Rocky Road Cookies with Marshmallows and Almonds
Indulge in these chocolate cookies packed with marshmallows, sliced almonds, and melty chocolate chunks.
These cookies were originally made early in our recipe development journey and have gone through a couple iterations, but I think this one is here to stay. Updated with a fresh new recipe and new photos – this new and improved recipe is just what it should be.
Rocky Road Cookies hold a special place in our hearts; they were one of the first recipes we ever published and if you know anything about us you know they’re the first in a long history of many cookie recipes. The base is an indulgent chocolate cookie that is perfectly crispy on the edges and chewy in the centre. Plus they’re packed with marshmallows, chocolate chunks, and sliced almonds. Each bite is even better than the last.
This recipe makes a perfect dozen, perfect for a little snack or two all week long. Store in an air tight container to keep soft.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
Perfect balance of chewy and crispy.
Made in just one bowl!
The dough doesn’t need to be chilled.
Top tips for making perfect vegan Rocky Road Cookies:
Use a scale for minimal clean up. Using weighted measurements (as we have provided and recommend) means you can add flour, and other ingredients, straight to the bowl without having to dirty a measuring cup!
Use a rubber spatula. We find we get the best results, especially for mixing the melted butter and sugar together, when using a rubber baking spatula. It creates the perfect surface for blending the ingredients just as we need them.
Mix the butter and sugar until shiny and smooth. It can be hard to tell when you have mixed enough when using melted butter in a cookie recipe. We like to look for at the texture, viscosity, and surface. You’re looking for a smooth mixture that is slightly thickened with a shiny appearance.
Don’t over mix the dough. When adding the dry ingredients just mix until it’s combined and no dry patches remain. Over mixing at this stage with create a chewy, tough, and generally unpleasant cookie texture.
How to make Rocky Road Cookies:
Prep Time: 15 Min | Bake Time: 12 Min | Total Time: 27 Min
Makes: 12 Cookies
Ingredients
1 flax egg, (1 tbsp ground flax seeds + 3 tbsp lukewarm water)
113 g (½ cup) butter, melted
150 g (¾ cup) brown sugar
50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
180 g (1½ cups) all purpose flour
20 g cacao powder
½ tsp baking soda
50 g marshmallows
50 g sliced almonds
50 g chopped chocolate
kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
Before your start: Make the flax egg by combing ground flaxseed with lukewarm water and set aside to thicken.
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
Combine melted vegan butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar. Using rubber spatula mix rapidly until smooth – about 5 minutes. Mix in vanilla extract and flax egg until incorporated.
Fold the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into the wet mixture until a dough forms.
Fold in the chopped chocolate, marshmallows, and almonds until evenly distributed but not too longer to avoid overworking the dough.
Using a 3 tbsp cookie scoop, scoop the dough and place on the prepared baking sheet with 2-inches between each. Optionally, you can top with mix-ins.
Bake for 11-12 minutes or until just set around the edges.
Fresh from the oven sprinkle each cookie with a little kosher salt. Let cool on the baking pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ingredient Notes:
All-Purpose Flour – We use any store brand unbleached all-purpose flour for our recipes.
Cocoa Powder – We use the store brand variety, nothing fancy.
Kosher Salt – We like to use kosher salt in all our baking as it’s not overly salt-y and has a good texture to topping cookies.
Vegan Butter – We use the Becel Plant Based Sticks for almost all of our recipes. But we have also had success with Earth Balance.
Brown & Granulated Sugar – If it’s of concern for you, not all white granulated sugar is vegan-friendly as some is processed with animal bones. Most available in Canada are vegan, but it may be different in other countries.
Flax Egg – This is what we use to substitute eggs in this recipe. It’s a mixture of ground flaxseeds and lukewarm water. When you let it rest for 5-10 minutes it will form a gelatinous mixture that is great in place of eggs in baked goods.
Vegan Marshmallows – We used the vegan-friendly marshmallows, particularly Dandies. You can typically find these a specialty vegan stores or some chain grocery stores.
Almonds – We like to use sliced almonds but chopped almonds work as well. If you’re allergic to nuts, pretzels are a great replacement.
Dark Chocolate – We like to use a dark chocolate bar chopped into chunks, but you could also use pre-chunked chocolate or chocolate chips.