Hot Cocoa Cookies
These soft, chewy hot cocoa cookies are loaded with cocoa mix, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallow bits. All the tasty flavors of hot cocoa in every bite!
Believe me when I say these ultra-chocolatey hot cocoa cookies are some of the best cookies I have ever made! Try them warm when the chocolate chips and marshmallows are gooey and melted – they are insanely delicious!
Why You’ll Love These Hot Cocoa Cookies
If you love hot cocoa, these cookies will be a slam dunk favorite. Here are a few other reasons you will love them:
- The recipe uses every day hot cocoa mix plus a bit of cocoa powder for maximum chocolate flavor. Keep scrolling for all the different varieties of dry hot chocolate mix you can use in these cookies.
- No chilling the dough required! The dough is easily mixed in one bowl and can be baked right away.
- The texture of the baked cookies is soft, thick, and chewy. The cookies are ultra-decadent and so delicious!
- The baked cookies stay fresh-tasting for days. Store them in the refrigerator for maximum freshness (eat cold – YUM – or lightly warm up in the microwave for a few seconds). They can also be frozen for several months.
Key Ingredients for Hot Cocoa Cookies
- Butter: I always use salted butter, as noted in the recipe. The salt amount in the ingredients accounts for this. If using unsalted butter, add an additional 1/2 teaspoon salt to the recipe.
- Granulated Sugar + Brown Sugar: The brown sugar contributes to a chewy texture. Pack the brown sugar into the measuring cup.
- Eggs: Use cold eggs straight from the refrigerator for this recipe. Room temperature eggs may cause the dough to spread a bit more while baking.
- All-Purpose Flour: I use unbleached, all-purpose flour.
- Cocoa Powder: The 1/4 cup cocoa powder gives a boost of chocolate flavor and also helps balance the consistency of the dough so the cookies don’t spread – don’t leave it out. I use natural, unsweetened cocoa powder for this recipe.
- Hot Cocoa Mix: Dry hot cocoa mix is used for this recipe. I prefer using hot cocoa mix that does not have marshmallows added. My favorite hot cocoa mix to use in these cookies is Ghirardelli Premium Hot Cocoa. I also tested this recipe with Nestle hot cocoa mix and the cookies turned out great (a bit sweeter and slightly less chocolate flavor than the cookies made with the Ghirardelli mix).
- Mini Marshmallow Bits: Do NOT use regular mini marshmallows for these cookies as they will melt and spread all over the pan. Look for the dehydrated mini marshmallow bits (the kind used in hot chocolate). They can often be found in the hot chocolate aisle (I’ve seen the Jet Puffed brand in canisters at Walmart and my small town grocery store). I keep a bulk-supply on hand, because we also use them for this granola and these s’mores cookies.
Another quick note about the dry hot cocoa mix: 1 cup of hot cocoa mix is the equivalent of FOUR 1.5-ounce packets or about SIX .96-ounce packets or about EIGHT .71-ounce packets.
A Few Additional Tips
I hope you know by now that I’m not one to shove a new recipe in front of your face that calls for a few specialty ingredients unless it is worth it.
And I’m telling you, these hot cocoa cookies are 100% worth it.
- Use a hot chocolate mix that is ultra-tasty and that you love the taste of.
- Get your hands on those mini marshmallow bits. I promise you’ll end up buying the all the time once you fall in love with these cookies (and that s’mores granola and s’mores chocolate chip cookies).
- Play around with the flavor of hot cocoa! Perhaps mint-flavored hot cocoa with a bit of peppermint extract in the dough? Yum!
➡️➡️ I do NOT recommend using sugar-free hot cocoa mix – the flavor and consistency of the dough may be affected negatively. Also, you can try using hot cocoa mix with the marshmallows added; however, it won’t equate to the same amount of marshmallows as called for in the recipe.
Make These Cookies
The week I was making and testing this cookie recipe, I had several people randomly text me and say basically the same thing: “Hey, I heard about the chocolate cookies you made – can I get the recipe??”
Apparently my kids had gone to school and church and talked these cookies up to a lot of people, which is hilarious because while I make a lot of cookies (and while my kids gladly eat them), they’ve never raved this much over a new cookie recipe – ever.
I don’t blame them! These hot cocoa cookies are one of the most delicious cookies I’ve ever made! They have the perfect cookie texture. Thick and soft and chewy. And the chocolate factor is through the roof with a hint of the signature flavor that comes from hot chocolate. Enjoy!
