These hot chocolate cookies are no joke. Who needs chocolate chips when you can have a runny center of rich chocolate? While these are nice for Christmas, I’ll probably be eating these all Winter long.
It’s like having hot chocolate in your pocket (kind of). For whatever reason, I tend to feel a little unwell after a regular mug of hot chocolate, especially because I really want to use full-fat milk and a load of whipped cream. Sometimes I’ll make a pot of almond milk hot chocolate, but that’s not nearly as indulgent (honestly it tastes like a diet beverage to me). But cookies always agree with me, so I was pretty excited about these ones.
I decided to make these simply because I had SO many leftover chocolate chips from other Christmas cookie baking, but I think these became my new favorite this year. The actual cookie is buttery and soft, and the chocolate adds a nice burst of richness when you bite into it.
There’s not a lot to say on making these hot chocolate cookies. They take some work but not a ton. The chocolate sauce needs to be chilled in the freezer – this is a MUST. We want the chocolate to be easy to work with, and it will be hard to shape them if they are too liquidy. The cookie dough itself is ready to go into the oven once prepared, so be sure to make the chocolate part ahead of time. However, you can refrigerate the cookie dough if you’d like to wait a day or so before making them in the oven!
When forming them just think of making them into a sandwich: Cookie dough, chocolate, and then another layer of cookie dough. And then the fun part – crushed candy canes! I had to top them with peppermint since it is TRULY the best holiday flavor (in my opinion).
And that’s pretty much it! If you are looking for more holiday recipes, check out my eggnong pancake stack or my gingerbread cinnamon rolls.
Hot Chocolate Cookies
Equipment
- Baking sheets
- electric hand mixer
- spatula
- measuring cups
- sauce pot
Ingredients
Gooey chocolate filling
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup almond milk or dairy milk
For the cookies
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 2¼ cups all purpose flour
- 4-5 mini candy canes crushed
Instructions
- To make the chocolate filling, melt together the dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and almond milk in a small sauce pot over low heat. Once melted and combined, remove from heat and transfer chocolate to a heat-safe bowl. Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours, until the chocolate is pliable but solid.
- Next, make the cookies. Preheat the oven to 350° F. In a bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined. Next, add the eggs and the vanilla and beat together until combined. Add the baking soda and the flour and beat together for 1 minute until thoroughly combined and creamy.
- Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper. To make the cookies, start with about a tablespoon of cookie dough, forming it into a flat oval shape. Next, spoon about a teaspoon of the chocolate filling onto the dough. Take about another teaspoon of cookie dough and stretch it over the chocolate filling, sealing the chocolate inside. Be sure to press the seams into the bottom of the cookie to prevent chocolate from seeping out too much in the oven. Repeat the process until finished. Space the cookies a few inches apart as they do expand quite a bit.
- Sprinkle the cookies with crushed peppermint.
- Bake in the oven for 10-11 minutes, until the edges look fully formed and slightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool. Eat immediately for the gooey chocolate, or let cool completely for less runny cookies. Enjoy!
