If you love a nice mug of hot cocoa, then you are going to absolutely adore these Hot Cocoa Cookies. Made with hot cocoa mix, they truly taste like hot chocolate!
With the addition of dehydrated mini marshmallows, you have all the flavor of hot chocolate in these delicious hot cocoa cookies! These make the perfect addition to your Christmas Cookie baking and holiday cookie exchanges!
On a recent trip to Target a new product jumped into my cart…
(2020 – Update: Unfortunately it seems Mallow Bits are very hard to find in stores year. Any freeze dried marshmallows will work. They are easy to find online, though in store can be a bit harder. Check by your hot chocolate area. Also, some brands such as ChocoMaker are now selling what appear to be identical marshmallows as sprinkles, so check the sprinkle isle.
2017 – Fun update, a few months after I shared this post back in 2012, the folks at Kraft reached out to me, and a few months later after much testing on in the Kraft Kitchens, this cookie recipe appeared on the actual Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits container, as well as some of the Swiss Miss Cocoa containers. You can still find it there today!)
Kraft Marshmallow “Mallow Bits”. Clearly I had to buy some. They were available in both vanilla and peppermint, and were on the end of an isle, where all the products you can’t find seem to reside.
While I’m sure they would be great to eat out of the container for lunch, I decided I would work them into a recipe. Hot chocolate cookies sounded like fun.
Hot Cocoa Cookies
The Mallow Bits can be a bit (no pun intended) hard to find. Check both the marshmallow area and the hot cocoa/coffee isle. More often than not I find them with the hot cocoa.
But if you can’t find those, or you like to have things in mass quantities, there is always Amazon. You can get a pack of the Mallow Bits or a different brand of dehydrated marshmallows.
I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular from these cookies.
I mean the only difference from a regular cookie is swapping the cocoa powder for hot chocolate mix – no biggie.
Well surprise surprise, these were GREAT.
Both my daughter and a friend of ours agreed – while they knew they’d be good, they ended up being much better than expected. Woohoo! Here’s how to make them… 
RECIPE FOR COOKIES MADE WITH HOT CHOCOLATE MIX
Hot Cocoa Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 1/4 cups flour
- 4 packages Hot Chocolate Mix not sugar free - or 3/4 cups
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup Marshmallow Bits*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a mixing bowl, mix butter until light and fluffy. Add in sugars and mix until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing until just combined.
- Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Add to wet ingredients and stir to combine.
- Scoop onto baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper, approximately 2-3 tablespoons of dough per scoop, and bake for approximately 9-11 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool at least ten minutes prior to transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Cookie Sue says
Great cookies. They were dry so I put on some powder free gloves and mix the dough with my hands. The dough sticks together now.
Heather says
They are great cookies. As a note for others the dough is supposed to be dry. Don’t add more liquids the recipe wont come out right. This is my 3rd time making these cookies!
Christi Johnstone says
Thank you! Yes, it’s a dry dough, gotta trust the process!
Rachel says
First time making these. Dough seemed dry, it was fine. No marshmallows 😢 used white chocolate chips, mini semisweet chips and 3 tblsp of dark cocoa.
Careful, you just cant eat one!
Sheila says
Can I leave the marshmallows out
Christi Johnstone says
You can always leave any mix ins out of cookies – chocolate chips, nuts, marshmallows, ect.
Anonymous says
Make these every year and they are everyone’s favorite
Ashley says
So I’m here from the jet puffed bits recipe. It’s slightly different and I’m glad I looked up the recipe before making. Recipe came out great, my only complaint is I thought i had done something wrong at first because the picture on the top of the recipe is significantly darker than what I came out with. It wasn’t until s scrolling to the bottom I noticed there are 2 different colored cookies. What’s different about the darker cookies?
Christi Johnstone says
Different brand/types of hot cocoa mixes will impact the color. We tend to prefer dark chocolate which will create a darker cookie.
Sarah Maciejewski says
Made these over Christmas and again this weekend! Always the first to go. I make my own hot chocolate mix and used that. Highly recommend!
Sharon says
I bought the marshmallows then saw the recipe and I had to try them. Best cookies ever! My family loved them. I will make again and again.
Linda says
Followed the recipe but the dough was extremely dry. Added a 3rd egg and and 1/4 cup buttermilk. The cookies came out flat and chewy. Will never make these cookies again!
Tiffany says
Hi I wanted to quickly ask should I use salted or unsalted butter and light brown sugar or dark ?
Christi Johnstone says
Honestly you can use whatever you have on hand!