Chocolate Cookies have since become one of the most popular cookie recipes on Love From The Oven. Hot Chocolate Cookies are perfect Christmas cookies and are great cookie for cookie exchanges.
Hot Chocolate Cookies
Really truly, these hot chocolate cookies are incredible. The flavor that the hot cocoa contributes is pretty amazing, they do not taste like “another chocolate cookie” if you will, they taste like a cup of hot chocolate.
Let’s face it, most of us have had all the “standard” cookies such as chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, snickerdoodles, oatmeal cookies, double chocolate chip cookies and cut out sugar cookies. So these bring a new and fun flavor to those holiday cookie platters.
Since I first made these cookies hot chocolate cookies, Kraft Kitchens have tested the recipe. Both Swiss Miss and Kraft Jet Puffed have shared the recipe on their packaging. Seriously, they are that good.
Marshmallows In Cookies
Keeping it easy is important to me, and these hot chocolate cookies are as easy to make as your standard chocolate chip cookie, so nothing fancy needed here.
Mallow Bits
I do recommend that you use the Mallow Bits in place of regular mini-marshmallows, as the mini marshmallows can create quite a mess. You should be able to find these freeze dried marshmallows in your grocery store, either by the marshmallows or near where they keep hot chocolate.
2021 Update: Find Mallow Bits or similar dehydrated marshmallows at Target, Amazon and Walmart. Also check your local grocery store.
2020 Update: I’m not sure if Kraft is no longer making Mallow Bits, but I have a hard time finding them online, though some of my local stores still carry them. Here is what appears to be almost identical freeze dried hot chocolate marshmallows.
There also are many colored freeze dried marshmallows on the market. Another great option is the Swiss Miss Marshmallow Lover’s Cocoa, which actually includes packets of marshmallows along with the cocoa.
Chilling Dough + Mallow Bits
A note on these, I’ve found that when chilling the dough for 30 minutes, sometimes it can cause the Mallow Bits to melt into the cookie when baking.
It’s not consistent, and I think it’s dependent on how fresh/dry the Mallow Bits are (it happens to me more when I’ve purchased from Amazon). One way to completely avoid this problem is to mix the Mallow Bits in AFTER you chill the dough.
If you are looking for a different cookie to bring to a cookie exchange or to bake for the holidays, I’d highly recommend these hot chocolate cookies. While the recipe calls for regular hot cocoa, for a twist I used a dark chocolate hot cocoa mix with this batch. I love to serve them with a mug of Peppermint Hot Chocolate!
There are so many new flavors of hot cocoas out there, feel free to get a little creative with these! One thing to note: do not use sugar free hot cocoa mix. They won’t turn out as well I’m afraid.
Check out all of the cookie recipes on this site. Don’t miss all of the recipes for Christmas Cookies here on Love From The Oven! Also grab a copy of my free Favorite Cookies e-Book Cookbook, it has all my favorite cookie recipes in a convenient cookbook download.
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More Cookies To Try
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My Favorite Cookie Tools
- Silicone Baking Mat
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- Cookie Spatula
- Wire Cooling Racks
- My Free Favorite Cookies E-Cookbook
Hot Chocolate Cookie Recipe
Hot Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (softened)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour*
- 4 packages hot cocoa mix** (or 3/4 cups hot cocoa mix – NOT SUGAR FREE VERSIONS)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup Mallow Bits*** (mini marshmallows do not work the same and can be a bit of a sticky mess)
Instructions
- Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with standing mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.
- In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Gradually beat dry ingredients into butter mixture until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and Mallow Bits*. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop 2 tablespoons dough, 2 inches apart, onto baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes; remove to wire racks and cool.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
I can’t wait for you to try these cookies! They’d be the perfect addition to a hot cocoa bar. Check out my post all about how to set up a hot cocoa bar, such a fun (and super easy) thing to do when it’s chilly outside! Also, start your day with my Hot Chocolate Pancakes!
White Chocolate Snickerdoodles
Chocolate Holiday Chip Cookies
How To Paint Sugar Sugar Cookies
Holiday Cookie Decorating Tips
Originally published October 2017
Meet Christi, Love From The Oven
I’m Christi I love sharing easy & delicious recipes that your family & friends will love. I’m a mom, baker, cookbook author and lover of sprinkles.
What are “mallow bites?” Can you provide pictures?
Here is an excerpt from the post, hopefully this helps. For the links you’ll want to scroll back up to this paragraph in the post, I can’t get the links to work here in the comments section.