Hot Cocoa Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) salted butter, softened to room temperature
- ⅔ cup (142 g) granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup (142 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups (390 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (21 g) natural, unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup (170 g) dry hot cocoa mix (see note)
- 1 ¼ cups (63 g) mini marshmallow bits (see note)
- 1 cup (170 g) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line half sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, combine the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until well-combined and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well-combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the flour, hot cocoa mix, and cocoa powder. Mix until just combined; it's ok if a few dry streaks remain. Add the mini marshmallow bits and chocolate chips and mix on low speed until evenly combined.
- Scoop the dough into 2-tablespoon size cookie dough balls (I use a #40 cookie scoop) and roll until smooth. Place several inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 10 to 11 minutes until the cookies are just set around the edges (better to under bake slightly rather than over bake). Let the cookies cool for a minute or two on the baking sheets. Remove to a cooling rack to cool completely (or not…these cookies are insanely delicious eaten warm).
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
YUM!!!! Just took these out of the oven and we’re devouring them! I used good ol’ Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa mix and it did great.
I’m a cookie dough eater and while eating the dough, I was worried these would be too sweet. But, out of the oven, they’re perfect. The marshmallows even made an almost-caramel vibe in the middle of all the chocolatey goodness. These will be going out to neighbors this year! Thank you Mel!
Thanks for the review, Melissa! Thrilled you loved these (I am also a devout cookie dough eater :))
Oh my goodness. These are soooo good. I didn’t have regular hot cocoa mix on hand but I did have peppermint hot cocoa mix — so these taste extra holiday-ish and I’m here for it! Thanks for another incredible recipe Mel!
I’ve been wanting to try these with peppermint hot cocoa, so thanks for letting me know how they worked out with flavored cocoa!
Easy to throw together and so delicious. Definitely worth the marshmallow bits.
Yay! Glad you thought so, Marek!
Would refrigerating the dough for a few days be ok? need to use for a cookie exchange party. I make your recipes all the time…having friends over later this week and I’m making your shrimp pesto pasta. Thank you!!
I love knowing that – thanks, Amy! Yes, you could definitely refrigerate the dough, but I’d recommend rolling into cookie dough balls before you refrigerate.
Excellent!!! Regular Swiss Miss is what I had on, hand but I was short one packet. Still turned out fabulous! Used Nestlé mini semisweet chips and measured all ingredients by weight. Mine did NOT turn out flat. Will definitely make again.
Thanks, Anne!
Excellent!!! Reglar Swiss Miss is what I had on, hand but I was short one packet. Still turned out fabulous! Use Nestlé mini semisweet chips. Will definitely make again.
Thanks for the details, Anne! Glad they worked out for you!
Mel, wow you had a home run here!
These are insanely delicious like you said. They came together so easily and my daughter and her husband loved them as much as I did and happily took the majority home with them.
One thing I have to comment on, I love the fact that you put in the metric measurements. I wish you would for the cookie dough balls as well. I like to weigh my cookie balls rather than just scoop them and eyeball them and it would really help! Thanks for your wonderful site. Happy holidays.
Thanks for the comment, Debra! I’ll try to weigh the cookie dough balls the next time I make these and I’ll add a note to the recipe.
These are great! I used Lake O Lakes mix. But I will say that the grams for the AP measurement is off. I used 340 g and that was just right. I can see how if people used 390 g the dough would be crazy stiff.
Hi Alli, I test all my recipes using 142 grams of flour per cup, so the gram measurement in the recipe is correct based on the way I tested the recipe…but I’m glad they worked out with your adjustments.
Follow up to the flattening issue, I also used Swiss Miss hot cocoa mix. So, maybe there’s a clue. I also had added 1/8 tsp espresso powder —would increase to 1/4 tsp next time. Also will add a bit more flour. Thanks for recipe Mel.
Hi Lynn, the flattening issue may be due to the type of hot cocoa used? If you make them again with the same type of hot cocoa, try adding another 1/4 cup flour (or more if you want the cookies thicker).
Love the taste of the hot chocolate cookies. However, mine did not turn out “cakey” ; they were quite flat. Since this was the initial batch, I divided the dough in half – chilled 1/2 a batch and baked the other half immediately. No difference, the total batch turned out flat. Any suggestions, I would like “cakes” cookies!
These are amazing! My husband told me to never make them again, because apparently I want him to be fat. He can’t stay out of them haha! Added to our family baking day list!
Haha, glad they were a hit!
I couldn’t for the life of me find any dehydrated marshmellows, and I was desperate to make these cookies asap (cuz…that’s how much I love and trust you), so I substituted white chocolate chips — and they were fabulous!
