Hot Cocoa is one of the most beloved and perfect holiday treats. It’s so simple to make, yet brings so much nostalgia and festivity to the season. My creative cookie brain of course decides to turn this delicious holiday drink into a cookie. So here you are, so excited to dive right in with you.
I don’t know if it’s just me but I think hot chocolate should be enjoyed all year round but if I’m being honest I don’t think about it enough for the rest of the year. I think one of my new years goals is going to be drink hot chocolate more often. HAHA who’s with me? Maybe I should make the goal to make these cookies more, actually.
This cookie is day 5 of my 12 days of christmas cookie series!! If you’re coming from there, welcome, I am so glad you’re here!! If you have no clue what I’m talking about, no worries!! I’ve been doing a video series on my social platform called “12 days of christmas cookies” on my social platforms where I create 12 different christmas cookie recipes leading up to christmas.
Jump to RecipeSo far I’ve done Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, Triple Chip Cookies, Chewy Spice Cookies, Christmas M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies and now these, hot cocoa cookies!! I am so excited for these cookie recipes and I hope you love this series as much as I do. There is just something about baking at christmas that is just so satisfying.
If you want to follow along and drop your cookie suggestions feel free to hit any of my social links right here on my website.
What you’ll need:
- butter
- brown sugar
- sugar
- vanilla extract
- ground vanilla bean (optional)
- eggs
- cocoa powder
- flour
- hot chocolate packet
- cornstarch
- baking soda
- salt
- chocolate chips
- marshmallows
- flaky sea salt (optional)
Now that you’ve seen what you need to make these beautiful holiday cookies, let’s talk more about them… these are a double chocolate chip cookie dough, made with brown butter and cocoa powder to give it the best flavor. Plus, to make it even more fun I added actual hot chocolate powder to the recipe. BIG WIN if you ask me. You also stuff these cookies with a WHOLE marshmallow which makes these cookies… no literally, that’s it. It MAKES these cookies.
What is Brown Butter and do I have to use it?
Basically brown butter is just butter that’s been cooked on the stove. It foams up and the milk solids caramelize giving it its delicious deep nutty flavor. It takes a few quick minutes on the stove and the smell is like no other. Let’s just say it’s amazing and it’s a GAME CHANGER when baking. It’s hard to go back once you make it a few times and super simple to make so the extra step is optional but 100% worth it. And yes, you can still make this recipe without using brown butter it just won’t have the nutty flavor but will still be delicious. If you also want the texture to be the same, I would use melted butter because the consistency of brown butter and melted will be the most similar.
Hot Cocoa Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter browned
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean optional
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 hot chocolate packet
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 10 oz bag of marshmallows
- flaky sea salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line you’re baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a sauce pan over medium high heat, add your butter and let melt. Once it's melted keep it on the heat and let it cook for 5-10 minutes until it foams up and then turns brown. Let cool.
- In a large bowl, add your butter and sugars, and whisk until combined. Add your eggs and vanillas and whisk again until fluffy and nearly foamy.
- Next, add your cocoa powder, flour, corn starch, baking soda, salt, and hot chocolate packet, and fold until just combined. Add your chocolate chips.
- Scoop out your cookie dough into 1 inch balls, flatten it out and add one marshmallow. Wrap your dough around the marshmallow. (It’s ok if a little bit of the marshmallow is peaking out.) Continue with the rest of your dough and marshmallows.
- Place your cookie dough ball on your baking sheet a few inches apart and bake in the oven at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes. Don’t overbake as your marshmallows could burn easily.
- Remove from oven, top with flaky sea salt, let set, share, and enjoy!!
Notes
ANDDDD that is all. These cookies are for real, so easy to make that I’m sure just about anyone can make them. Once you try these, there may be no going back. They are just that good. I can’t get over the marshmallow pull you get with every cookie.
I hope that you enjoy this recipe with your loved ones and that it brings people together.
This recipe was meant to be enjoyed!!
