Hot Cocoa Cookies

I'm gonna keep it real- I'm not the type of food blogger who has recipes lined up weeks ahead before it's time for them to be posted, All my work is usually done 48 hours before a post goes live, sometimes even less. So, when I had to bake and photograph these cookies weeks before I could officially release the recipe, it was torture! I mean, it was nice to have my weekend free-ish and not worry about making something, but these cookies were so darn good, I wanted to tell you about them as soon as possible. Thank god I finally can now!


Today is the official reveal day for the 2014 cookie swap. Brace yourselves for the cookie palooza about to hit the interwebs because 500 other bloggers will be revealing their cookie swap recipe for the year as well. If you're still not sure what cookies to make for Santa this year, well, you won't after today.


I, for one, think Santa would go nuts over these hot cocoa cookies. I mean, they're everything a cookie should be and more. Soft, fudgy, gooey, chewy, chocolatey...just all around amazing. And they're so simple too! You have your dry ingredients, your wet ingredients, and then your chocolate. 2 cups of chocolate chips go into these cookies.




And that's not the only chocolate that goes into them! Once they're just about done in the oven, you place another chunk of chocolate in the middle, then a marshmallow over that. You let the marshmallow get all puffy and toasted, then you take them out of the oven and sprinkle even more chocolate shavings on top of the marshmallow. Basically, these are a chocoholic's dream come true.


It was really hard giving them away, but I definitely did my fair share of quality control. Every dozen that went into the oven was thoroughly inspected. Very thoroughly.

Hot Cocoa Cookies

Yield: 2 and 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 and 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa power
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
3 eggs, room temperature
pinch of vanilla powder (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)

15 jumbo marshmallows
8 Hershey's 0.45 oz snack size bars
Chocolate shavings, for garnish

Directions:

In a microwave, or over a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter over medium heat, stirring frequently, until completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat together brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well-combined. Pour in cooled chocolate mixture and beat until incorporated. Gradually add the dry ingredients, beating just until combined after each addition. The mixture should feel like thick cake batter. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out portions of dough. Then, roll the portions between your hands to create smooth, uniform balls. Place balls on prepared cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.

Cut marshmallows in half. Break apart Hersheys snack size bars into four equal sized chunks. Stick a chunk of chocolate onto the sticky side of each of the marshmallow halves.

Bake cookies for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, place the marshmallows, chocolate facing down, onto the center of each cookie. Bake for an additional 3 minutes, or until marshmallows are puffy and toasted.

Remove cookies from the oven and sprinkle chocolate shavings on top of the marshmallow if desired. Let cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Repeat process until all of the cookie dough is used.

Slightly adapted from Rachael Ray