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…
(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
- 2 sticks 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!
Kathryn says
These cookies look just wonderful and such a good combination with the mini marshmallows!
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says
These look great and I have to find those little marshmallows now!
Sue says
Target and Walmart carry these.
sue @ Cakeballs, cookies and more says
those sound great, but I have to find those, how cute!
Laura Knapp says
Yummy! I’ve never heard of Mallow Bits, but I can’t wait to try them! My family loves all forms of marshmallows 🙂 Your recipe looks great.
Kate H. says
I found these at Walmart and literally yelped in the store. Even my husband had a big ol’ smile on his face b/c we’ve both been look for these, since we saw some at RaceTrac(gas station). I’ve been using them in hot cocoa and just eating them by the palm fulls.
Mindy says
I don’t buy hot cocoa mix in packets I have a large can of mix. How much cocoa is in 4 packets?
Sissy says
I poured them into 1/4 measuring cups and almost filled three of them. So, not quite 3/4 cup.
StephieD says
I found these right before Christmas and had made a huge thing of cocoa mix for everyone so we took the bites along… But I ended up eating the whole container as a snack. They remind me of the marshmallows from Lucky Charms! 🙂
Lindsey says
Sound great, but I’m with Mindy…. I buy a large can of hot chocolate mix, so how much would that be??? I have everything else and sure would love to make these for a nice Saturday in, we just got our 1st real snowfall! So 4 packets equals how much?????
Christi says
Each of my hot cocoa packets were 1.25 oz (though I think many are 1oz), so it would be a total of 4-5 oz. I’m not sure what that translates to in measurements. Since a packet is one serving, I’d probably see what one serving is on the large can, and add four of those. 🙂
beti says
I’m pretty sure that they were a big hit, hot cocoa mix in the cookies sounds like a really good idea and they look fantastic
Cate says
Hey, I’m from Germany and would love to try these cookies! How much is 1 stick butter in g?
Sissy says
Each stick is 113.4 grams. Wenn das überhaupt noch wichtig ist. Ich sehe gerade, du hast schon vor fünf Jahren gefragt. Schade, dass dir keiner geholfen hat. Ich habe dieses Rezept gerade erst gefunden.
Melissa McLane says
I am not the biggest cookie fan but these sounded good so I thought I’d give them a try. I have to say, they are the BEST cookies I’ve EVER had! I love, love, LOVE them! Thank you so much for sharing!
Kirstin says
How many cookies did it make?
Connie @ Parent Picks + says
These sound fantastic! I just found your blog, and I must say I love your photos! They make me want to bake everything on it. I can’t wait to make these cookies. I think I saw these bits the last time I was at Target.
Dena Hamlin says
Oh my gosh! The batter was UNBELIEVABLY good! we couldn’t stop eating it! The cookies are in the oven and we are VERY eager to see how the taste!
Dena Hamlin says
YUM-O! these just came out of the oven and they were one of the best cookies I ever had, but how do you get them to be shaped like ice-cream scoops?
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
I need to find these marshmallows I have yet to see them.
woody love says
Just use the marshmallow that come in the hot chocolate mix.
Kristen says
These sound amazing… is the cookie soft and chewy??
Christi says
Kristen, yes it is. I kind of think all cookies need to be that way! 🙂
Kristen says
Made these this afternoon and they are DELICIOUS!!! And yes, soft and chewy cookies are a MUST! Thanks for the great recipe!! I’ll definitely be making these again!
Lisa says
My dough wasn’t dry like yours. I added another half cup of flour but they still came out very flat and won’t hold their shape when I remove them from the pan. What could have gone wrong?
Christi says
Hmm… I do find that a really dry dough actually holds it’s shape much better, so if they weren’t dry, that makes some sense. How much was your butter melted? That’s one of the variables that could have been a factor. How did they taste?
