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.
Andrew says
The Kraft recipe and yours differ, with Kraft adding 1/4 cup of butter, eliminating the salt, increasing baking soda a 1/4 tsp, and 1 tsp of baking powder instead of two.
Minor, yes.
I am going to do it YOUR way first!
Comments?
Christi Johnstone says
Well they actually are both my recipes. 🙂 That said, over the years I’ve tweaked the recipe, so the one on my website is the newest version.
Marchal says
Can seem to find Marshmallow bits. Can I use the mini-marshmallows instead?
Christi Johnstone says
You can, but it creates a somewhat different cookie, and can be a bit of a sticky mess.
I see Target has them available to order, as does Walmart, and Amazon has quite a few dehydrated marshmallow options. Hope that helps.
zoey says
I haven’t made these yet so I’m not going to rate them now, but I do have a question – is vanilla necessary? Because I can’t seem to find any in the kitchen and I really don’t feel like going out again ahahah! Thanks~
Christi Johnstone says
You can skip it 😉
Ron says
I am a non-baker using Swiss Miss hot cocoa mix. Am I preparing the hot cocoa, using hot water, as if I am going to drink it? Also, adding 8 oz. per package would appear to make the entire batter very liquid.
Christi Johnstone says
No, you are just using the dry mix. We don’t want to make cocoa, just cookies. 🙂
Sharlene Momich says
Yummy but a little salty. Will try unsalted butter next time. Thanks!
Nina says
Thank you Christi, I have tried several recipes on these cookies. This has been the best recipe. Everyone loves these cookies.
Kevin says
Wrong flour? Need self rising
Christi Johnstone says
Given this recipe has baking powder, baking soda and salt, you would NOT want to use self rising flour. 😉
Jnessa says
I have made these twice following everything exactly. They come out super flat and I don’t taste the hot coco. It barely taste like chocolate at all. I would love help on what’s going wrong.
Christi Johnstone says
Since I literally just made a batch this morning, I’ve tested this recipe very recently so to speak. What is your butter temperature? Did you chill the dough and how long? What hot cocoa are you using? The hot cocoa is the wild card in this recipe because there are so many different kinds people can use. The results will be different with different brands – 100%. I like the Swiss Miss Dark Chocolate. IF you want a deeper chocolate flavor, add a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder.
Next, do you have an oven thermometer? When my oven thermostat quietly went on the fritz, it was flat cookie that indicated that there was a problem. If you don’t have one, they are super inexpensive and can be very revealing? My oven was swinging over 50 degrees in both directions. Replaced the thermostat and cookies wer back to normal.
Alexa says
How do I get them to be flatter? Should I chill the dough, then add the bits before baking?
Christi Johnstone says
Make sure you are measuring your flour by giving it a stir, then spooning it into the measuring cups and leveling off. One reason that cookies might not flatten is too much flour, and if you measure by scooping the flour with the measuring cup, it compact it and cause that.
Whitney says
I plan on making these for an event in December. Can I make the dough ahead, freeze then thaw to bake closer to the event?
Christi Johnstone says
Yes, though I recommend not adding the freeze dried marshmallows until you bake them. Just press a few into each cookie dough ball before you put htem into the oven.