Looking for a new twist on classic chocolate chip cookies? Try making rocky road cookies! This recipe is delicious and allows for endless customisation options with different toppings and mix-ins. Get ready to impress your taste buds!
*This post may contain affiliate links to products I find useful when making this recipe. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*
Looking for a new twist on classic chocolate chip cookies? Try making rocky road cookies! This recipe is delicious and allows for endless customisation options with different toppings and mix-ins. Get ready to impress your taste buds!
I absolutely adore Chocolate rocky road. My old recipes are ok, but we’ve made some changes recently, and newer homemade rocky road recipes like my Maltesers Rocky Road are incredible. Massive, packed with fillings and flavors, and just a bit filthy.
So, of course, we also love this Rocky Road Cookie Recipe. A combination of bakery-style chewy chocolate chip cookies and the best rocky road recipe, they are the perfect chocolatey treat.
Why I Love Rocky Road Cookies
I love this Rocky Road Cookie Recipe because:
- They are super easy.
- Easy rocky road cookies are perfect for baking with kids.
- Gooey marshmallows are always a fab addition to anything!
- If you like Rocky road ice cream, you’ll love them.
- Mine are Chewy rocky road cookies, which is my preference, but if you prefer a crunchy cookie, just bake them for a little longer.
Ingredients For Rocky Road Cookies
You can see some other options further down, but for the basic rocky road cookies, I use:
Unsalted Butter or margarine – I typically use margarine because I’m poor. I melt it instead of just using room temperature, this is even more important if you use firmer butter.
Light Brown Soft Sugar
Granulated White Sugar – you can use all of one, caster sugar, or a different ratio, but this works for me, and I add brown sugar to all of my cookies.
Egg
Golden Syrup – I haven’t tried this recipe with maple syrup, but I’m sure it would be fine.
Vanilla Essence – Or vanilla extract.
Plain Flour (all purpose flour)
Cocoa Powder – Ideally unsweetened cocoa.
Bi carbonate of Soda (baking soda)
Milk Chocolate Chips – Dark chocolate chips are fine, too, or you could use chopped squares for chunkier bits. We do this a lot.
Hazelnuts
Mini Marshmallows
You’ll Also Need
I use a large mixing bowl, a smaller bowl, a whisk ( I use an electric hand mixer, but a stand mixer, or even a good old hand whisk is fine), a wooden spoon, an ice cream scoop (a cookie scoop), 2 baking trays and reusable baking paper.
A wire rack is also handy for cooling.
How to Make Rocky Road Cookies – Step-by-Step Instructions
Full, easy-to-follow instructions and quantities are available in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step One
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan-assisted) and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper or reusable sheets. If you only have one, bake in more batches. Only put 6 cookies on a sheet.
Step Two
Mix the butter (first carefully melted over medium heat or in the microwave) and sugars until even.
Step Three
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, and syrup.
Step Four
Pour this into the butter and sugar and whisk in.
Step Five
Sift in the flour, cocoa, and bicarb and whisk or stir until the mix is even.
Step Six
Tip in chocolate chips, nuts, and marshmallows and fold through gently. It’s quite thick, so this takes a little work.
Step Seven
Place the dough in the fridge for 1 hour.
Step Eight
Use an ice cream scoop to scoop balls of dough onto the lined baking sheet, leaving plenty of room to spread. It’s a sticky dough, so I don’t like doing it with my hands, but you could try. Use plenty of flour and wash your hands regularly.
Step Nine
Bake in balls for 10-12 minutes until the edges are starting to crisp. I like the middle to still be soft, but if you prefer a crisper cookie, bake for a few minutes longer.
Step Ten
Leave to set on the tray for 5 minutes before carefully removing to cool fully on a wire rack. If you try to move them too soon, the melty chocolate chips will stick to the tray, and your cookies might be hard to get off. Letting them solidify first makes things easier and less messy.
Expert Tips for the Perfect Rocky Road Cookies
You can find more details of my top tips for baking cookies on my main cookie post. The only thing I do differently with Rocky Road Cookies is baking them slightly thicker instead of pressing them down into flatter rounds.
This is just because they are filled with stuff and quite heavy, so the dough spreads more, and it’s good to keep them a little thicker.
If for any reason, your cookies aren’t spreading at all, carefully press them down using the back of a spoon once they come out of the oven. My other top tips are:
- I use melted butter, which mixes in faster and reduces the risk of overmixing the dough.
- Use baking paper (affiliate link). You might want to try silicone mats, too, if that’s what you usually use. I’ve not tried them, though, so I can’t say how the cookie dough will spread.
- Use an ice-cream scoop to scoop out balls of cookie dough – it’s a sticky mix!
- Make sure your baking sheets are cool before adding more if you bake in batches.
- For a chewy cookie, they are ready when the outsides look slightly crisp but the middles are underdone and soft. They’ll set more as they cool.
Serving Suggestions
I just eat them as they are, typically cold with a cup of coffee. The kids have them with a glass of milk or a cup of hot chocolate.
Can You Eat Cookies Warm?
Marshmallow cookies are perfect warm when the marshmallows are gooey and soft. If you want to eat them warm, leave them to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet first, and be very careful handling hot cookies.
Another option is to warm them up before serving. Just pop a cookie in the microwave for 30-second bursts or in the oven for 5 minutes.
Adding ice cream to warm rocky road cookies would be great if you are serving them for dessert.
