Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

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These Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies are the perfect addition to your holiday baking ritual! Moist, tender, rich and ultra chocolaty with just a hint of spice, these will be the hit of any gathering.

These chewy, gooey, rich and decadent Mexican chocolate cookies are AWESOME guys - especially served with some homemade Mexican Hot Chocolate. I mean, they are seriously chocolaty, and the marshmallow adds the perfect chewiness to the center.

And with just barely a touch of heat and a healthy amount of cinnamon, these hot chocolate cookies are the BEST. This is a Christmas cookie that needs to be added Christmas cookie making cycle, along with these Chewy Molasses Cookies, Almond Buttercrunch, Cranberry Cookies or these Mexican Wedding Cookies.

What is Mexican chocolate?

Real Mexican chocolate is made with ground up cacao beans, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. For this recipe, we combine cinnamon, vanilla and sugar with cocoa powder and chocolate chips to get a similar flavor.

The Ingredients

Good quality cocoa powder will help make these cookies even more awesome. I like to use Ghiradelli Cocoa powder, but any good quality will work.

The recipe also calls for chili powder - I prefer to use this New Mexico chili powder as it's not very spicy, but again, use what you like. However, if you prefer no spice, you can leave the chili powder out.

Any ground cinnamon will work as well, but I prefer this Ceylon cinnamon for a nice intense flavor.

The full list of ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Step By Step Instructions

***Note these cookies have a 1 hour chill time before they are ready to bake***

In a large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars on medium high until combined, 1-2 minutes.

Add vanilla and egg and beat another minute.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, chili powder and cocoa powder. Mix well to combine.

Mix together the wet and dry ingredients. Don't over-mix, batter should have a few flour streaks throughout.

Gently fold in the chocolate chips. Again, don't over-mix. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the marshmallows into thirds.

Roll the dough into 1-1 ½" balls up and around each marshmallow piece and place 2" apart on the baking sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Then gently remove cookies and place on a wire rack to finish cooling.

Expert Tips & FAQs

1. Don't overmix the dough or the cookies will be tough. It's ok if there are a couple streaks of flour throughout.
2. If the dough is too sticky when rolling the balls, chill it for an additional 30-60 minutes to firm it up.
3. You can substitute mini marshmallows and roll 2-3 up in the dough balls.
4. You can eliminate the chili powder if you'd prefer not to have any spice.
5. Mix in toasted almonds or pecans if desired in place of ¼ cup of the chocolate chips.

To freeze the cookie dough before baking, wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and place in a freezer safe bag. Store for up to 3 months. To bake, thaw in the fridge overnight, then follow the recipe baking instructions.

To freeze the cookies after baking, place on a baking sheet in one layer and set directly in the freezer until frozen through, about 2-3 hours. Once frozen, pace in an airtight freezer bag and store for up to 3 months. To thaw, place them on the counter overnight to let let them defrost and come to room temperature.

Did you make these cookies? Rate the recipe and leave a comment to let me know how they turned out!

This recipe was originally published in December 2018. It has been updated with photos and content.