What is it about growing up in the 90s that made parents buy and keep the most unused “instant” items in their pantry? We had instant tea, never-used instant rice and a box of Swiss Miss instant hot cocoa. Everything into the microwave!

Am I the only one who would open and eat the freeze dried marshmallows out of the Swiss Miss packets when no one was looking? And the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms, and the raisins out of the Raisin Bran, and the M&Ms out of the trail mix. What? I was the youngest of three and my parents were too tired and apathetic to these minor infractions to care by the time I arrived. Or maybe they did care and I blamed it on my siblings. Either way, I was a snack weevil. Find the best carbs, eat only those carbs, toss it once you find out the good stuff is gone.

This post is an ode to the parents and the older siblings of snack weevils. I’m sorry I did this, and I also don’t regret it because freeze dried marshmallows are delicious. So buy that box of Swiss Miss instant hot cocoa for that one time you wanted to drink hot chocolate as a family, and those last few packets that sit there for months? You can now make these scones, even if the freeze dried marshmallows are “missing.”

These scones are so incredibly delicious and savory, with thick notes of cocoa, rich, melty bites of chocolate, and topped with a delicate note of toasted marshmallow. You’ll completely forget about the missing M&Ms in your trail mix.

Hot Chocolate Scones

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup malted milk powder
3 packets hot chocolate mix (or about 4 ounces hot chocolate powder)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick cold butter, unsalted and cubed
1 1/2 - 2 cups heavy cream, cold
1 cup dark chocolate, very finely chopped
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff, optional

Process

In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, malted milk powder, hot chocolate, salt and cocoa powder. Sprinkle the butter on top and coat with dry mix. Using your fingers, blend butter into mixture until consistency resembles wet sand.

Add heavy cream 1/2 cup at a time until dough can be worked into a ball. Sprinkle dark chocolate and work dough until chocolate is evenly distributed. Place dough ball on a lightly floured surface and, using your palms, create a thick circle, about an inch high. Lightly press an 8-slice pie marker in the center of the circle and then, using a pie cutter, work radially to cut into 8 even pie-shaped slices.

Using the back of a spoon, smear top of each scone with a thick streak of marshmallow fluff. Place scones about 2” apart on a large parchment lined sheet tray. Set in refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up and then put directly into preheated oven. Bake at 400F for 12-15 minutes.

Using a kitchen torch (or carefully monitoring broiler setting on your oven), brown the marshmallow until golden. (I like mine a little on the darker side!)

Let cool and serve immediately. Store for 3-4 days at room temperature in a container with lid slightly cracked to prevent marshmallow fluff from melting.