My Kitchen, My Love: Hot Chocolate Cookies

Me and my cousin Britt have grown up together and always been pretty tight.

We used to fantasize about marrying brothers. Or these two guys from our favorite band. That we're 20 years older than us. But that's neither here nor there, true love knows no numbers.

We were seriously OBSESSED with these guys. We knew what kind of cars they drove, what foods they liked, how many tattoos they had and what one of the guys screen names was (remember the days of AOL Instant Messaging? Is that even still around?!), Safe to say we stalked them.

But when you're going to marry someone, it's not called stalking.

It's just knowing something they don't know yet.

We knew every single song they ever came out with by heart. And we listened to them RELIGIOUSLY. I'm surprised no one in our families ever stole our little cd collection and threw it away.

But, our world came crashing down when we found out their band was breaking up. I cried.

And then, to make matters worse....they had the nerve to marry some other girls that were not us.

ugh.

I've moved on.

They just don't know what they're missing.

Coulda had us, boys. You made your spousal choices too soon before you saw what was out there...........

We've moved on since then. Well, I have. I don't know about poor Britt. She was pretty heart broken.

Gotta love friends like my cousin. We have some of the best memories together....Staying up ALL night, just because we wanted to see what it was like, having Dorito and Mountain Dew hangovers at our weekly sleepovers, criticizing every other girl that wasn't us, because we had it goin' on....they only thought they did, parting our hair in the middle and using way too much gel, making music videos to our favorite songs.......

Good times.

Thankfully, we've grown up a little, gotten married to cute, not rockstar men ( they're not brothers, sadly....but we're working on their BFF status), had babies, and we still manage to get together and maintain our closeness through keeping children out of toilets, talking married people talk, baking...........'mature' stuff.

Yesterday, I had a little baking extravaganza, and Britt came over to share in the joy.
Baking takes on a whole new meaning when you have 2 babies; my little girl is 4 months, and her little boy is 8 months. They're getting married.

As always, it was fun. And we made the best ever stuff.

Starting with these Hot Chocolate cookies.

They seriously taste like you are eating a cup of hot chocolate!

They're so super chocolatey, yet they have that milky, cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows on top taste.

They're best fresh out of the oven, or just throw them in the microwave for 10 seconds to get the same effect.

Hot Chocolate Cookies
Inspired by pip and ebby

Warning: The dough needs to be refrigerated for an hour, so don't make if you are in a rush!

Pre-heat oven to 325.

In a medium saucepan, melt together:

-1 stick butter
-12 oz. chopped semisweet chocolate (bars or chips)

Stir frequently over medium heat until smooth. Let cool for 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl combine:
-1 1/2 cups flour
-1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
-1/4 teaspoon salt

Using an electric mixer, beat together:
-1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
-3 eggs
-1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Beat on low speed until smooth, 2 minutes. Mix in the cooled chocolate mixture just until blended. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, mixing on low speed until just combined.

Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour.

Grease a cooking sheet. Using a tablespoon, scoop the dough and roll between your palms to form 1-inch balls. Arrange about 16 balls 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet. Bake until the tops of the cookies crack, about 12 minutes.

Mean while, open a bag of mini marshmallows, and a bag of semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips or chocolate bars cut into 1-inch squares. I used chocolate chips cause that's what I had.