Hot Cocoa Marshmallow Cookies

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Let me tell you right now, these Hot Cocoa Marshmallow Cookies are like hugging a blanket with your mouth.

They taste exactly like the moment you wrap your hands around a mug of hot chocolate on a freezing night.

They are soft and fudgy in the center, a little crisp on the edges, and when you bite into one, boom, there is gooey marshmallow in the middle like a surprise.

I make them every winter and honestly people lose their minds a little. They are stupid easy too which makes me look way more impressive than I actually am.

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Powdered sugar for dusting if you feel fancy

Why These Ingredients Are Perfect

Butter makes everything soft and rich, sugar gives it that crispy edge, and the egg glues everything together.

Vanilla makes the chocolate taste deeper.

Flour keeps it thick enough so it does not melt into puddles.

Cocoa powder gives it that real hot chocolate flavor.

Baking soda lifts it a little so it is not dense like brownies.

Salt makes chocolate taste even better.

Marshmallows melt into little lava pockets.

Chocolate chips are there just because more chocolate is always a good decision.

Powdered sugar on top looks like snow so it feels festive even if it is not snowing outside.

How I Make Them

First thing I do is preheat my oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. If you skip the parchment be ready to scrape cookies off with sadness because marshmallows like to stick.

I cream the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer until it looks fluffy. Takes like two minutes. Then I add the egg and vanilla and mix again until smooth.

In another bowl I whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

I slowly pour the dry mix into the wet mix while the mixer is on low. When it looks like dough I stop.

No overmixing or you will get tough cookies and nobody wants that. I stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

Now for the fun part. I scoop out little balls of dough .

I press two or three mini marshmallows into the middle and wrap the dough around them so they are hiding inside.

If you do not seal it good they will leak like lava monsters so make sure they are tucked in.

I space them on the baking sheet and pop them in the oven for about 10 minutes.

They will look soft in the middle but do not worry, they will finish setting while they cool.

I leave them on the tray for five minutes then move them to a rack. If I am in a Christmas mood I dust powdered sugar over them so it looks like fresh snow.

Sometimes I even press more mini marshmallows on top while they are warm because why not.

How I Serve Them

I usually throw them on a holiday plate and bring them out with hot cocoa or coffee. They hit different when you dip them.

I also pack them in little cookie tins for gifts and people always text me later with too many exclamation marks.

Leftovers

If somehow a few survive, I keep them in a container on the counter for about five days.

If I freeze them I stack them with parchment so they do not glue themselves together.

To bring them back to life I microwave them for like seven seconds and the marshmallow melts again like fresh.

My Best Tips

Let your butter soften before mixing or it will not cream right.

Always seal the dough around the marshmallows or you will have marshmallow lava on your pan. Do not overbake.

When they look slightly underdone, that is perfect. If your dough is sticky, chill it for a minute.

And honestly if you want to drizzle melted chocolate on top go ahead. Nobody ever complained about extra chocolate.