Fudge Filled Hot Chocolate Cookies

Ya’lllll. Tell me it’s Christmas without telling me it’s Christmas.

These chocolate cookies are filled with a hot chocolate fudge center that’s made with actual hot chocolate (Swiss Miss) powder. It stays gooey and fudgy in the center (almost like a lava cake?) after baking and of course, it’s topped with marshmallow fluff.

I’ve made these the last three years in my cookie box, along with my White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies & my Peppermint Frosted Sugar Cookies.

I did also make a version that’s frosted with meringue (homemade fluff) but I think it’s going to need one more round of testing because I wanted the cookie dough to use up the egg yolks left from the meringue so she’s a work in progress.

But I do have a few other hot chocolate recipes, like my fancy cake, cupcakes, brownies, etc.

Back to these. Not much else to say, let’s get to the recipe.

Ingredients & Substitutions

*full recipe is in the recipe card at the bottom!

• Butter – I love using salted butter in cookies but unsalted works fine too.
• Sugar – I used light brown sugar but granulated or dark brown also works fine too.
• Flour – all-purpose flour, I don’t recommend swapping this.
• Baking Powder – I don’t recommend swapping this, the cookies will spread too much if you’re using baking soda.
• Cocoa Powder – I used dutch-processed but natural or even black cocoa works fine.
• Chocolate chip – I recommend dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate but milk chocolate will make the filling too soft.
• Hot Chocolate Powder – I wanted a really nostalgic flavor for these so I used Swiss Miss but any brand should work fine.
• Eggs – make sure they’re large eggs. I don’t recommend swapping this out.
• Vanilla – I like vanilla bean paste but vanilla extract also works fine.
• Marshmallow – for the topping, I don’t recommend using an actual marshmallow, it tends to dissolve.

TIP: I HIGHLY recommend using a digital scale, as dry ingredients are almost always over measured. 

How To Make Hot Chocolate Cookies

I think by now you can see I’m not a fan of ‘simple’. Lately, even my cookie recipes have multiple parts and that’s because there’s just plenty of ‘simple’ recipes out there and I want a cookie that will stand out in the crowd.

A hot chocolate cookie MUST include

1. The Cookie – obviously lol it’s chocolate. I did use my brown butter base because it just can’t be beat at this point.
   • Brown Butter – Takes every cookie next level, read up on that post if you’ve never done it!
2. The Fudge Filling – this is the melty center that I made using actual hot chocolate powder. It’s giving lava cake.
3. Marshmallow – obviously again. I used marshmallow fluff because it won’t dissolve or brown excessively in the oven like an actual marshmallow. I also think the texture is nicer once it cools completely.

The Fudge Filling

We’re starting here because it needs to freeze while we make the cookie dough.

1. Melt the butter on the stove and then add in the chocolate chips. Stir until they’re melted.
2. Remove from the heat and add the hot chocolate powder and water and stir until it’s combined.
3. If the mixture seizes at all, add another tablespoon of water and whisk aggressively until it comes back together.
4. Refrigerate the mixture until it’s firm enough to place in a piping bag.
5. Pipe little discs to fit inside the cookie and freeze until solid. They will flatten so I use two of these for each cookie.

The Chocolate Cookie

Nothing new here, just my brown butter cookie base as a chocolate cookie. Same as I made for the Tiramisu Cookies.

1. Brown the butter
2. Mix the butter with the sugar, eggs and vanilla, until it lightens in color a bit.
3. Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder and fold just until they’re combined.
4. Scoop out the cookie dough and roll them into balls (refrigerate the dough for 20ish minutes if it’s too soft to roll).
5. Roll cookie dough into ball and then press down in the center, creating a well for the chocolate filling.
6. Place two frozen chocolate discs inside each cookie (work quickly because they defrost and get sticky quick).
7. Top the well with the marshmallow fluff and refrigerate or freeze the cookies again for about 30ish minutes, until they’re firm.
8. Bake until the cookies are set, allow to cool for at least 10-15 minutes.

I always recommend an oven thermometer just because oven’s can vary in temperature and that has a big impact on how the cookies spread!

How To Store Cookies

I store these airtight at room temperature for a couple of days or in the fridge for up to a week.

When i make these for cookie boxes, I store them in a large shallow tray (with a lid) and freeze them as soon as they’ve cooled.

Thaw at room temperature before serving or packing up.

It can be difficult to stack these because the marshmallow fluff will stick to the cookie on top so if you want to prevent that, you can put a sheet of parchment between them (it will stick to that too but it won’t make the other cookie dirty on the bottom).

Or try torching the marshmallow fluff, that’ll create somewhat of a barrier.

If you did, please leave a 5-star rating or a review below.

As always, have a blessed day, happy baking & Merry Christmas!

Love, B