Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy Are Your New Winter Dessert

The Guilty Pleasure: Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy
Where to Get It: Grocery Stores
Price: $3.79
What it Really Costs: Funeral expenses for “Pumpkin Spice”

Much like the word “basic” to describe those who love it, “pumpkin spice” is obviously out.  

This winter, the new flavor is hot cocoa, and while some foods do it better than others, it’s at least generally less disgusting than throwing pumpkin into anything and everything.

Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy are a perfect example of the new flavor craze, including what works and doesn’t work about the winter treat.

See, when hot cocoa is cold, it’s basically just a watery version of chocolate milk with the remnants of a couple of tiny marshmallows floating in it. Hot Cocoa Chips Ahoy suffer some of the same fate, acting as underwhelming chocolate-based cookies when not heated up. They still have the same chewy texture and over-sweetened taste that people have come to expect from the brand (whether you like it or not is strictly a matter of personal preference), but there’s nothing that screams “Thanksgiving morning with your grandparents” about them.

Heated up — as the packaging suggests you do — this cookie is a whole different story, because similarly to how hot cocoa only takes shape when it’s piping hot, these Chips Ahoy really shine when thrown in the microwave for a few seconds. The marshmallow chips become gooey, the sugar in the cookie gets a little more melted, and the whole thing just works better.

More than hot cocoa, when warmed the new Chips Ahoy flavor functions as a delicious version of one of those “make it in a coffee mug” desserts you see on Pinterest. It doesn’t entirely accurately capture the taste of cocoa, but it has the essence of a winter dessert that should be heated and served with ice cream (since it never really gets too cold for ice cream). Actually, that’s a good idea. We’re going to build an ice cream sundae on top of one in a coffee mug and (if we’re feeling generous), we’ll let you know how it is.