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Toasted Marshmallow Hot Chocolate Bars. These bars will leave you whispering, OH YUMMMM! They’re homemade molten cookie bars made with butter, chocolate, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, and cocoa powder. Plus, a secret ingredient that really makes these hot chocolate bars better than the rest: a touch of hazelnut liqueur. Toasted marshmallows are sandwiched in between these yummy bars. They’re gooey, chocolatey, and the perfect hot cocoa bar to warm up with this winter! They literally melt in your mouth!
It’s hot chocolate season! I shared my Polar Express Hot Chocolate last Friday, and today, we’ve got the gooiest, molten hot chocolate bars made even better with toasted marshmallows.
To be honest, I don’t love to use marshmallows. I find that they can be too sweet for my liking. That said, when used in the right way, I think they can be delectable. And when you toast them up – REALLY toast them until they’re almost burnt, that’s when they are best.
I’ve had this recipe planned for months. When the idea for a toasted marshmallow hot cocoa cookie bar came to mind, I couldn’t forget about it—so much so that I told my mom. She said, “Oh, you must save those for Christmas; they sound magically delicious.”
Mom and I tend to think a lot about Christmas. When I have a festive holiday idea, I always save it for the month of December. So I’ve been waiting to share these, and finally, the time is here!
These are some of my best crinkly, crackly molten bars. Inspired a bit by my Crinkle Top Brownies, Hot Chocolate Cookies, and Toasted Marshmallow Treats. I took three recipes and made them into one delicious molten bar. These are so good!
You can eat them warm and gooey or let them cool, cut them, and package them up for gifting!
Here are the details
Ingredients
- salted butter
- semi-sweet chocolate chips
- granulated sugar
- hazelnut liqueur
- Vanilla extract
- eggs
- flour
- cocoa powder
- sea salt
- marshmallows
- chocolate chunks
Special Tools
Zero! Just a whisk, a couple of bowls, and a square brownie pan.
Steps
Step 1: bring the eggs to room temperature
Using room-temperature eggs will give your bars a nice crackly, crinkled top. To quickly bring them to room temperature, you can submerge them in hot water for 5 minutes. This works well! I do this often.
Step 2: Melt the chocolate
Next, melt the chocolate and butter together. Use the microwave or the stove-top. I don’t have a microwave, so I slowly melt the chocolate on the stove.
Once melted, mix in the sugar, hazelnut liqueur (my favorite these days), and vanilla.
Step 3: whisk the eggs
Now, in a separate bowl, give the eggs a really good whisking. Whisk them for at least a minute until bubbles appear. This creates air in the eggs, which will help you get a beautiful, shiny, molten bar.
You want the shine and the crinkles, so whisk those eggs.
Step 4: add the dry ingredients
Whisk the eggs into the chocolate. Add the flour, cocoa, and salt. Mix in the remaining chocolate chips.
Spread half the batter into your parchment-lined brownie pan.
Step 5: baking
Bake the bars for 20 minutes, and pull the pan out. Switch your oven to broil. Arrange a couple of handfuls of marshmallows over the pre-baked bars. Broil the marshmallows until they’re very toasty. I like them closer to burnt best, but you do you here.
Please watch the bars closely. The broiler can work quicker than you’d think.
Once the marshmallows are toasty, pull the pan out and return the oven to baking temp.
Spread the remaining batter over the toasted marshmallow. It’s OK if the batter doesn’t cover all of the marshmallows. Add the chocolate chunks.
Now bake for 20 minutes. The bars will come out of the oven with bubbly marshmallows peeking through. They’re going to look DELICIOUS.
Let the bars hang in the pan until cool, then lift them out and cut. They’ll be gooey and messy, but that’s what makes them so good. Just embrace the mess. These are so delectable. Just perfectly set on the edges, but the gooiest in the center with just the right amount of chew, sweetness, and rich flavors.
A Fun Gifting Idea
Once the bars are totally set, you can easily package them for holiday gifting!
If you want to go a step further, package the bars up, then print the recipe out onto a cute card and gift the recipe with the bars. You could even add a cute Christmas mug as well! That would be so festive and adorable!
Tis the season!
Looking for Christmas cookie recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Chewy Frosted Cinnamon Swirl Snickerdoodles
Easy Slice ‘n’ Bake Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
Easy Vanilla Bean Christmas Lights Cookies
Soft Gingerbread Latte Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
Lastly, if you make these Toasted Marshmallow Hot Chocolate Bars, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Toasted Marshmallow Hot Chocolate Bars
Servings: 16 bars
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon hazelnut liqueur
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1-2 cups marshmallows
- 2 ounces dark chocolate chunks
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×9 inch pan with parchment paper.2. In the microwave, melt together the butter and 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Stir in the sugar, hazelnut liqueur (if using), and vanilla. 3. In a bowl, whisk the eggs for 1 minute until bubbly on top. Stir the eggs into the chocolate mix. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips.4. Spread half the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven. Switch the oven to broil. Arrange the marshmallows over the pre-baked bars. Broil for 1-3 minutes until the marshmallows are toasted to your liking. Return the oven to 350° F.5. Spread the remaining batter over the marshmallows, covering them as best you can. It's OK if the batter doesn't cover all the marshmallows. Press the chocolate chunks into the bars. Return the bars to the oven. Bake another 20 minutes until the top is set, but the marshmallows are wiggly underneath.6. Let the bars hang 20 minutes in the pan, then use the parchment paper to lift them out. You can let them chill or cut into them. If they're warm, they will be messier, but so DELISH! Once cool you can cut and package them for gifting!
