Popcorn & Hot Chocolate Cookies
A couple of weeks ago, on my birthday, I started taking an online creative baking class. The class is taught by Christina Tosi of Milk Bar—which, if you’re not familiar, is a chain of bakeries with amazing, unique treats that are ridiculously addictive. Over the course of a month we’re baking a few classic Milk Bar treats, then learning Christina’s prototyping method to develop our own unique creations. These Popcorn & Hot Chocolate Cookies were my first project.
Sunday Night at Grandma’s House
We were tasked with making a cookie based on a specific time—it could be a time in our lives, a time of year, a time of day…whatever we wanted. I chose Sunday nights at my Grandma’s house when I was a kid.
Growing up, my Grandma would always make a big Sunday afternoon feast, then Sunday night was her night off from cooking, so we’d eat popcorn and hot chocolate for dinner while we watched a movie. I vividly remember her hot air popper with the little butter melting compartment on top. She’d fill this massive green Tupperware bowl to the brim, then cover it in butter and salt. Then she’d make a batch of homemade cocoa on the stovetop, pour it into our mugs, and we’d dig in.
This recipe is those evenings in cookie form.
Popcorn & Hot Chocolate Cookies
To make a cookie reminiscent of a cup of creamy, chocolatey hot cocoa, I opted for a little less cocoa powder than usual, and added in some of my favorite hot cocoa mix—Mike and Jen’s Cocoa, made right here in Duluth! Then I added milk chocolate and white chocolate chips for some extra-creamy, chocolatey goodness.
There had to be a popcorn element too, of course, so I added it in two forms: buttered popcorn folded into the cookie batter, and a hunk of popcorn marshmallow treat perched on top. I have to say, the popcorn marshmallow treat really makes this cookie. It’s really just a rice krispie treat, but with popcorn in place of the krispies. (Side note: Why didn’t I think of that before?!? SO good!) Even better, when you bake the cookies, the marshmallow gets a little bit toasted, giving it an over-the-top s’mores vibe. And there you have it: the flavors of buttery popcorn and creamy hot chocolate with marshmallows all in one cookie.
A Few Recipe Notes:
A few things to know about the recipe:
- 10-minute creaming time. Yes, you’ll really want to cream the batter for a total of 10 minutes before you add the flour mixture. (2-3 minutes for the butter-sugar-hot-cocoa-mixture, and another 7-8 minutes once you add the egg and vanilla). This is one of the things I learned in my baking class: creaming for 10 minutes, then only mixing briefly when adding the dry ingredients makes for a much more tender cookie.
- Popcorn. Use whatever kind of popcorn you like. You can air-pop it or use the microwave. I used a microwave popcorn popper (I have two of these from Nordicware and I love them). For the popcorn in the marshmallow treats, don’t use any oil or butter. For the popcorn you stir into the cookie batter, I highly recommend giving it a hefty drizzle of butter (I used about 1T for the 2 cups of popcorn) before stirring it in.
- Cocoa Powder. I recommend natural cocoa powder for this recipe, not dutch cocoa, for a less intense chocolate flavor. (Most baking cocoa you find in the grocery store is natural cocoa, but check the ingredient list if you’re not sure).
- Hot Chocolate Mix. You can use whatever hot chocolate mix you want—just make sure it’s something you like the flavor of.
- Cookie Scoop. I used a large Oxo cookie scoop for this recipe (about 3T size), to make a nice big cookie. You can make them smaller if you like, just be sure to reduce the baking time.
Ok, enough talk–let’s bake. I hope you enjoy these Popcorn & Hot Chocolate Cookies as much as I enjoyed creating them!
If you make them, or any of my recipes, be sure to tag me on Instagram (@northern.ginger) so I can see what you’re baking!
Popcorn & Hot Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
Popcorn Marshmallow Treats*
- 5 T butter
- 2 ½ c mini marshmallows
- 3 c popped popcorn plain, no butter or salt
Popcorn & Hot Chocolate Cookies
- 1 c butter softened
- 1 c granulated sugar
- ½ c hot cocoa mix
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 ½ c flour
- ¼ c + 2T cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 c buttered popcorn
- 1 c milk chocolate chips
- ½ c white chocolate chips
- popcorn marshmallow treats, for topping
Instructions
Popcorn Marshmallow Treats
- Spray 8 wells of a muffin tin generously with cooking spray (or use a loaf pan if you don’t have a muffin tin).
- In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the 5T of butter and the marshmallows, stirring constantly until completely melted and well-mixed.
- Remove from heat and stir in the 3c plain popcorn, mixing until all popcorn is completely covered.
- Press mixture into prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top. Set aside and let cool completely. Once cool, break up with your hands into 1/2T-sized pieces.
Popcorn & Hot Chocolate Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugar, and hot chocolate, mixing on high for 2-3 minutes until well-combined and beginning to get fluffy. Scrape the bowl and paddle.
- Add the egg and vanilla, and beat on high for another 7-8 minutes (for a total of 10 minutes of mixing), stopping once or twice to scrape the bowl and paddle. The mixture should now be lighter in color and very fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Then add to the butter-sugar-egg mixture and beat on low speed just until almost combined (there should be a bit of flour mixture still visible).
- Add the buttered popcorn, milk chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips, and mix on low speed just until everything is combined. Remove bowl from mixer and use a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl and finish mixing if there are still flour bits visible.
- Using a large cookie scoop (about 1/3 c size), scoop dough onto prepared cookie sheets, leaving about 2” between.
- Flatten cookies a bit with your hand, then top with about 1/2T-sized pinch of the Popcorn Marshmallow Treat mixture, pressing it into the dough a bit so it sticks.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies no longer look wet and the Popcorn Marshmallow Topping is nicely browned.
- Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
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