Such a great idea, Amy!!
Has anyone frozen them?
Yes, I did freeze some as a trial — thawed well (no discoloring,no problems, AND tasted great !) Note: cookies were only in freezer a couple of days.
The cookies freeze great!
My non-chocolate-cookie-loving husband thought these were really tasty and my 17 year old son couldn’t stop picking them up as he walked through the kitchen. I used Signature Select (Safeway house brand) cocoa mix and weighed everything by the gram and the texture is perfect. I also used the Jet Puffed dried marshmallows and they were inexpensive (the math works out to cheaper than the bulk bag on Amazon, bought them at Target in the marshmallow aisle). Definitely worth making again.
Super helpful comment, Mo – thank you so much! Glad they were a hit!
Update: made these again with Andes Crème de Menthe chips and they are fantastic ❤️
Oh my goodness…I’m making a mint version this afternoon and can’t wait!
Delicious. Delicious. Delicious. Used Starbucks hot chocolate mix and they were amazing
Thanks, Jenny! Glad to know your experience using Starbucks cocoa worked out well (a couple others have mentioned the dough was really thick when they used that type of hot cocoa – did you experience that at all?)
Reporting back on using the Starbucks hot cocoa mix. I weighed everything, and found the dough to be super stiff. It was hard to mix in the dehydrated marshmallows without crushing them. They also didn’t spread as much as I would like unless I first flattened the dough balls, which worked great. Chocolate flavor was great, but the final cookies feel a little gritty, I’m guessing from the undissolved sugar in the cocoa mix. If I make them again I’ll try tweaking the amount of dry ingredients, or adding the cocoa mix earlier to help that sugar dissolve. Probably way too much info, but hopefully it’s useful to someone!
I wish I would’ve read your comment before I started! Same experience with the Starbucks Hot Cocoa!
Thanks for the update on the Starbucks cocoa, Vicky. This comment thread is a great resource for people to figure our or decide what type of hot cocoa mix to use.
I made these for an event. Everyone loved them! They are very easy to make and turned out perfect. I used dark chocolate chips. I have followed your site for years and realize I have not left reviews! I recommend your recipes to my family and friends almost daily. Thank you for sharing your great food and tips with us.
Thank you so much for the kind words, Joetta. I appreciate it so much that you took the time to leave a review on these cookies. Thank you!
Another great hit Mel! Out of habit I added 1/2 tsp instant coffee to the mix to enhance the chocolate flavor & fantastic! Your site is my ‘go to’ for recipes, thank you for the love! Cheers
Coffee is a great chocolate-flavor enhancer – great idea, Ang!
Made these tonight! Girl, they were unbelievably delicious!!! My husband said they were “the best cookies he’s ever had in his whole entire life!” We used our homemade hot cocoa mix (I omitted the ¼ cocoa powder b/c our mix is on the richer side). Thank you for this legendary cookie recipe, Mel!!!
Stacie, yay!! Your husband’s rave reviews put a huge smile on my face. That’s fabulous news that your homemade hot cocoa mix worked great. Thank you for the comment!
Hi Stacie,
Will you please share your homemade hot cocoa mix recipe?
Hi Sara! 🙂 Here is our homemade hot cocoa mix recipe:
4 cups whole milk powder (we use Nestle NIDO)
2-3 cups Ghiradelli Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder (depending on how rich you like it)
¼ – ½ tsp kosher salt
1 ½ cups sugar
Whisk to fully combine, until no powdered milk is visible. Store in an airtight jar.
For hot cocoa: 3-4 tbsp for 8oz of hot water.
NOTE: This recipe is easy to tweak based on personal preference, or depending on what cocoa powder you use. We usually make the mix, then do a test cup of hot cocoa and adjust as necessary.
So excited to try these! Has anyone used the hot chocolate mix from the jumbo Steven’ brand from Costco?
I haven’t, but I suspect it should work just fine! So many different brands of hot cocoa have been used by people reporting back.
Delicious! I used Swiss Miss packets because that’s what I had on hand, as well as regular mini marshmallows. Happy to report they did not spread – if any of you are desperate to make these before you get to the store for dehydrated mallows. Once again, Mel doesn’t fail & has provided another delicious favorite!
Thanks for the review and adding your variations, Cheri! How did the regular marshmallows do in the oven? Did they melt out of the cookies?
Made these on Tuesday for some friends coming to dinner and everyone LOVED them! Even tonight, my family was still talking about how good they were. I will be making them again very soon. Thanks for greatness!
