Flamin’ Hot Cheetos cookies are kind of like a Mexican hot chocolate crossed with movie night junk food in all of the best ways. They’re perfectly chocolatey, gooey, sweet, and spicy all at the same time. The flavour sounds weird, but trust—if you love sweet & spicy food, you’re going to love these cookies.
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Sweet & Spicy: What’s Not to Love?
These cookies sound really unusual, but trust me—they’re truly delicious. Here’s why you should give these unique cookies a try:
- The flavour is sweet, spicy, and salty all at the same time (in a good way) It’s a little bit like a Mexican hot chocolate, with some junk food thrown in to make it a delectable comfort food snack. The dough includes cocoa powder, cinnamon, and marshmallows, and each dough ball gets rolled in crushed Flamin’ Hot Cheetos for a spicy kick.
- They’re sweet & salty like all of the most addictive treats!
- They have a delicious contrast of textures. They’re gooey thanks to the marshmallows, crunchy because of the Cheetos topping, and chewy from the rich chocolate cookie dough.
- They make a really unique gift! These cookies even ship well as long as they’re packed well, so they’re a great cookie to include in cookie gift boxes for your friends and family who live far away.
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Key Ingredients for Making Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Cookies
- Flamin’ Hot Cheetos dot the outside of the cookies and provide a spicy kick. If you want to tone down the spice though, you can use a milder Cheetos flavour.
- Cinnamon balances the spice and makes the overall flavour profile similar to a Mexican hot chocolate.
- Marshmallows add to the hot chocolate vibe and lend the cookies a delicious gooeyness. I absolutely love making cookies with marshmallows, as you can see from my Kitchen Sink Cookies and Sour Patch Kids Cookies recipes!
- Cocoa powder makes the cookies richly chocolatey. Use Dutch-processed cocoa powder if you want a less-bitter chocolate flavour and darker cookies.
- Milk chocolate chunks add to the rich chocolate flavour and add a textural contrast. You can use chocolate chips instead, but they won’t melt in the same way. I recommend taking a milk chocolate bar and roughly chopping it into different-size pieces from chocolate dust up to chunks around 1/2″ (1.2 cm) in size. The chocolate dust will blend right into the dough, while the larger chunks will melt into delicious pools of chocolate.
Storing & Freezing Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Cookies
These cookies are great the same day they’re made, and the flavour will continue to develop over the next day or two. Store the cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To freeze, assemble the cookies and place them on a lined baking sheet. Cover the sheet and freeze the raw cookies until they’re solid (about 2 hours), then transfer them to a Ziploc freezer bag for up to 3 months. Bake straight from the freezer, but add a minute or two to the bake time.
FAQs
A bit less than eating Flamin’ Hot Cheetos on their own. Baking tames the spice down a little bit, and their spiciness is balanced out with sugar, marshmallows, and chocolate
Yes, just use milder flavour of Cheetos instead.
Yes! Just add a pinch (or more) of cayenne pepper to the dry ingredients, depending on how spicy you want it.
Yes! Luckily most Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are gluten-free (but double-check the ingredient list to make sure that yours are), so all you need to do is swap out the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free all-purpose blend such as Cup4Cup.
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If you made these cookies or have any questions about the recipe, I want to hear from you! Leave a comment below.
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 350˚F (180 ˚C). Line 2–3 baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the 285 g All-purpose flour, 50 g Dutch-process cocoa powder, ¾ teaspoon Kosher salt, and ¾ teaspoon Baking soda.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, cream the 227 g Unsalted butter250 g Light brown sugar and 150 g Granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the 1 large Egg + 1 Large yolk, 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract, and 2 teaspoon Cinnamon, and cream until very fluffy and lightened in colour, another 7–8 minutes. Scrape the bowl at least once during this process.
- Add the flour mixture, and mix on the lowest speed until just combined, no more than 20 seconds. Scrape the bowl. Add the chopped 150 g Milk chocolate chunks, and mix on low speed again until just combined. Fold the dough with a rubber spatula a few times to ensure the chocolate is evenly distributed.
- Place the pulverized 80 g (1 Large handful) Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in a small bowl. Use a medium cookie scoop or two spoons to form balls of dough about 2 tablespoons in size. Roll into a ball, and make an indentation with your thumb.
- Insert 3–4 of your 50 mini Marshmallows, and pinch the dough ball closed. Roll the ball between your hands until a smooth ball forms and no seam is visible.
- Roll each dough ball in the pulverized 80 g (1 Large handful) Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and place on baking sheet 3” apart.
- Bake one sheet at a time, for 14–16 minutes until the cookies have puffed and the tops are cracked. Rotate the sheet once halfway for even baking.
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