Name: Chocolate Mountains
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 58 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup shortening; 1/2 cup evaporated milk; 2 tablespoons water; 1 large egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 cup walnuts (finely chopped (optional)); 18 large jet puffed marshmallows; 2 cups powdered sugar; 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder; 1/3 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature); 2 tablespoons milk ((2 % or whole)); 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Jump to Recipe

Pour a cold glass of milk, turn on the Hallmark channel, and dream of winter while indulging in soft, fudgy Chocolate Mountains cookies!

Warm, mouthwateringly fudgy Chocolate Mountains are the ultimate comfort dessert! A chewy chocolate cookie on the bottom, rich chocolate buttercream frosting on the top, and a gooey marshmallow surprise in the middle! These cookies are easy to make and dangerously delicious!

chocolate mountains cookies on a wire rack with recipe name at the bottom

The Chocolate Mountains are Miles above the Rest!

The holidays deserve special cookies, and these Chocolate Mountains rise to the challenge!

This is not a cookie you encounter every day! With rich cocoa in the cookie AND the frosting, you get a double whammy of chocolate in every bite, mixed with the creamy goodness of a melty marshmallow center! They’re perfect for a cookie exchange or snow days with the kids!

Other Winter Snow Day Recipes!

Homemade Hot Chocolate is a MUST for snowy winter days!
Hot Chocolate Muddy Buddies are a S’mores spin on traditional Chex Mix! They’re infused with creamy marshmallow fluff and rich hot cocoa powder – yum!

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients: Chocolate Mountains start with basic dry dough ingredients like flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar, and add cocoa for chocolatey goodness!

Wet Ingredients: This is a chewy cookie, so moist ingredients like shortening, evaporated milk, water, egg, and vanilla are plentiful in this recipe.

Filling: Large marshmallows make these cookies a fluffy, gooey center. Chopped walnuts are also a great option for the cookie batter.

ingredients to make chocolate buttercream in bowls on a counter

Chocolate Frosting: Chocolate buttercream? Yes, please! You’ll need softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, oil, and more cocoa! Be careful not to eat it all while you’re icing the cookies!

How to Make Chocolate Mountains

STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Set that aside for now.

flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt whisked together in a mixing bowl

STEP TWO: Beat the egg, shortening, vanilla, and water with a stand or hand mixer. Slowly add the dry ingredients and gently mix until just combined.

chocolate cookies dough in a mixing bowl next to a wooden spoon

STEP THREE: Drop the cookie dough by 1-tablespoon scoops onto a silicone mat-lined cookie sheet. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes until they are set.

scoops of chocolate cookie dough on a greased baking sheet

STEP FOUR: Cut several large marshmallows in half while the cookies are baking. After the cookies are done, remove them from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cook for 5 minutes. Then, place 1/2 of a marshmallow on top of each cookie cut side down (this helps it stick to the cookie). Allow the cookies and marshmallows to cool completely.

large marshmallows cut in half placed onto baked chocolate cookies on a wire rack

STEP FIVE: In the meantime, mix the frosting ingredients in a large bowl with a hand mixer (or your stand mixer).

chocolate buttercream in a mixing bowl next ot a wooden spoon

STEP SIX: Using a small spatula, frost over the top of each marshmallow until they disappear under a mountain of chocolate frosting! Enjoy these delicious treats with your favorite winter drink!

close up of chocolate buttercream frosted over the marshmallow stuck to a chocolate cookie to make a chocolate mountain

Tips for Success

Always allow butter to soften naturally – don’t microwave or melt.
You can dust the tops of these cookies with powdered sugar to put “snow” on the mountains.
Chopped walnuts or pecans are a great add-in for this cookie. If you use them, be sure to chop them fairly small and fold them into the cookie dough before baking.
Dark chocolate cocoa will give you a much darker-colored, less sweet frosting.

chocolate mountains cookies piled on a plate with a couple cut in half to show the marshmallow inside

How Do You Store Frosted Cookies?

Cookies with Icing can be tricky to store because you want to keep them pretty as well as fresh and delicious! The best way to keep iced cookies – everything from your prettiest Christmas sugar cookies to these ooey, gooey Chocolate mountains – is to pre-freeze them. Lay them on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for about half an hour until the icing is hardened. Remove from the freezer and place parchment paper between each layer in an airtight container. Return to the freezer until ready to thaw and eat!

hand taking a chocolate mountain from a plate of cookies

A Cookie Exchange is one of the most brilliant holiday baking hacks ever! Simply put, a cookie swap is a swap you make with several other friends, neighbors, or co-workers. Everyone signs up for a different cookie, and then you agree on a time to share them.

So, if you’re trading with five other friends and chose this recipe, you would make six dozen Chocolate Mountains. Keep a dozen for yourself, and then on swap day, place a dozen each in five different bags or boxes. You can meet up just to trade cookies or make it a party! However you choose to exchange, you only have to bake one recipe once, but the result is six different types of cookies for your Christmas tray!

close up of a chocolate mountains cookie cut in half to show the frosting, marshmallow, and cookie layers

*This post originally posted on 12/16/2014.