Michelle says
I’ve made these twice now, & although they are good, I’m having the same problem with them turning out flat. I’ve used Air Bake sheets/ non-Air Bake sheets, chilled dough/ didn’t chill dough, cookie scoop/ hands ….. still flat. My butter was room temperature – soft enough to beat but not all melted.
Christi says
Michelle, how dry was your dough? My dough is always quite dry when I make these, to the point I have to almost knead it by hand to really combine it, versus stirring or using my mixer. Dose your dough look the same as mine in the photo on the cookie sheet? My first thoughts would be either having your butter a bit colder or upping the flour.
Mary says
I, too, make my own hot cocoa mix so I have a big container of it. If someone could open a packet of mix, measure it, and let us know how much (1/4 c.? 1/2 c.?) is in it that would be so helpful. Thanks!
Christi says
Mary, I think what might work would be to figure whatever amount of your mix equals a single serving, since each packet would be a single serving, and then go accordingly (so four packets = four servings). Hope that helps.
kelly says
Did you use whole sticks of butter? In the picture it almost looks like half sticks. Just want to make sure before I start baking. Can’t wait to try these!!
dianna lester says
I too was giddy with delight upon finding the mallow bites at the end of the aisle in Target one day. I think I may have even screamed like a little girl. I have always thought that someone should package those little tiny babies just so I could eat them without having to fight my hot chocolate for them. 🙂 Cookies are in the oven…I opted out, for the first batch at least, on the chocolate chips. The batter also tastes amazing! So happy to find this recipe. And….I also bought the peppermint ones…so they may go in the next batch!
Samantha says
I really want to try these.. but how much is 1 stick of butter? We dont have ‘sticks’ here…
Christi says
Samantha, here’s a reference that might be helpful…
1 stick of butter = 1/4 pound
1 stick of butter = 1/2 cup
1 stick of butter = 8 tablespoons
1 stick of butter = 4 ounces
1 stick of butter = 113 grams
C H says
In your recipe you said to use 2 and a half sticks of butter, but next to it in parentheses you said that it is 1 and a half cups. Those are actually not equal- at least by american “sticks”. Which do you mean? I made these cookies and just estimated the butter in the middle. Great flavor! My sister ate almost the entire batch before we went sledding! They did run a lot though (not complaining though, I love gooey cookies).
JET-PUFFED Marshmallows says
Hey Christi!
We’re loving the new Bits recipe for Buttercream cupcakes. We can’t wait to try them at KRAFT Kitchens!
FYI – We just launched our new Facebook page yesterday and showed the recipe some link love.
www.facebook.com/jetpuffed.com
Sue says
Can anyone translate 4 hot chocolate packs into one measurement-like tablespoons or maybe ounces? I have a wonderful hot chocolate powder from Whole Foods that comes in a bottle and would rather use this than packets. These look great and would like to try. Thanks!
Christi says
Sue, since a packet is one serving, I would see how much one serving is on your bottle, and swap out the number of packets for the same number of servings. So if your powder says two tablesspoons is one serving than x4 servings = eight tablespoons. Hope that helps!
Sue says
Well, don’t know if I got it exact but whatever I did worked! Made these today and, in the words of my kids, they are “awesometacular” (They got it from Jeremy Jahns on YouTube so guess I should credit) Thanks!
Frenchchef says
These cookies not only look cute, they have a fantastic mild crunch and a chewy yummy center. Baked them today for my kids coming home from the Uni. We loved it ! It is better molded with the hands, comes out round and chubby with marshmallow bits. So cute !
Kelsey says
Loved the mallow bits in the cookie. Fantastic! I had made the original recipe with the 3 types of chocolate chips before. Im really curious why you added an extra stick of butter and why you added baking powder? Would really like to know. Thanks!
Christi says
Kelsey, I added baking powder to my cookies to help them rise a bit more. The additional butter came from my not being terribly happy with the first batch, and the extra butter seemed to do the trick and get them just the way I wanted them. 🙂
Denise says
I am excited to try this recipe for this year’s annual cookie swap. How many cookies does the recipe above yield? And using what size scoop?