Variations – What Can You Put in Rocky Road Cookies?
There is so much that you can add to rocky road cookies. Just like rocky road. I’ve kept things simple, but once you’ve cracked this basic recipe, you can start adding all of your favourites.
Things to Mix Into Rocky Road Cookies:
To mix things into your rocky road cookies, just add them to the cookie dough. When I add marshmallows, nuts and chocolate chips, either instead of, or as well as.
- Crushed digestive biscuits or graham crackers – Personally, I think the cookie itself does this bit, but why not? Nothing is ever wrong with more biscuits!
- Crushed biscuits or cookies (e.g., Oreos or digestives)
- Chopped nuts – I’ve just hazelnuts, but chopped almonds, pecans, peanuts, and walnuts are great options, too. When it comes to nuts for rocky road cookies, you can try pretty much anything. That said, you can also skip the nuts entirely if you prefer rocky road cookies without nuts or can’t eat nuts.
- Chopped chocolate (dark, milk, or white) makes a great alternative to sweet chocolate chips.
- Toffee bits or caramel pieces
- Dried fruit (e.g., cranberries, raisins, cherries)
- Coconut flakes
- Pretzel pieces for a salty crunch
- Crushed biscuits (e.g., Oreos or shortbread)
- M&M’s or other colourful chocolate like Smarties
- Rice Krispies for added crunch
- Crushed popcorn
- Mini caramel or chocolate chips
- Peanut butter chips
- Marshmallow fluff or spread for an extra gooey texture
Things to Add on Top of Baked Rocky Road Cookies:
How you add things to your baked cookies depends on what you want to add. Things like chocolate drizzle can be added while they are still warm or once they are cool. Things like marshmallows, chocolate chunks and toffee bits will melt in place if you add them while the cookies are still warm, and more solid additions might be best added with melted chocolate or on top of melted chocolate, which will hold them in place.
- More mini marshmallows (lightly toasted)
- Chopped chocolate bars or chocolate chunks
- Drizzled melted chocolate (dark, milk, or white)
- Crushed nuts (e.g., hazelnuts, almonds, or pistachios)
- Sprinkles or edible glitter for a festive touch
- Mini candy pieces (e.g., smarties or jelly beans)
- Shredded coconut
- A pinch of sea salt for contrast
- A drizzle of peanut butter
- Crushed biscuits (like Oreos or digestives)
- Extra toffee bits or caramel drizzles
- A dusting of powdered sugar or cocoa powder
- Crumbled cookies or candy bars
- Mini marshmallow fluff or dollops
- Crushed pretzels for a salty contrast
Mix and match to create the perfect rocky road cookie
Storage
Store your cookies in an airtight container for up to three days. They’d probably be good for longer than that, but they never last that long.
I don’t recommend keeping them for more than five days, and you don’t need to store them in the fridge.
Can You Freeze Rocky Road Cookies?
Yes, cookies freeze really well. Freeze as they are in an airtight container, or if you want to be able to take them out one at a time, pop a piece of greaseproof paper in between them inside the airtight container.
FAQ
When we say kitchen sink, we mean everything thrown in, from the phrase everything but the kitchen sink. In terms of food, it just means something with lots of different additions, like Rocky Road Cookies.
Rocky road is typically made with chocolate, biscuit, nuts and marshmallows.
The nuts most commonly used in rocky road are walnuts or almonds.
Rocky road cookies are chewy chocolate cookies that feature some of the fillings of rocky road.
Yes, rocky road cookies are chewy unless you bake them for longer.
Other Recipes
If you enjoy this recipe for rocky road cookies, you might also want to try:
Rocky Road Cookies
Ingredients
- 150 g Butter or margarine (Melted)
- 150 g Light Brown Soft Sugar
- 100 g Granulated White Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 2 tablespoons Golden Syrup
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence
- 275 g Plain Flour
- 50 g Cocoa
- 1.5 teaspoon Bi Carbonate of Soda
- 150 g Milk Chocolate Chips
- 50 g Hazelnuts (Chopped or crushed into smaller bits)
- 50 g Mini Marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan-assisted) and line 2 baking trays with baking paper or reusable sheets.
- Mix the butter and sugars until even (this takes less than 1 minute with an electric whisk).
- In a small bowl whisk together the egg, vanilla, and syrup.
- Pour this into the butter and sugar and whisk in.
- Sift in the flour, cocoa, and bicarb and whisk or stir until the mix is even.
- Tip in chocolate chips, nuts, and marshmallows and fold through gently.
- Place the dough in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Use an ice cream scoop to scoop balls of dough onto the baking trays, leaving plenty of room to spread.
- Bake in balls for 10-12 minutes until the edges are starting to crisp.
- Leave to set on the tray for 5 minutes before carefully removing to cool fully on a wire rack.
Notes
- I place my hazelnuts in a sealed sandwich bag and bash them with a rolling pin.
- I bake 6 cookies on a tray and place the dough back in the fridge until I’m ready to do the second batch.
- For a chewy cookie, remove from the oven when the outsides are slightly crisp and the centre is still soft, leave on the tray to set for 5-10 minutes before removing to cool fully on a wire rack.
- Bake for an extra 3-4 minutes for a crispy cookie.
- If your cookies don’t spread enough, press them down carefully with the back of a spoon when they are fresh out of the oven and still soft.
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