If you make it, I would love to see! Please tag me on my socials and on my instagram @whiskfullyblessed. I can’t wait to see how you like it and I’m so excited to reshare your cute photos!!
Did you enjoy this recipe? If so, I would SO APPRECIATE if you write a review so others can try it out too! Don’t forget to smile because you are loved! <3
OMG. Seriously?? These cookies are ridiculously good. The recipe was very easy to follow! The cookies are gooey, soft, and the perfect winter treat! They taste just like a cup of hot cocoa. I can’t wait to make them again!
Sooo good! I made them as soon as I saw the tiktok video because they looked so delicious and they came out exactly like the video! These will definitely be a new holiday staple at my house 🙂
These are EASILY one of my top 5 cookies I’ve ever had and made! I was even able to substitute the egg with my egg substitute that I use without making the cookies structure change or taste awful (like what normally happens when I make the swap with other recipes). I am definitely making these for my Christmas party and will be made every year! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
Hi.
What egg substitute did you use?
I used the JUST Egg substitute and it worked fantastic!
Fun recipe that was easy to follow! Turned out delicious! Thank you for a tasty holiday cookie!
These were great! I converted them easily to gluten free for our families needs and they were perfect!
I absolutely love these cookies!!!!! The dough is amazing and using brown butter really makes the difference. Very chewy with the marshmallow just how I like it! 10/10! Go make it!
These cookies are fantastic! Such an easy recipe to follow, easy cookie dough to work with, and the taste of the cookie is perfect. Crisp around the edges, ooey gooey and chewy in the middle!
The hot coca cookies were delicious!! So easy to make and my 4 year old loved helping with the marshmallows!!
This the BEST Hot Chocolate Cookie recipe I’ve ever made!! My family loved them so much that there were none left😅
Do you use large marshmallows or mini marshmallows? The pics have minis but that looks like sooo much more filling than one mini would leave. I have to know before I try
I used big marshmallows to stuff them but you can use small ones if that’s what you have!! Just use around 6 minis or so!! Enjoy!
I used large marshmallows in the first few and they did NOT turn out😬 Second tray I used about 5 minis and they were perfect!
haha oh no!! Yes, the big marshmallows are more likely to explode if there isnt enough dough than the smaller ones!! I am so glad they turned out in the end!!
These look great :). What is the thinking behind the Tbsp of corn starch? Simplifying and substituting it with an extra Tbsp of flour seems like it should be basically the same, but maybe not?
Thank you! The cornstarch helps the cookies rise better and are thicker but I’m sure it would work without it!
Can you use nesquik instead of a hot cocoa packet?
Yeah that could prob work! Prob about 2 tbsp!
Just Awesome! – Much better once I figured out to use more than one mini marshmallow. I used milk cholate chips rather than semi-sweet, and since I used salted butter, I omitted the salt in the dough mixture.
These are phenomenal! I made the dough with zero changes. I used mini marshmallows and sprinkled some powdered sugar on top. In a couple of cookies, I swapped the marshmallow for a small chewy caramel, and sprinkled with sea salt right after coming out of the oven. Both kinds were great! I’ll be making another batch of these tomorrow!
This was a really simple but fun cookie to make! It felt a bit more elevated than my usual chocolate chip cookie. Would definitely recommend!!
These cookies are AMAZING!!!!! I made these not knowing what to expect, and the whole family said they’re the best I’ve ever made! I’m adding them to my permanent Christmas cookie list!
Hi! I got set to make these and realized that I forgot the chocolate chips! Do you think they’ll still turn out?
The should absolutely still work out!! The chocolate chips are just for extra chocolate flavor;)
These cookies were great! ! ! My family really likes them! I used smaller marshmallows, so I suggest putting in 4 or more of those if anyone else does!
Thank you! 💗
Absolutely delicious!! Made these for a work cookie swap and they were such a hit! Can’t wait to make them again and again!