Christi says
Denise, for the scoop I guess “standard”. It’s the one I somehow have like four of (guessing it’s probably around 2 tablespoons). I’m thinking it made about 36-48 cookies with that scoop. But make them whatever size YOU need! I’m all about being totally flexible on things like that. 🙂
Kristi says
Found this recipe on the Kraft Mallow bits container, my family and I loved them, so yummy, although the recipe on the container is missing the salt ingredient after I read your recipe here but they still were great. I had a canister of hot cocoa and I used 8 tablespoons and it worked great, thanks for the recipe and look forward to trying other recipes from your blog
Mickey says
Can’t wait to make these! Thanks for sharing!
Kristen says
So I just tried making these tonight. I’m baking them as I type this, lol:) I saw the Marshmallow bites at Target as well and picked them up because I saw the recipe on the back. I’m hoping they will come out as well as yours. I put in about 1 cup of cocoa powder because on the back of the cocoa it tells you to add 1/4 C to make one serving. The cookies that are finished baking look a little lighter than I expected but that could be because of the brand of cocoa (Generic store brand). Hopefully they will taste good!:) I also found I had to add about two to four minutes to the cooking time because they weren’t baking completely through at 11 mins.
Kristine says
Made these cookies yesterday. DELICIOUS! They are seriously addictive — and we are not big sweet lovers here. I will be making these again soon for a bake sale. Thanks!
angee says
Found your recipe actually on the back of the bits that we’ve used for a couple of years now. Mine turned out like some of the others mentioned–not “dry” but too soft. I even added more flour since I’m high altitude. I had a really hard time getting them off the cookie sheet because they are too soft and won’t hold their shape. Not sure what I could have done differently. Despite the flatness, they were good! Thanx for the recipe!
Christi says
Angee, hmm – not sure. I know Kraft made a lot of batches before considering putting them on the product, using that recipe. Butter temperature can always have an impact. Did you try baking them longer? From what you say it sounds like they might be undercooked? Living in the desert, I have no advice when it comes to high altitude (which shows any time I head up north and attempt to bake!).
Laura says
Try adding a small package of vanilla / chocolate pudding it works great in nestles chocolate chip cookie recipe
Norma Espinoza says
Walmart has the Kraft Marshmallow Bits . I’ve seen em on end of ice cream aisle and baking aisle
Phyllis Villarreal says
Is there a printable version of this recipe? If I hit print on this it will print all the pics and recipe! I don’t need 7 or 8 pages to print a recipe. Thank you.
Christi says
Phyllis, just added one for you.
lisa t says
My son and I made these tonight. We used peppermint Marshmallow Bits. They were outstanding!
Thanks for a great recipe!
Christi says
Lisa, so glad you enjoyed them. They truly are one of my favorite cookies ever!
Deborah says
These look amazing! I will definitely try these out. I have some quick questions though. How much of the marshmallows and chocolate chips should I add? And do you add them after you mix the wet and dry ingredients together? Also, how many servings does this recipe make? Thank you for sharing this!
Christi says
Deborah, you can really add as little or as much as you like, since the marshmallows and chocolate chips are add ins, the amount won’t impact how your cookie baked up. You could use a cup of each, as I wrote in the recipe, or go with a little more or less. And just like shown, add your mix-ins after you have combined your wet and dry ingredients. For servings, cookies are highly dependent on what size you make them – you could get anywhere from 12 jumbo to 48 tiny cookies. I think 36 is probably a good average.
Steph says
This recipe is a cookie lovers dream!!! I made them yesterday and thought I would share what I did. I used Starbucks double chocolate hot cocoa, pressed the dough in a crisscross pattern with a fork, and baked for 15 minutes which gave me crazy good crispy cookies!
Jeslyn says
I tried this recipe today, the taste is quite good. I subbed half the hot choc powder with Hershey’s cocoa powder because I was afraid that the cookies would be too sweet. One problem I had was that the marshmallows melted into the cookie during the baking process – would you have any idea why? The melted marshmallows made the cookies really sticky to eat.
