Hot Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

These hot chocolate sandwich cookies are soft, chocolatey, and filled with delicious fluffy homemade marshmallow. They’re basically a cup of hot chocolate in cookie form! They’re easier to make than they look, and the homemade marshmallow filling holds up for a couple weeks at room temp making them perfect for cookie boxes and even shipping.

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Hot Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

These soft, crackly chocolate cookies are rolled in sugar and sandwiched with a fluffy homemade marshmallow filling. They taste just like a cozy mug of hot chocolate, keep well at room temperature, and are perfect for holiday cookie boxes or gifting.

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Servings: 28 Sandwiched cookies

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method Video

Ingredients

  

Hot Chocolate Cookies

• 285 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 20 g powdered milk
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp fine sea salt
• 227 g unsalted butter room temperature
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 150 g brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 80 g granulated sugar for rolling

Marshmallow

• 2 ½ teaspoons powdered gelatin 1 envelope
• 3 tablespoons cold water for blooming gelatin
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 80 g light corn syrup or glucose syrup
• ¼ cup water for sugar syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

 

Hot Chocolate Cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. This recipe will make enough cookies to fill more than two baking sheets, so if you can go ahead and line two more. If you only have one or two, you can leave the cookies on the baking sheet long enough to firm up enough to take them off, then scoop another batch of cookies onto it to bake.

   If baking one sheet at a time, place the oven rack in the middle. If baking two sheets at a time, arrange one rack in the top third and the second in the bottom third of the oven.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together 285 g all-purpose flour, 50 g Dutch-process cocoa powder, 20 g powdered milk, ¾ tsp baking soda, and ¾ tsp fine sea salt.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer, cream together 227 g unsalted butter, 200 g granulated sugar, and 150 g brown sugar until light and fluffy (about 2–3 minutes). Add 1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and beat on medium-low speed until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until combined.
4. Add 80 g granulated sugar to a small bowl. Use a small cookie scoop (about 1-2 tablespoons in size) to make small portions of dough. Roll each portion into a ball, and coat it in the sugar. Arrange on the lined baking sheets, spacing at least 2" (5 cm) apart.
5. Bake until puffed, spread, and cracked on top (about 10–12 minutes). If baking more than one sheet at a time, switch their positions on the racks and rotate them halfway through baking. Leave the cookies to cool at least 5-10 minutes on the sheet. Once they're firm enough to lift up you can transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely if you like (or to free up the baking sheet to bake more cookies).

Marshmallow

1. Marshmallow will start firming up as soon as it's made, so it's important to get everything ready to fill the cookies before you begin. Pair the cookies up into matching sets of tops and bottoms of the same size. Fit a large piping bag with a large round tip (or cut about ½" / 1.25 cm of the end off of a large disposable piping bag). I like to use a large deli cup to hold my piping bag so it's easier to fill and I have a spot to set it down when I need to.
2. Put 3 tablespoons cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle over 2 ½ teaspoons powdered gelatin. Whisk together to combine, and leave to bloom for 5–10 minutes. Once bloomed, put in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk, or in a large heat-proof mixing bowl if using a hand mixer.
3. Add 200 g granulated sugar, 80 g light corn syrup, and ¼ cup water to a small saucepan. Heat while stirring until the sugar is dissolved. If you see any sugar crystals clinging to the sides of the pan take a wet pastry brush and brush them down to prevent the sugar syrup from crystallizing. Once the sugar has dissolved and the syrup starts bubbling, stop stirring. Clip on a candy thermometer and cook until the syrup reaches 240˚F (115˚C).
4. Immediately and very carefully stream the syrup over the gelatin with the mixer running on low. Once all the syrup is in, increase the mixer speed to high and whip until the marshmallow has about tripled in volume, turned opaque white, and cooled down.
5. Quickly transfer the marshmallow to the piping bag. Hold the piping bag perpendicular to and about ½" (1.25 cm) away from the bottom of a cookie. Squeeze the piping bag without moving it, until the marshmallow reaches about ¼" (6 mm) away from the edge of the cookie. Press the matching cookie on top gently to squish the marshmallow out towards the edge.
6. Repeat with the remaining pairs of cookies. Arrange them on a baking sheet being careful not to let them touch, or their marshmallow fillings will stick together. Leave at room temperature until the marshmallow sets, about 2–3 hours.
7. The cookies can be left at room temperature for a couple of weeks. Once the marshmallow sets, they can be packed into cookie boxes or even shipped so they're perfect for holiday gifting!

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