Useable Hot Cocoa Mug Cookies

These cookies look like mugs of cocoa because they are! You can pour your hot chocolate, milk, or even coffee into them, drink up, then devour the cookie mug. You could also just fill them with chocolate chips and marshmallows if you'd like to go a drier route. These are extra hot cocoa-ish because the dough is also made of hot cocoa mix! You don't need to buy special cup-shaped molds to make these, I'll show you how to make them in regular muffin pans.

I love these cookies because the tops are crisp, while the bottom sections are chewier. This satisfies my love for both types of cookies!

You will need:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cup hot cocoa mix (regular sweetened version)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 12 candy canes (plus extra as they tend to break)
• 6 ounces dark chocolate chips
• white cookie icing
• mini marshmallows

Tools:

• 2 large mixing bowls
• electric beater or whisk and a strong arm
• strong spatula or wooden spoons (dough gets very thick)
• 12 cup muffin tray (silicone preferred for easy pop-out)
• 1 shot glass
• 1 serrated knife
• 1 saucepan and bowl for double-boiling, or microwave and bowl

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream softened butter and sugars together until smooth.

Beat in eggs and vanilla on slow speed.

Increase speed and beat until fluffy.

In the other bowl, whisk together flour, hot cocoa mix, salt and baking soda.

In about 4 segments, add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.

This will take some time to mix as the dough will be very thick.

Lightly grease your muffin cups and spoon dough in almost all the way full.

Grease the bottom of your shot glass and make a well in each ball of dough.

Gently form little lips to the mug tops and slice off any excess so they are all even. Pop in oven for about 14 minutes.

While the mugs are baking, lets make their handles. Gently saw off the U sections to all the candy canes using your serrated knife in a slow sawing motion. Sometimes these break in all the wrong places, so be sure to have extra handy. Take off all the wrapping.

Bring some water to a simmer in your saucepan and place bowl on top to act as your double boiler. Pour in chocolate chips and stir until smooth. Dunk the candy can U's into the chocolate and allow excess to drip off. (If you'd like to melt the chocolate in the microwave, use a microwave-safe bowl and melt the chocolate at 30 second increments, stirring each time, until silky smooth.)

Lay them on a rack or some parchment paper until the chocolate completely firms up.

Remove the cookies from the oven. You will see the centers will have puffed up a bit, so press the centers in again with the shot glass until flattened.

Pop the cookies back in the oven and shut off the heat. This will finish off the cookies to have a nice crisp top and evenly baked bottom. Remove them after about 7 minutes. You may have to shot glass the bottoms one last time if they puffed again. Now allow them to cool, then pop them out.

Add a dab of cookie icing to the inside lip of a mug, then hook a handle onto it. It will stay in place, but it's probably best you drink out of these by holding the base. ;) If you have any gaps at the bottom of the handle, dab on some melted chocolate to fill them in.

Fill with hot cocoa, milk, or coffee, if you desire. These cookies are sturdy, so you can drink out of them multiple times. Alternatively, you can just fill them with candies or marshmallows. Yum!

Top with marshmallows. To make them stick together nicely, and to fill any air gaps between them for a nice consistency, pipe in some cookie icing.

I added some cookie icing to the sides of the mugs to look like melted marshmallow was oozing out. :)