Christi says
Jeslyn, were you using regular marshmallows or the Mallow Bits that I used in the recipe?
alice says
These look amazing! I’m definitely going to bake these this holiday season. I noticed you said in the comments that the sticks of butter convert to 1/2 cup per stick but the sticks of butter in your photo look like full packages of butter (2 cups per package here in Canada). Which is closer to the amount of butter needed? Thanks for posting such a beautiful recipe!
Christi says
Hi Alice, it is 1 1/2 cups butter, our sticks are 1/2 a cup here and as noted, I used MORE than shown in the photo (it was a while making, I realized it needed more type of thing!). Hope that helps! 🙂
Alice says
Hi Christi!
I just wanted to let you know that I tried your recipe and these were AMAZING. They were so good and so perfect for Christmas that I actually made twice! The second time I added a little bit of cocoa powder to make them a touch more chocolatey but both versions were fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing such a creative and delicious recipe!
Christi says
So glad you enjoyed them Alice!
Michelle says
I found this recipe just before Christmas and finally found the marshmallows – so excited to make these for my hot cocoa loving daughter! I am sorry to keep beating a dead horse here but on the butter front – you say this above the recipe
Hot Cocoa Cookies With Marshmallow Bits
(Printable Recipe at bottom of post!)
2 and 1/2 sticks ( 1 and 1/2 cups) room temperature butter (you only see two sticks in the photo, but I added another 1/2 stick)
SO I just want to confirm that it is 2 1/2 sticks of butter which is 1 1/4 cup and not 1 1/2 cups….maybe that was the issue with the ladies who had flatter cookies? Thanks and your blog is beautiful!
Pasty_Mamba says
Thx I am using this recipe for a school project, very excited!!!!!
Chris says
How much gr/cups is the 4packages of hot cacoa powder?
I want to try the recipy, but we dont have those kinds of package, only big bags.
Cassie O says
How many cookies does one recipie yield?
Jordan says
How many cookies does this make?
Rae Ann says
I made with regular mini marshmallows and they did not turn out! The marshmallows melted and got an unfortunate texture. Next time I will hunt down the bits!
Christi says
This is why I recommend the Mallow Bits, which is how I made them in this recipe. Regular marshmallows, especially if very fresh, can turn into a stick mess. Mallow Bits can be found at almost any grocery store, either with the marshmallows or near the hot cocoa products.
Caleb says
I made these yesterday but the marshmallows completely melted. How you address that problem.
Christi says
Caleb, did you use the Mallow Bits? If you use regular miniature marshmallows they will melt, which is why the recipe calls for the Mallow Bits that are dehydrated and won’t give you that issue.
Angela says
I baked a couple batches and then dded another half a stick of butter so they spread out a bit more. Delicious cookies!
Ellen says
Made these last weekend and they got rave reviews! Thanks a lot.
Callie says
My family and I are not the greatest bakers but we want to try these cookies. Is there a way to just add the mix, chocolate, and marshmallows to pre-made cookie mix or will something bad happen?
Christi says
Callie, I haven’t tried so I really can’t speak to what the results would be.
Kelly says
I tweeted your recipe. Instead of the marshmellow bits I added salted caramel chips and dark chocolate chunks, Fantastic!!!! Also used Swiss miss dark chocolate mix.
Sonja says
Can you freeze these cookies after baking?
Jill says
Delicious! These were a big hit among young and not so young folks. I couldn’t find any dehydrated marshmallows (I’m in Canada) so I bought mini marshmallows and cut them in half to avoid mess. Then I put one or two mini marshmallows on top of each cookie right out of the oven. Thank you for a great recipe.
Christi Johnstone says
Jill, so glad you enjoyed these! Great idea on the marshmallows!
Jess says
Hi,
Do you use milk chocolate chips or semi sweet?
