Gluten free hot cocoa cookies are one of the first things I bake every year once the weather turns cold. They are soft, chewy, and full of rich cocoa flavor in every bite, just like a mug of hot chocolate in cookie form. There is something about that first batch coming out of the oven that makes the whole house feel like the holidays have officially started.
Most hot cocoa cookies use marshmallows, but I use white chocolate chips instead. They melt into sweet little pockets throughout the cookie without the sticky, melted marshmallow mess, and they hold up so much better for packing in lunches or setting out on a cookie tray.
This hot chocolate cookie recipe comes together in one bowl with your stand mixer, no chilling the dough required, so you can go from mixing bowl to oven in about 10 minutes.
If you are looking for an easy cookie recipe for Christmas gatherings, these homemade cocoa cookies are a warm, comforting place to start.
You can find all of my cookie recipes here: Gluten Free Cookie Recipes
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love These Hot Cocoa Cookies
- Ingredient Notes
- Tips for the Best Hot Cocoa Cookies
- How to Store and Freeze
- Top Tip
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Didn't find the answer you're looking for?
- Hot Cocoa Cookies Supplies
- More Recipes You Might Enjoy
- Gluten Free Hot Cocoa Cookies
- Hot Cocoa Cookies Ingredients
- Instructions
Why You'll Love These Hot Cocoa Cookies
- No melted marshmallow mess
- No chilling required
- Buttermilk keeps them soft
- Perfect for packing in lunches
- Freezer friendly
Ingredient Notes
- Buttermilk: this is what keeps these cookies soft and chewy instead of dry. It also reacts with the baking soda for a bit of lift.
- Cocoa powder: use a regular unsweetened cocoa powder, not hot cocoa mix or a sweetened drink mix, so the chocolate flavor stays rich instead of overly sweet.
- Gluten free flour: a 1 to 1 gluten free blend like Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 or King Arthur Measure for Measure works best here. Avoid swapping in almond flour or coconut flour, since they behave very differently in this dough.
- White chocolate chips: these melt into soft, sweet pockets throughout the cookie and mimic that hot cocoa flavor without the marshmallow mess.
Tips for the Best Hot Cocoa Cookies
- Press each dough ball down gently with the palm of your hand before baking. These cookies do not spread much on their own.
- Use room temperature butter and eggs so everything blends smoothly in the mixer.
- Watch the bake time closely. Pulling them at 12 minutes gives a softer, chewier center, while 15 minutes gives a slightly firmer cookie.
- Want less sweetness? Swap the white chocolate chips for semisweet or dark chocolate chips.
How to Store and Freeze
Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. To freeze, you have two options: scoop the dough into balls and freeze them on a baking sheet before transferring to a freezer bag (bake from frozen, adding 1 to 2 minutes to the bake time), or freeze the fully baked and cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
Top Tip
I love to get my white chocolate chips at Trader Joe's, but they are seasonal there and they only have them in the fall. I try to stock up, but when I run out my second choice is Ghirardelli's white chocolate chips.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can either freeze the dough in prescooped pucks or you can bake the cookies and then freeze them. Either way it is great to have cookies in the freezer that you can get out at the last minute for a snack or lunches.
Typically hot cocoa cookies are a chocolate cookie with marshmallows. However, these gluten free hot cocoa cookies are made with white chocolate chips. These cookies have a smooth chocolate flavor that is very similar to a mug of hot cocoa.
No. Unlike most hot cocoa cookie recipes, this dough goes straight from the mixing bowl to the baking sheet with no chilling required.
Yes, though the texture will be gooier and the cookies will spread more. If you want a classic marshmallow topped hot cocoa cookie, press a few mini marshmallows onto each cookie during the last 2 minutes of baking.
Yes. Either one works well if you want a less sweet, more chocolate forward cookie.
It keeps the cookies soft and tender and adds a slight tang that balances the sweetness of the white chocolate chips.
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Hot Cocoa Cookies Supplies
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Gluten Free Hot Cocoa Cookies
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 28 cookies 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These gluten free hot cocoa cookies are soft, chewy, and packed with cocoa flavor in every bite. White chocolate chips replace the marshmallows, so they stay neat enough to pack in lunches without any sticky mess.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar
- ⅓ cup Brown Sugar
- ¼ cup Buttermilk
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 1 large Egg
- 2 cups Gluten Free Flour
- ⅓ cup Cocoa Powder
- ½ tsp. Baking Powder
- ½ tsp. Baking Soda
- ½ tsp. Sea Salt
- 1 cup White Chocolate Chips
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer blend together the sugar, brown sugar, buttermilk, butter, vanilla and eggs.
Then add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. Blend the cookies until all the ingredients are combined. Then add your white chocolate chips and blend just until they are mixed in.
I like to use a cookie scoop, but you could also use a tablespoon to place the dough on cookie sheets. You will want to press the cookies lightly with the palm of your hand because they don't spread a lot on their own.
Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
Moving the cookies to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before storing them in an air tight container.
This recipe makes 28 cookies.
If you made this recipe please leave a star rating and comment below. It helps other readers find this recipe and means so much to me.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
If you make these gluten free hot cocoa cookies, I would love to hear how they turned out. Leave a comment and a star rating below, and be sure to snap a photo and tag me on Instagram @smallfarmbiglife. And if you are stocking up your holiday cookie tray, don't miss my other Christmas cookie recipes for even more inspiration this season.
Hot Cocoa Cookies Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer blend together the sugar, brown sugar, buttermilk, butter, vanilla and eggs.
Then add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. Blend the cookies until all the ingredients are combined. Then add your white chocolate chips and blend just until they are mixed in.
I like to use a cookie scoop, but you could also use a tablespoon to place the dough on cookie sheets. You will want to press the cookies lightly with the palm of your hand because they don't spread a lot on their own.
Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
Moving the cookies to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before storing them in an air tight container.
This recipe makes 28 cookies.
Aphrodite says
Yummy looks delicious