So, SO happy to read this, Shannon! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
Made these last night and they are delicious! Easy to make and definitely a crowd-pleaser at work. I used Swiss Miss double chocolate hot cocoa mix, and they worked really well.
Thanks for chiming in with your experience and the type of hot cocoa you used, Elizabeth!
I just love these cookies! I have just finished making a batch to freeze and to give as Christmas gifts (along with other cookies), but I found the dough a bit hard to work with it. It seemed very dry. Could I have added a bit li of liquid (maybe water or milk) to make the dough a bit easier to work?
Thanks for all of your wonderful recipes!
I had the same problem with my dough – I had to really pack it together to get it to stick and keep its shape. I also considered adding a little milk but didn’t want to mess with the ratios. I weighed all my dry ingredients too, so not sure why that happened. The final product is really delicious though! Mel’s sweets are always the best!
Hi Danielle and Dale! Thanks for the feedback on your experience making the dough. I think this is a thicker cookie dough than some other classic drop cookies…but I am a bit puzzled about it being so thick that it had trouble sticking together, especially after weighing the ingredients. If either of you see this, could you take a quick second and let me know what brand of hot cocoa mix you used? Also, when you baked the cookies, did they flatten well or stay puffy while baking? That information can help me troubleshoot!
I’m sorry I’m just seeing your response now, Mel. I used the Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate cocoa and my cookies stayed fairly puffy after baking, which didn’t really bother me. Hope that helps! I appreciate your dedication to getting your recipes perfect!
If I made these now for serving in a week, would your recommend baking and freezing the cookies to thaw the day of or freeze the dough to bake in the day of?
Either would work fine! A lot depends on how you want to serve them. If you want them warm and fresh and still a little melty, I’d freeze the dough to bake the day of. But if you are serving them on a tray or cookie plate or something like that, I’d bake them, let them cool, and thaw the day of (super delicious that way)
Made these tonight to have with hot cocoa. I used Swiss miss cocoa mix since that’s what I had. The kids loved them and they are definitely tasty. The cookies did come out quite flat though, even with weighing all ingredients.
Hi Kiersten – glad these were well-received by your kids! If you want to make them again, try adding another 1/4 cup flour. That should help the flattening issue (I’m guessing the type of hot cocoa used might affect that?)
I forgot to add the cocoa. I used the Nestle hot chocolate and these were 💯. They are really good.
Thanks, Stacy! Glad the cookies worked out well!
So easy and SO good. I’m a little offended at just how shocked my 9 year old was she learned I made these “seriously amazing cookies” and didn’t buy them….
Hahaha. I will also be offended on your behalf. 🙂
Hi Mel! I loved the taste of these cookies. And pretty much everything I make from your site (basically every meal I cook comes from here).
But when I baked these cookies they spread out and were super crispy. I used my convection setting. Is it that?
I use country crock plant butter because my husband can’t handle butter, but it’s never made any other cookie crispy.
Any ideas? Thanks!
Thanks for the kind words, Katie! I think the cookies spreading and baking up crispy is likely due to the plant-based butter. It sounds like you’ve used it in the past in other cookies just fine…but perhaps because of the hot cocoa and other factors in these cookies, I can definitely see it contributing to a difference in texture.
I made these with homemade hot cocoa mix. The dough was thick, and the cookies didn’t spread as much on the first tray, so I flattened down the dough balls, and that worked great. I also used cereal marshmallows (like Lucky Charms) that I wanted to use up. The cookies were delicious and colorful!
Thanks for the review and adding your changes, Sarah!
Excellent recipe, Mel! I made these last night for our family dinner night. We try to do it weekly with our adult kids that live close. Definitely a hit. Thanks so much for the excellent recipe and playing a part in our family dinner. 🩷🩷
Lucky kids, Renee! Love that weekly tradition.
If I wanted to freeze cookie dough balls, Any idea how I’d adjust cooking time? Or would I just need to let them thaw a bit before cooking?
Usually you can pop frozen cookie dough balls on a baking sheet and bake like normal – just adding 3 to 4 minutes to the baking time. Or you can let the cookie dough balls thaw and bake per the recipe.
These are delicious! And the dough was so easy to work with and didn’t stick to my hands at all while rolling. Definitely a keeper!!
Happy you loved them – thanks for letting me know, Sarah!
So yummy! Made these tonight with my kiddos. Perfect with a cup of hot chocolate and a Christmas movie! Thanks for another keeper!
Thanks for letting me know what you thought of this recipe, Carolyn!