This post was originally published on December 10, 2024
I’m not sure what size a ‘brownie pan’ is, can you please specify?
Hi Sarena,
The recipe calls for a 9×9 inch pan with parchment paper. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Great brownie recipe! I substituted coffee liquor in place for the hazelnut liquor. I served this with some vanilla ice cream for dessert and everyone loved it!
Hi Melanie,
Wonderful! I’m so glad this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks for making it! Merry Christmas!!🎄🎁☃️
I am not a baker. I wanted to try making a fun festive dessert with my son on Christmas Eve. I figured I could follow a recipe. But I just set it on fire, because the parchment paper was too close to the broiler (at the marshmallow step). It took 30 seconds to destroy it. After I went out to the liquor store and got special ingredients at the grocery store. This happened after a long day, and I used my brand new Staub baking dish for the first time, which now may be brown forever. I guess it’s my fault, but would have been nice for us beginners to have some caution in the recipe.
I made these for our Christmas work party and they were a huge hit!! They were almost gone before the party itself even started! Will definitely make these again! Best brownies I’ve ever tasted! Thanks Tieghan!
Hey Autumn,
Wonderful! I’m so glad this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks for making it! Merry Christmas!!🎄🎁☃️
It doesn’t say how much salt to use?
Hi Emily! I usually just do small sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top of the bars, but I don’t measure it! xT
thank you!!!! I made them and they are the best brownie i have ever tasted omg! opted out of the hazelnut liquor.
Tieghan! Omg these turned out AMAZING. Made them tonight to put in cookie boxes for neighbors and I was worried by what people said but they were so so good! Ooey and gooey! Then when I put them in the fridge they cooled and omg another level of goodness!! Chewy!!!!! Can’t wait for people to try them.
Hi Tammy! I’m sooo glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for making it! 🙂 xT
My daughter is allergic to tree nuts- what should I replace the hazelnut liquor with? Brandy? Thanks!
Hi Caroline,
You can just omit it:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! Merry Christmas! xx
Tried these last night and was very underwhelmed. Maybe I’m just confused as to what “molten” texture is meant to be in a brownie or bar? Isn’t molten typically used to describe a liquid center of something like a lava cake? In the context of a bar, does molten mean raw or underbaked?
Hi Gina,
Thanks for trying this recipe. Sorry to hear they were not enjoyed. These should definitely be gooey, but I wouldn’t consider them raw or underbaked. If there is something that I can help with, please let me know! xx
How far ahead of time could this recipe be made? And how would you store? Thanks!
Hi Rebecca-Jo,
These are good for 1 week in an airtight container. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
This is your sign to make these! I used half the sugar this recipe called for. I also used dark chocolate caramel squares. Mine came out pretty gooey when I followed the baking time directly, so I broiled them for about 5 minutes longer than the recipe called for. So delicious and addicting!
Thanks so much, Rosie!! I’m so glad to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you! Happy Sunday! xx
These brownies are like a molten chocolate cake but brownie form! Very yummy with a glass of milk! Excited to hand out at my cookie swap!
These came out amazing! I made them into cupcake portions since I left my 9×9 pan at someone’s house, and they are so good! I love when you take something that everyone knows and then make it 100x better! The marshmallows being crispy and poking out the sides looks picture worthy, even as cupcake size! So moist and a little gooey because of the dark chocolate added to it! Love this.
Hey Veronica,
Happy Friday!! Love to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it and your comment! XxT
Reg cupcake size? how long to bake and what temp, please?
I followed this recipe to the T, went out and got hazelnut liquor even…and it was a raw mess. A little bummed. I made these for an Xmas party and had to throw them out and have nothing to bring now. I baked them for over an hour and it just would just not cook. Looking back at the recipe now, your pictures seem to have raw pieces too. Was that the way the texture was supposed to be? Super confused. Love your recipes, but this one was an utter fail for me.
Hey Daniella! Oh no! I am so sorry! How long did you bake the first layer? Since you are having trouble, I would try a 9×13 inch pan. I think that will help you with baking. I LOVE a gooey bar, so these are meant to be more molten like than most, but they shouldn’t be a mess. Also make sure to let the marshmallows cool. That will help! Let me know how this works. So sorry!
Merry Christmas!!🎄🎁☃️
What about maple syrup instead of hazelnut liquor? And is there another size pan that could work?
Hi Natalie,
Sure, I don’t see why not! An 8 inch pan would also work. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Hi! I am a HUGE fan!!! Wondering would gluten free flour work in this recipe?
Thanks!
Thanks so much, Jennifer:) Yes, gluten free flour should work nicely for you! I hope you love this recipe. Happy Holidays! xT
Hi Tieghan!
These look amazing!!! All my favorites in one gooey bar! What could I use in place of the hazelnut liqueur? Something nonalcoholic. Maybe a hazelnut coffee syrup? Can’t wait to make these! I appreciate your suggestion. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Barbie!! Yes, a hazelnut syrup will work nicely for you! I hope you love this recipe! Happy Holidays! xT