These air fryer hot chocolate cookies made with hot cocoa mix are soft, chewy, and rich in chocolate flavor. With a gooey marshmallow center, they’re the perfect Holiday treat.
Traditional hot chocolate in cookie shape. These air fryer cookies are rich, chewy cookies topped with mini marshmallows for the perfect treat.
Baked in small batches in the air fryer to make clean up easy, the recipe results in lots of small, bite-sized cookies perfect for Holiday parties, bake sales, or food gifts.
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⭐ Why You’ll Love this Recipe ⭐
Simple ingredients: most of the ingredients you need for hot chocolate cookies are basic pantry staples you already have on hand.
Easy to make even though you’re cooking in batches, all you really need to do is measure, mix, and portion the cookies. The air fryer does the rest of the work and makes cleanup a breeze.
Rich flavor: everything you love in a cup or hot cocoa in chewy, gooey bites.
Great gifts: the recipe yields 48 cookies making it ideal for parties or as a homemade food gift to friends and family.
🧾 Ingredients Needed
I’ve made notes below on some of the ingredients needed. Look them over as I offer substitutions where possible.
- Sugar: you need both regular and brown sugar for the hot chocolate cookies. Because brown sugar has molasses in it, this ensures the perfect chewy texture of the cookies.
- Flour: you need to aerate the flour before mixing it into the batter. By fluffing it up you ensure there are no clumps and that the cookies have a light texture.
- Hot cocoa mix: any store-bought mix will work. However, make sure to grab one without mini marshmallows already added to it.
- Mini marshmallows: make sure to use fresh marshmallows or you’ll notice a harder texture when you bite into the cookies.
📌 Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with quantities and step-by-step instructions!
🔁 Variations
Flavored hot cocoa: if you want to switch up the flavor easily, use a specialty hot cocoa mix. Making peppermint hot chocolate cookies is an easy and fun change-up.
Color change: depending on the occasion use colored mini marshmallows instead of traditional white.
White chocolate infusion: use a white hot chocolate mix and replace the chocolate chips with white chocolate, this is a fun swap for Valentine’s Day especially if you add a few candy hearts!
Add a topping: Drizzle the cookies with melted chocolate or caramel sauce before serving.
🥣 How to Make
Step 1: Mix together the sugars and butter using a hand mixer.
Step 2: Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until creamy.
Step 3: Combine the flour, hot cocoa mix, and baking powder in another bowl.
Step 4: Mix the hot cocoa mixture into the wet ingredients until coated. Fold in the chocolate chips and 1 cup of marshmallows.
Step 5: Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough and place them inside the air fryer on parchment paper.
Step 6: Cook for 6 minutes before topping each cookie with a couple of marshmallows and finishing the cooking time. Then, remove them from the air fryer and let them cool on a baking rack.
⭐ Pro Tips ⭐
- If you prefer not to use packaged hot cocoa mix, you can make your own with the recipe below this box.
- Don’t overcrowd the air fryer basket. Leave enough space between the cookies so that they can cook evenly. Once you top them with the marshmallows, they will flatten a bit and take up more room.
- Work in batches: you’ll need to cook these cookies in batches as there are so many. As one batch is cooking, let the previous batch cool on a cookie rack. They come out ultra-soft and need time to cool before moving them to a storage container.
- If you don’t have or want to use an air fryer, you can make these in the oven. Just bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 325° F for approximately 12 minutes (adding marshmallows after 7 minutes) and watch for doneness.
☕️ 3 Ingredient Hot Cocoa Mix Recipe
If you don’t want to use packets of hot chocolate mix, it’s easy to make your own. Just sift together 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder and then whisk in 1 cup of instant nonfat dry milk (aka powdered milk.)
❄️ Storage and Freezer Instructions
Store the cookies: in an airtight container on the counter for up to four days. Try to store them in a single layer in the container once cooled. If you need to stack, separate the layers with parchment paper so that they don’t stick together.
The hot chocolate cookies will last longer if stored in the fridge (3-4 weeks) however, they will lose some of their chewy texture.
Freeze cooked cookies after letting them cool fully. Place them in layers in a freezer-proof container or bag separated by pieces of parchment paper. When you’re ready to eat them, let them thaw in the fridge overnight before letting them sit at room temperature before serving.
📝 Recipe FAQs
Aerating flour is essentially just fluffing it or lightening it up after it has been stored and sitting for a while. To do this, use a whisk and fluff up the flour in a bowl before measuring it.
Yes! Mix the cookie batter together and scoop the raw cookies onto a lined baking sheet. Freeze them like this for at least an hour before transferring the cookies to a freezer-safe container. When you’re ready to bake them, let them thaw overnight in the fridge first and then on the counter for thirty minutes. Finally, cook them as per the recipe directions.
More Cookie Recipes To Try
If you tried this Air Fryer Hot Chocolate Cookies Recipe or any other recipe on my site, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it turned out in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing about your results and thoughts!
📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Hot Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup sugar
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 2 sticks salted butter softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 1/4 cups flour aerated
- 8 tbsp Hot Cocoa Mix
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Mix the sugar, brown sugar, and butter using a stand or hand mixer. You want the mixture to be light and slightly clumpy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until creamy.
- In another bowl, add the flour, hot cocoa powder, and baking soda and mix until incorporated.
- Gradually mix the cocoa mixture with the wet ingredients. Soft cookie dough will form.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and 1 cup of marshmallows.
- Roll the dough into balls by using a small cookie scoop to measure each cookie.
- Place the formed cookie dough on parchment inside the air fryer basket. Leave some space between cookies.
- Cook at 300°f for 10 minutes. At 6 minutes, top each cookie with 2-3 marshmallows from the remaining amount which will flatten the cookies.
- Once cooked, remove the cookies and place them on a baking rack to allow them time to cool.
- Enjoy these cookies with milk or a hot cup of cocoa.
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