Very easy and delicious cookies! Can’t wait to give them out to friends!
My sister and I made these together for a holiday cookie exchange at her work. We doubled the recipe so we would have enough to gift and plenty leftover to munch on. And omg! This recipe is stellar – so easy to follow, the brown butter added that extra oomph and nutty-ness, and the sea salt at the end elevated these already bomb cookies. I loved that these cookies could go straight into the oven without needing to be chilled and came out super soft and chewy! Will be making these again.
Tip: I froze my mini marshmallows before putting them into the dough balls so that they would melt slowly in the oven and look exactly like the cookies in the photos. I found that 3-4 were plenty for the 1 inch balls.
Stumbled upon the recipe on TikTok and HAD to make them. Worth the effort. These cookies are incredible. Like eating a mug of hot chocolate. These were super easy to make, my family will love these on Christmas!
Great cookies! However, I found that the baking soda flavor was a little overpowering. They have a salty flavor to them. Can you cut the baking soda in half maybe? I’ve never come across a cookie recipe that called for a whole tablespoon of baking soda. Thx!!
Oh no, I’m so sorry about this! Yes you can cut the baking soda down if needed and also the salt if they were too salty! Also if you use salted butter, you can fill cutout the salt in the recipe!! No problem!
Made these with my toddler, who helped to add the marshmallows and they were delicious! The brown butter makes them very flavorful and we love the gooey chewy texture. I used a few small marshmallows for each instead of large ones since that’s what I had. I also had cocoa mix instead of packets so used one serving of that and they came out great. I also froze some since it made so many. A keeper recipe for sure!
These are really good! They did taste a little salty though imo. I was thinking it may be due to the amount of baking soda. Can you decrease the amount?
Thank you!! Did you use salted butter and add salt into the dough?
We made these two nights in a row they were so good! The recipe is so simple and easy to follow that my kids even were able to help out! This is going to definitely be a cookie we will make year after year during the holidays!
Great cookies. Made them with my mother for Christmas. Very easy recipe to follow and the cookies came out fantastic.
That marshmallow sure does get messy, though. lol
Found this recipe on TikTok. Perfect timing as I was baking cookies for a cookie contest. These were so easy to make and came out so tasty! Chocolate lovers you will find a new favorite cookie!❤️
These are SOOO good! I made them for my kids to leave out for santa.. literally the best hot cocoa cookie recipe I’ve made!!
Love this recipe! It was a hit! Even made some without marshmallows and they were still soo good!
SO YUMMY!!! I was a little skeptical of these because I was worried they’d be too sweet but nope!! they’re a perfect balance of sweet and bit salty!! My family devoured these cookies!! Definitely a new tradition for every winter 🙂
These were so good!! Love this recipe and your cookies!
We are on the hunt for top 5 cookies to make for Christmas Eve and this has made the cut! I used about three mini marshmallows in a small icecream scoop size of dough. They came out perfect. The whole family is obsessed with them and I’m probably going to have to triple the batter for Christmas!
LOVEE THIS COOKIE SO MUCH!! The best cookie I have ever made!! They taste so good and the recipe was really easy to follow and nice simple directions!!
Can I freeze these? I want to make ahead for our Christmas cookie platter.
Hey there, YES!! You can freeze this cookie dough for up to a month. Just roll or scoop them out and place in an airtight container or freezer bag. Then let come to room temperature and add the marshmallow and bake. (not sure about freezing it with the marshmallows but it may work as well)
These are so delicious and very easy to make! Don’t skip browning the butter, it added another layer of flavor to the cookies. My family loved them so I will definitely be making these again. Thank you for the amazing recipe Cassidy!
This looks so good! What a great treat to make for the holidays!
thank you!!
These cookies are fantastic! Such an easy recipe to follow, easy cookie dough to work with, and the taste of the cookie is perfect. Crisp around the edges, ooey gooey and chewy in the middle!
These are incredible and addictive! My new Christmas cookie go to.