These delicious Hot Cocoa Kiss Cookies capture the flavors of a warm, cozy mug of hot chocolate. Complete with a gooey marshmallow and Hershey’s Kiss on top, this easy recipe is the perfect winter treat.
Jump to:
Hot Cocoa Kiss Cookies
These Hot Cocoa Kiss Cookies are soft, fudgy, super chocolatey, and taste just like a warm cup of hot chocolate in cookie form. Thanks to the chocolate and marshmallow combo, they could easily be called Hershey Kiss S’mores Cookies. No matter what you want to call them, you can bet on them disappearing almost immediately.
Each cookie dough ball is rolled in hot cocoa powder just before baking for a few minutes before removing from the oven to top with a marshmallow. They return to the oven just until the marshmallows turn slightly golden and gooey, only to be finished with a Hershey’s Kiss.
While Hot Chocolate Kiss Cookies make a perfect Christmas cookie plate addition, I bake these all winter long. They make a great treat for after school, post-sledding, or cozy nights in.
Ingredients in Hot Chocolate Kiss Cookies
- Butter - your butter should be softened to room temperature. If you forget to pull it out ahead of time, you can microwave for about 10 seconds, then check, and heat for another 5-10 seconds just until warm but not melted.
- Brown Sugar - I prefer light brown sugar for these cookies, but you could substitute dark brown sugar if you like a stronger molasses flavor.
- Eggs - you will need both a whole egg and an egg yolk for this recipe. You can either save the extra egg white or discard it.
- Vanilla Extract - pure vanilla extract tastes best.
- Salt - sea salt works great.
- Cocoa Powder - for the best flavor use a high quality cocoa powder. Don’t try and substitute hot chocolate mix for the dough as it has additional sugars and ingredients.
- Baking Soda - this helps to keep the cookies slightly soft and puffed.
- Flour - all-purpose flour works great for these cookies.
- Hershey’s Kisses - you’ll need 1 unwrapped Hershey’s Kiss for each cookie. You could substitute a square from a Hershey’s bar, a few chocolate chips, or any other similar sized piece of chocolate candy.
- Marshmallows - for these full-sized cookies, use regular large marshmallows.
- Hot Chocolate Mix - this is for rolling the cookie dough balls in just before baking. It adds a super hot chocolatey flavor. For a more sparkly look, you could also roll the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar.
How to Make Hershey Kiss S’mores Cookies
- Cream the butter and sugars. In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the room temperature butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Using the paddle attachment, cream until light and fluffy, or about 3 minutes.
- Mix the rest of the ingredients. Slowly add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla then mix on low to combine, scraping down the bowl as necessary. In a separate bowl, whisk together the salt, cocoa powder, flour, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low, just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure there are no lumps of butter in your dough.
- Scoop dough into 24 balls. Once mixed, scoop and roll the cookie dough into roughly 24 1¼" balls and roll in the hot chocolate mix powder. Place about 2" apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Bake. Bake in a preheated oven for 3 minutes, then remove from oven and lightly press a large marshmallow onto the top of each cookie. Return to the oven and bake for about 3-5 more minutes, or until marshmallows are puffed but not browning and the edges of the cookies are set.
- Add Hershey’s Kisses. Remove cookies from the oven and gently press chocolate Hershey's Kisses onto the top of each marshmallow while they are still very hot.
- Cool. Let the cookies cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
For the cookie dough, you can’t substitute cocoa powder with hot chocolate mix because it has lots of added sugars and other ingredients. You want to use a high quality cocoa powder for the best chocolate flavor.
Since it can be hard to tell if chocolate cookies are finished baking, the best way to know is once the marshmallows have begun to brown and puff and the edges of the cookies are set when gently pressed. The total bake time should be between 7-10 minutes at 350 degrees F.
While it’s not completely necessary, it’s perfectly fine to chill your cookie dough balls in the fridge overnight. It’s a great way to get a head start on making them. Just mix the dough, scoop onto baking sheets, and cover with plastic wrap. Store overnight in the fridge, then pull out while you preheat the oven the next day.
Storing and Freezing
- Refrigerator: store S’mores Kiss Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You may want to put layers of parchment paper between so they don’t stick.
- Freezer: baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container and frozen for up to 1 month. Unbaked cookie dough balls can be stored and frozen for up to 2 months. To bake frozen dough balls, pull from the freezer onto baking sheets with parchment paper and bake as directed, adding a couple extra minutes to the total bake time.
Hot Cocoa Kiss Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup Butter room temperature
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar packed
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 large Egg
- 1 large Egg Yolk
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ⅔ cup Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1¼ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 24 Hershey's Kisses unwrapped
- 24 large Marshmallows
- ⅓ cup Hot Chocolate Mix Powder to roll the dough balls in before baking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the room temperature butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Using the paddle attachment, cream until light and fluffy, or about 3 minutes.
- Slowly add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla then mix on low to combine, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the salt, cocoa powder, flour, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low, just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure there are no lumps of butter in your dough.
- Once mixed, scoop and roll the cookie dough into roughly 24 1¼" balls and roll in the hot chocolate mix powder. Place about 2" apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 3 minutes, then remove from oven and lightly press a large marshmallow onto the top of each cookie. Return to the oven and bake for about 3-5 more minutes, or until marshmallows are puffed but not browning and the edges of the cookies are set.
- Remove cookies from the oven and place a Hershey's Kiss onto the top of each marshmallow while they are still very hot. Let the cookies cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Nutrition
More Of The Best Cookie Recipes
- Crushed Peppermint Cookies
- Lemon Cooler Cookies
- Grinch Cookies
- DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Candy Cane Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Best Gingerbread Men Cookies
- Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
- White Chocolate Dipped Oreos
- Christmas Linzer Cookies
- Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Best Rolled Sugar Cookies
- Andes Mint Cookies
- Mint Chocolate Dipped Oreos
- Soft Molasses Cookies
- Gingerbread Men Cookies
- More Cookie Recipes
- More Easy Desserts
If you’ve tried this recipe, please rate it and leave a comment on this post. I love hearing feedback from you. It helps me and other readers too! If you love Pinterest, feel free to leave a comment and photo there too. Also, if you like to share, use the hashtag #thecarefreekitchen on Instagram and tag me @thecarefreekitchen so I can find you and give your post some love. You can also find me on Facebook at The Carefree Kitchen. Thank you!!
These Hot Chocolate S'mores Kiss Cookies are the perfect winter treat. Each fudgy, chocolatey cookie is topped with a gooey marshmallow and Hershey's Kiss.
Leave a Reply