These Hot Chocolate Cookies are seriously the best cookie ever!  Sweet and full of rich chocolate flavor with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows mixed in for the full hot chocolate experience.  A perfect Christmas cookie or winter snacking cookie along side a mug of hot chocolate.  This post contains affiliate links.

Ever wanted to have your Hot Chocolate and eat it too?  Me too!  While I loved the idea of a hot chocolate Cookie, a lot of the recipes I found were a gazillion steps or they used actual marshmallows and they got weird and hard the day after.  My goal was to basically dress up a sugar cookie mix into something truly spectacular, but my test batches kept turning up meh.  I’m all about easy but impressive, and without the impressive part of it, it’s really missing the whole point.  My husband — he’s not just a smartypants with tech stuff, he’s also a cookie connoisseur — suggested I just keep the steps simple, but try going with a higher quality hot chocolate and not the absolute cheapest of cheap I’d been experimenting with.  Since I basically pay my husband for all the tech work he does on my site in cookies and various baked goods, I decided to listen up. 

The final Hot Chocolate Cookie version you’ll see here is so, so insanely good.  Like I try not to say “best ever!!!!” about every recipe, but it’s real life on this one and you will LOVE these cookies.  Like your new favorite Christmas cookie.  No, I’m going to go bold here: your new favorite anytime cookie.

Hot Chocolate Cookies How-to

Two secrets for success here:  my husband was right and definitely, definitely grab a higher end hot chocolate.  I tested it with the Sillycow brand which I found at Meijer, but any higher end hot chocolate should do.  Also, when the cookie mix says “don’t melt the butter” don’t think, “Meh – let’s find out if they’re serious.”  They’re serious, and your cookies will spread into a giant Pangea shaped cookie if you don’t listen.  Good for geography day, not so much good for delicious cookies.  There’s a reason the hook on a lot of cookie recipes isn’t, “Do you want a cookie that’s as thin as a piece of paper?!”  Trust me, you don’t :).

Prepare the cookies per the package directions (again not melting the butter).  I experimented with adding a bunch of extra ingredients, but the absolute easiest way turned out to be the best here.  Just add a scant 2/3 cup of hot chocolate mix and an extra 2 T of water and mix it all together with the sugar cookie dough.  It takes some mixing — like I had to work the ol’ spoon to get it all incorporated, so don’t worry if the dough mixing takes a little arm work.

Hot Chocolate Cookies Mix-ins

Now for the fun part!  The cookie mix-ins.  Add 1 cup of mini marshmallow bits — now the only place I have found these is Target.  They carry them in store or online – but you’ll want to go with the marshmallow bits vs. mini marshmallows.  The bits work way better with the texture of the cookie and keep really well without getting tough or overly chewy during storage.  Also add in one cup of chocolate chips and mix until they’re incorporated.  Pop the cookie dough balls onto a baking sheet.  I have fantastic luck with a silicone baking mat and an Air Bake cookie pan.  Bake at 375° for 7-9 minutes.

These Hot Chocolate Cookies are rich, chewy and dense with a little bit of that fantastic crispness on the bottoms and edges.  Perfect for a cookie for Santa, or even a fun teacher or neighbor gift.

Yum!  These are a definite new go to in our Christmas cookie rotation.  Need a few more easy Christmas cookies to round out your holiday cookie platter?  Try some One Bowl Gingerbread Brownies or Mint Sugar Cookies and serve them with a mug of Freezer Creamy Coffee Mix. 

Or if you’re looking for a one-stop shop for easy Christmas cookies that start with a mix, check out my Christmas Cookie ebook on Amazon

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