Mallow Bits
I do recommend that you use the Mallow Bits in place of regular mini-marshmallows, as the mini marshmallows can create quite a mess. You should be able to find these freeze dried marshmallows in your grocery store, either by the marshmallows or near where they keep hot chocolate.
2020 Update: I’m not sure if Kraft is no longer making Mallow Bits, but I have a hard time finding them online, though some of my local stores still carry them. Here is what appears to be almost identical freeze dried hot chocolate marshmallows. There also are many colored freeze dried marshmallows on the market. Another great option is the Swiss Miss Marshmallow Lover’s Cocoa, which actually includes packets of marshmallows along with the cocoa.
Loved this recipe! I couldn’t find the Mallowbits so I baked mini marshmallows in the oven to dehydrate them first and then added them to the mix right before baking! Came out perfect!
Glad you liked the recipe! I’m curious about the baking, I would think the marshmallows would have just melted. Tell me more!
Loved this recipe! Sooooo good.
In regards to the freeze-dried marshmallows- I looked on amazon and it was too long of a wait to get in the shipment. I ended up using my air fryer (which is also a dehydrator) and dehydrated some mini marshmallows myself. (you can also use a normal air frier to do this and even an oven if you’re committed enough) They worked perfectly and did not melt in the oven after I had chilled the dough.
Baked at 325 degrees for 15 minutes.
Hannah, glad you enjoyed the recipe. That’s interesting to hear about the marshmallows, I will have to try that!
Swiss Miss makes a Marshmallow lovers pack that includes6 packets of hot chocolate mix and 6 separate packages of marshmallows. They worked really well in the cookies.
Oh that’s great to know Lindsay, thanks for sharing!
Delicious cookies! Easy for beginners to make.
Hello can I freeze these cookies?
Yes, you can freeze them how you’d freeze any other drop style cookie.
Can’t find these marshmallows anywhere. Would it work if you used the hot chocolate with marshmallows(or marshmallow lovers)?
Lisa, it seems they’ve become much harder to find this season. I’m not sure exactly what those are, but if they are a freeze dried type marshmallow, then yes, by all means, go with those!
Hello, I am new to baking and wanted to try these out this winter. The recipe just calls for butter is that unsalted butter or sweetened or does it matter?
Thanks!
Personally I have never noticed even the slightest difference in taste between the butters in any recipe, so in my book no, it does not. I’m a big fan of using what you have on hand.
I just made these for our quarantine Christmas in July in Southern California and they are a huge hit with my three teen boys, who have declared they should be added to our traditional Christmas cookie list this December. For those struggling to find them, I was able to find the Jet Puffed brand of those teeny dehydrated marshmallows at our local Target and ordered them for curbside pickup (a total win). I added 3/4 of a cup of the marshmallows into the batter and then used more to press on top right before baking (just in base the ones in the batter melted into the cookie as the original post said might happen). From what I could tell any marshmallows near the tops and sides were fine whether already in the batter or pressed in by me before baking, but I didn’t really see any marshmallows in the middle of the cookie, so I am not sure if the melted or rose to the sides/top. I did add a tablespoon of cocoa powder to enhance the brown color of the cookies as they were pretty light with just the cocoa mix as the original poster has suggested. This also depended the chocolate flavor. As another commenter had mentioned, four packets of cocoa mix did not get me to the 3/4 cup mark, so I used 5 packets. They were the Nestlé hot cocoa packets. I baked at 325 as suggested by another commenter and struggled to tell of they were done. They are brown cookies, so they didn’t really brown. The first batch I cooked too long (19 minutes). They looked perfect, but when cooled were too crunchy. I tried some other time lengths and settled on 13 minutes as the perfect time for these cookies if you want to bake at 325. They were picture perfect when done and literally looked like hot cocoa with little marshmallows floating on the top. You can’t go wrong with these for a visual and tasty crowd pleaser!
I can’t find anything in the comments about the cookies feeling almost raw underneath. I don’t know if I made them right. I would like to know, I’m pregnant and have to be extremely careful on not eating raw items.
Emily, that doesn’t seem to be an issue people are having. I’m thinking your oven might run a bit cool, or variable, and they might need a bit longer in the oven. Another option would be to make them a bit smaller. Also remember they might seem a bit dough like when coming out of the oven, but then thanks to carry over cooking, finish cooking as they cool. But there is no reason they should not be fully baked, might just need a tad more time. Always trust your instincts (how do they look, feel, smell…) over the timer, there is so much variability in ovens, baking sheets, temperature of baking sheets going in, temperature of dough going into the oven, ambient temperature, there are a lot of variables!