Hot Cocoa Crinkle Cookies

Hot Cocoa Crinkle Cookies melt in your mouth with the rich, chocolatey flavors of hot cocoa and a light dusting of sweet powdered sugar. When I think of the perfect chocolate cookie, these immediately come to mind!

If you love cookies as much as I do, be sure to check out some of my best recipes. Here are just a few of my faves: Salty Sweet Kettle Corn Cookies, Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and Fluffernutter Cookie Bars!

Ingredients for Hot Cocoa Crinkle Cookies

• Unsalted Butter – Don’t use salted! This recipe calls for a pinch of salt already, and you don’t want to overdo it
• Flour – Any brand will do, as long as it’s unbleached and all purpose
• Baking Powder – Be careful, too much of this will harden the cookies
• Kosher Salt – Sea salt also works 
• Cocoa Powder – Only use unsweetened! The sugars will provide enough sweetness for the cookies
• Hot Chocolate Mix – Feel free to use or leave out the mini marshmallows – it’s up to you!
• Sugar – Would any cookie recipe be complete without it?
• Brown Sugar – All out of brown sugar? Make your own by combining equal parts molasses and white sugar
• Eggs – They can be any color, as long as they’re large, they’ll work
• Vanilla Extract – Just a dash adds the perfect amount of sweetness
• Powdered Sugar – My FAVORITE part of the whole recipe!

How to make the BEST Hot Cocoa Crinkle Cookies

This chocolate cookie recipe is so easy to follow! Just use these step by step instructions, and you’ll soon be falling in love with your new favorite cookie. 

• Prepare the butter: In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter in 30 second increments until it’s just melted. Make sure you don’t leave it in the microwave for longer than 30 seconds at the time, or you risk it burning. Once it’s melted, set the butter aside and allow it to cool briefly. If it’s too hot, you can always place the bowl in the fridge to help it cool quicker. 
• Combine some of the dry ingredients: In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, kosher salt, cocoa powder, and hot chocolate mix. Whisk it together to fully combine, then set aside. 
• Use a stand mixer to combine all ingredients: Start by adding both the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the stand mixer. Then, add the melted butter and mix until it’s all well combined. Once combined, add one egg at a time, mixing well after each addition. Toss in the vanilla extract, then gradually stir in the dry ingredients and mix until everything is just combined. 
• Let it chill: Cover the mixing bowl full of dough with plastic wrap and allow it to chill for at least an hour, but overnight is best. Once the dough has been chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and set it aside. Prepare a bowl full of powdered sugar for dredging, and also set it aside. 
• If you’re baking large cookies: Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop, roll the dough into a ball and toss through powdered sugar and place on a prepared cookie sheet approximately 2 inches apart. Larger cookies will need to bake for 12 minutes.
• If you’re baking smaller cookies: Use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop and roll the dough into a ball before tossing into the powdered sugar. Then, place the cookie dough balls on a prepared cookie sheet approximately 2 inches apart. They’ll need to bake for 10 minutes. 
• Cool the cookies: When you take them out of the oven, the cookies will appear soft, but they will firm as they cool off. Allow the cookies to cool for about 10 minutes before moving them to wire racks to finish cooling. That way, they won’t break!

Can I make these cookies even more chocolatey?

In my kitchen, the answer to this question is always a resounding YES! Although these cookies already have hot chocolate mix and cocoa powder, if you’re a real chocolate lover, you can toss in some semi sweet chocolate chips for that extra gooey goodness. 

Just can’t get enough? Serve these with hot cocoa on the side to fully indulge in the chocolate fantasy, and thank me later.

How long will these crinkle cookies stay fresh?

In an airtight container at room temperature, these Hot Cocoa Crinkle Cookies will stay deliciously fresh for up to 3 days. Want them to last even longer? Keep them in that same airtight container in the fridge for up to a week!

What ways can I switch up the original recipe?

Besides adding more chocolate, there are plenty of other ways you can personalize these Hot Cocoa Crinkle Cookies. You can add a dash of espresso powder if you’re a mocha fan, or mix in some chopped pecans for added texture! Around Christmas, sometimes I sprinkle in some crushed peppermint for a fun festive flair.

Really, there’s nothing about these cookies I’m not obsessed with! Between the texture, flavor, and that perfect dusting of powdered sugar, I crave these cookies all year long. Make a batch today and see why I’m so smitten!

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