Pillsbury Bake-Off Countdown: Hot Chocolate-Marshmallow Cookies

CakeSpy Note: OMG! It's getting to be that time of year again. The Pillsbury Bake-Off is coming in November! Since I so deeply loved attending the 45th Bake-Off as well as the 46th Bake-Off, I thought I would get you excited the 47th one early by sharing all of the sweet recipes in the running. I will focus on sweets! You can follow them by clicking the bakeoff tag below to see the recipes posted so far (as well as recipes from previous Bake-Off events). 

What's better than hot chocolate with melty marshmallows? A cookie accompaniment, of course. These tasty treats take all the best parts of a hot chocolate experience and condense it into cookie form. The recipe was dreamed up by Sarah Meuser of New Milford, Connecticut...and on behalf of everyone, everywhere, I say "thank you"...and good luck at the Bake-Off!

Hot Chocolate-Marshmallow Cookies

• Prep Time: 20 Min
• Total Time: 55 Min
• Makes: 12 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 roll Pillsbury refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
• 1 cup chocolate hazelnut spread
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
• 3/4 teaspoon chili Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground Saigon Cinnamon
• 6 large marshmallows, cut in half

Procedure

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Let cookie dough stand at room temperature 10 minutes to soften. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In large bowl, break up cookie dough. Add hazelnut spread, cocoa, chili powder and cinnamon. Beat with electric mixer on low speed about 2 minutes or until well blended.
3. Shape dough into 12 (2-inch) balls. Flatten each ball into 3-inch round. Shape 1 cookie dough round around 1 marshmallow half, covering completely. Repeat with remaining dough rounds and marshmallows. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
4. Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until surface of cookie appears cracked and marshmallow shows through. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool 5 minutes. Serve warm. Store tightly covered.