I’m so excited to try these!
Christi Johnstone says
Hi Jess, I use semi-sweet or dark, but that’s because I don’t like milk chocolate. To me the chocolate chip choice is 100% based on your tastes, so go with whichever you like and tend to use most.
Jess says
Thank you so much!🍪😊
Deb says
These cookies are to DIE FOR and im not a fan of hot covoa nor chocolate!
Only thing I changed is instead of 2 sticks of butter I used 1 stick of butter AND 1stick or 1/2 cup of butter flavored crisco- I just changed to that method of fats and boy our my cookies better and chewy!
Also i added 1/2 cup of crushed pepermint sticks!
WOWSA !!!!!!!
Christi Johnstone says
So happy you enjoyed these, Deb!
Lesley says
I made these yesterday, mine was such a crumbly dough that I had to press together to form. They were still tasty and baked into cookies but very difficult to work with… Not sure where I went wrong
Christi Johnstone says
Lesley, how did you measure your flour? Did you spoon it into a dry measuring cup then level it off, or scoop with the measuring cup? Scooping is a common method, but often results in too much flour as it compacts the flour. But glad to hear the cookies still turned out!
Kathy says
Hu,
Has anyone tried freezing these? I wonder how the marshmallow bits hold up.
Thanks!
Nicola says
Mine were flat and gooey and stuck together. Taste delicious but don’t look so great! How long can I store them without freezing? I made a lot!
Christi Johnstone says
Hi Nicola, it sounds like either you were short on flour, didn’t chill long enough or your oven is running hot. That is actually how I realized once that my oven was running too hot. I was getting flat cookies constantly and it was driving me nuts. Turns out it was due to high and fluctuating heat (so not ALWAYS running hot). If you don’t have an inexpensive oven thermometer, I’d really recommend getting one. Also make sure your cookie sheets aren’t hot when you put the dough on them, that too can be a factor. Hope those tips help! Oh, I personally don’t love cookies for more than a few days – there are no preservatives when we bake at home. Even if you don’t freeze them, if you need them for more than 4-5 days, I’d at least pop them in the fridge in an airtight container or ziploc bag. 🙂
Amy Corlett says
Ours came out flat and gooey but that was intenional. I cut the baking powder to about a scant 1.5tsp, we used a 1TB scoop, baked for 8 min and then slammed the hot pan on the counter out of the oven – it flattens them out real nice. We only had regular mini marshmallows, not those hard little “bits”, so lots of oozing and melting which carmelized nicely. They’re delicious!
Chris says
Can you freeze these?
Christi Johnstone says
I haven’t tried, but they should freeze like any other chocolate chip style cookie.
Carolyn says
Did you use dark chocolate chips or semi sweet?
Christi Johnstone says
Absolutely!
Jessica says
These are great. Next time I make them I am going to add a 1/4 cup of Starbucks instant coffee Italian roast to make mocha cookies. I don’t like marshmallows so I don’t add them and I use Nestle dark chocolate chips so yummy 😋
Christi Johnstone says
Jessica, I absolutely LOVE your modifications. I think the dark chips sound great, and if added with the coffee – wow, those would be fantastic!
Ducie says
these came out delicious. The first batch was a little bit dry so I used less flour for the second batch and it was good. I put the mini marshmallows on the top of the batter before baking to see how they would look and in another batch I put them on after taking them out of the oven. It just makes them look cuter to be able to see the mini marshmallows. I might try that with the chocolate chips next time too.
Peggy says
I made them today. They are delicious, very chewy and moist. The first test came out as pictured, but the second and third were a bit flatter. Any suggestions?
Christi Johnstone says
Peggy, can you pinpoint what you did different? Sounds like your first batch was as expected, what factors were different with the other batches? For flatter, things such as a hotter oven (do you have an oven thermometer? The temps can really vary), the dough being warmer, measuring differences, the baking sheets being hot vs room temp… there are quite a few factors that can make a difference.