Yummy! These are so delicious! I made them with Swiss Miss Milk chocolate hot chocolate mix. A perfect Christmas cookie, or anytime!
Jen, yay! Thanks for chiming in with what kind of hot chocolate you used!
These are really yummy! I want to try the recipe with Andes chopped up mint pieces in place of chocolate chips next time. ( I love mint!) I used 3 different kinds of packets ( hot cocoa mix) because I wanted to use them up from my pantry. It worked fine. As I was mixing… I was afraid they would be too dry but they weren’t. Great recipe!
Ooooh, I think that’s a great idea on the chopped up Andes mint pieces, Lindsay. I want to try that, too! Also…what a great way to use up the odds and ends of the hot chocolate packets…happy the cookies worked out! It reminds me of the time my mom won a chili cook-off by opening up all the random cans and different brands of chili in her pantry and combining them into one batch. Best chili ever. Haha.
Delightful! I tried 5 stores and could not find the Ghirardelli premium. I didn’t want to wait for Amazon so I used Ghirardelli classic hot cocoa mix. Cookies are yummy! I will order from Amazon for the next batch.
Thanks for the report back, Jan! From the comments, it’s proving to be that these cookies are wildly adaptable with many different kinds of hot cocoa mix.
This one will definitely become a yearly tradition! Such a fun Xmas cookie. Stocking up on dehydrated marshmallows!
Those marshmallow bits make up the bulk of my food storage, not gonna lie.
Did you use semisweet or milk chocolate chips?
I use semisweet chips in these cookies.
My youngest one and I made these as soon as we saw your post and surprised the rest of the kids with them when they got home from school. They have devoured them and asked if I will make another batch tonight so they can take some to their teachers! Thanks for all the amazing, yummy recipes!!
Oh, what a fun surprise!
These are so yummy!! My kids and I had fun making them, and we’ve been gobbling them up all evening. We used Great Value hot cocoa mix because that’s what we had on hand, and they still tasted fantastic!
Thanks for the report back, Gretchen – it’s super helpful to know what kind of cocoa mix people are using! Glad they worked out!
If I make 4 recipes, how many marshmellos would I need? 5 cups? How may cups are in a pound of these? Is it 2 cups? This might be a bit expensive. Can you please let me know? Love your recipes!
I did a little calculating. Hopefully helpful to you. 1 1/4 cups x 4 batches is as you stated = 5 cups. Mel also put the weight in parentheses of 63 grams, so x 4 is 252 grams. 252 grams is roughly just over half a pound. Happy baking! 😊
Thanks for chiming in and helping answer Pamela’s question, Jana!
Pamela, yes, you’d need 5 cups of the mini marshmallow bits for a 4X batch of this recipe.
Just made them, DELISH! What a fun addition to my holiday cookie lineup! Thank you!
Yay…thanks, Stacie!!
These are incredible! The mini marshmallow bits are so yummy!
VERY happy you loved them, Tami – your opinion reigns supreme in my world. 🙂
They look delicious! I’ve been looking for the perfect treat to make this Sunday to enjoy while watching the Christmas devotional and I think I’ve found it!
I hope you love the cookies, Jackie!
Hot cocoa mix — are these the one that you put in hot water? I have some that you put in hot milk; would they change the recipe too much without the milk in the mix?
Hi Barb, these cookies should be fairly adaptable to any kind of dry hot cocoa mix (the only caveat is that I don’t recommend using sugar-free mix).
Absolutely divine! You have done it again Mel. The only thing I did different was use some Nestlé chocolate bits flavored like hot cocoa and marshmallow that I found at Walmart today. Freezing some of these for my cookie trays! Thanks for all of your great recipes.
Cyndi! You’re amazing for making these cookies so quickly. I haven’t heard of those baking bits, but you better believe I’m going to be on the lookout for them.
Do you think I could use Ovaltine??
I’m not really familiar with Ovaltine (the flavor and ingredients) – worth a try, but I’m not sure how it would work out.
Would your homemade hot chocolate mix work? After discovering your recipe, I will never buy hot chocolate mix again.
I agree, that mix is so good! Unfortunately, I haven’t tested this recipe yet with the homemade hot cocoa mix (I didn’t have any on hand when I was testing this recipe), but I hope to try it soon.
These look so good! Have you tried using your own homemade hot cocoa mix?
Hi Sheena, I haven’t tested this recipe yet with the homemade hot cocoa mix (I didn’t have any on hand when I was testing this recipe), but I hope to try it soon.