prepare to be obsessed: mexican hot chocolate cookies

Santa is getting something different this year.

I came across this recipe from JamJar Kitchen and wanted to give it a try. Problem is, you know kids probably won't like the cayenne pepper and you probably shouldn't give them espresso.

For this recipe you will need to soften butter on your countertop. I usually keep a couple sticks of butter on my counter throughout baking season because with 3 kids now I will definitely forget this step. You'll also want to pull an egg out of your fridge as well. Grab flour, unsweetened cocoa power, vanilla, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Since you'll be adding the chocolate chips and marshmallows at the end, save these in the pantry. My kids will eat half of the bags when they think I'm not looking.

Here is the recipe/ instructions:

Have your kiddo whisk together in a large bowl the following:

1 and 3/4 cups of organic/ unbleached flour (spooned and leveled)

 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp corn starch (this keeps the cookie nice and puffy- and is arguably needed in regular chocolate chip if you like the texture of these!)

3 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Set aside and in a separate, larger bowl, cream at on high for 1 minute:

1.5 sticks of butter - softened at room temperature

add in :

1 cup of light brown sugar and blend on medium high for 1-2 minutes, until it's nice and combined but not split.

Then add in :

1 room temperature egg

1.5 tsp vanilla (I used Mexican vanilla in this one and it's my favorite for most things)

Then slowly fold in the dry ingredients. (Generally I have my older one use the hand blender while the little one uses a measuring cup to dump the dry ingredients in. Now they are older and each want a turn with the mixer so I sometimes just take over this part. Don't overmix this, you only want to blend until they are well-combined and the sides are scraped down.)

Once your wet and dry are ready, use a spatula to fold in :

1 cup unsweetened chocolate chips

1 cup mini marshmallows ( I use the trader joes vegan ones- they also have a peppermint flavor around the holidays that might be really yummy in this)

Then you're going to pop the bowl in the fridge. The original recipe calls for the dough to be kept cold for 2 hours to 2 days, but I think 30-60 minutes are fine here. Generally this is when we clean up the kitchen and once my counters are cleared I'll start my oven and line my pans with parchment paper.

If you like- sprinkle a good amount of cinnamon with a 1/3 cup of cane or brown sugar in a bowl. You know your kiddo's spice tolerance, so I'll default to you here. We omitted this in our second batch, so personally I don't think it needs it, but the sugar / cinnamon crust is a really nice touch. You do you.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Grab 2 spoons, a cookie spoon, or a ice-cream scooper. A solid toddler fist is a good amount here, if you refrigerated your dough enough it should hold a firmer cookie with less spread. (Pop your dough back in the fridge between batches if you need.)

Hand roll the dough into a nice ball and leave some marshmallows facing up. Watch for stray ones, marshmallows on the side will spill out and end up on the toastier side. (Which tastes amazing, but doesn't always look the prettiest.)

Bake for 9-14 minutes depending on your oven temp. You won't be able to see if the tops are golden, so I'll give my cookies a little shake once they are out of the oven and test with a toothpick. I prefer these slightly underbaked so they are on the gooier side, but that's just me.

Makes 24- ish cookies.

Enjoy!