Rocky Road Cookies are chewy, rich, and full of chocolate! Packed with melty chocolate, roasted nuts, and gooey marshmallow, they’re the ultimate treat for any Rocky Road fan.
author’s note
Rocky Road Cookies: Because Why Settle For Plain?
When plain chocolate cookies just won’t do, I add marshmallows, nuts, and maybe even a sprinkle of sea salt flakes for good measure!
These are the best Rocky Road Cookies around, thanks to a few special ingredients you won’t find in a typical chocolate cookie recipe.
While this recipe is easy to recreate, it’s crucial to start with the right ingredients. If you don’t have the right cocoa powder or flour, wait for your next grocery store run. It’s worth the wait so you don’t end up with mediocre cookies—or worse, cookies that don’t bake up properly. More on this below!
Ingredients In Rocky Road Cookies
A few ingredients to talk about:
- Dutch-process cocoa powder: Don’t substitute with regular cocoa powder as it will affect the texture and color of the cookies.
- Cake flour: Don’t substitute it with all-purpose flour for the best texture.
- Peanuts: I’ve found roasted and salted taste the best in these, swap for your fave nut.
- Mini marshmallows: Grab fresh and soft marshmallows, feel the bag before buying.
- Butter: Add it at room temp to cream it properly with the sugar for a smooth dough.
Favorite Cookie Baking Tools
- Silicone liner: Bake Rocky Road Cookies on a silicone mat to avoid crispy bottoms.
- Food scale: A food scale helps make dough balls the same size, so the cookies bake evenly. Eyeballing it could lead to some cookies being cooked inconsistently.
- Hand or stand mixer: Use a mixer to cream the butter and brown sugar until it’s thick.
How To Make Rocky Road Cookies (Tips)
- Ingredients: For best results, use the specified ingredients—substitutions may affect the outcome.
- Don’t Skip Chilling: Chilling the dough keeps cookies thick and improves texture.
- Butter: Use room temp butter. Too-soft butter makes cookies greasy.
Storage
Rocky Road Cookies Storage
- Store in an airtight container at room temp for 2-3 days. Marshmallows may lose texture over time.
- Can You Freeze Rocky Road Cookies? Freeze the dough instead of baked cookies.
- To freeze: Place dough balls on a pan and freeze until firm. Transfer to an airtight container or bag for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding extra time if needed.
More Tasty Cookie Recipes:
Rocky Road Cookies
Rocky Road Cookies are a fudgey, melty chocolate dream! Packed with gooey marshmallows, salted nuts, and rich chocolate—these cookies are a must for Rocky Road fans!
Equipment
- Stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment
- Large sheet pan (15″ x 21″)
- Silicone baking mat or parchment paper
Ingredients
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, see note 1
- 1-1/2 cups light brown sugar firmly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder not plain cocoa powder
- 1 cup cake flour see note 2
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet
- 1 cup dry roasted and lightly salted peanuts or other nut you enjoy
- Miniature marshmallows not full-sized ones, for topping
- Flaky sea salt optional, for topping
Instructions
- Add room-temperature butter (not softened or melted) and brown sugar into the base of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat until completely combined and ultra creamy, about 3–4 minutes. The mixture should be the consistency of peanut butter. See note 3 for tips and important considerations.
- Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until combined. Add cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Beat until just combined, scraping the sides with a spatula as needed. Add cake flour and all-purpose flour (see note 4) and again, beat until combined. Don’t overmix. Fold the chocolate chips and peanuts into the dough with a spatula. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for 45 minutes up to 2 hours. (If longer than 2 hours, you may need to let the dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to be able to roll dough balls.)
- After 45 minutes, remove the bowl from the fridge and form dough balls. Each ball should be just over 2 tablespoons of dough (40g). You should get around 35 dough balls. Roll into large and tall (instead of round and wide) balls and place on a parchment-paper-lined sheet pan or plate and return to the fridge or freezer to chill 15 more minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325°F (162°C). Line an extra-large sheet pan with a silicone liner (parchment paper works, but cookies bake even better on a liner). Add 6 dough balls to the sheet pan, leaving plenty of space between each cookie. Bake 10 minutes. Remove cookies and press 3 marshmallows into the top of each cookie. Return to oven and bake 2–4 more minutes or until set at edges and no longer gooey on top. Slightly underbaked is best—they will firm up to a nice and fudgy/chewy cookie as they set.
- Optionally, right out of the oven, press a few extra chocolate chips and/or peanuts into the tops of the cookies. Let cookies stand on the sheet pan 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool and finish firming up. Repeat this process with remaining cookie dough or freeze remaining cookie dough.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: If you touch the butter and are left with greasy fingers and a deep indent, the butter is too soft. Pop it in the fridge for a bit before using. If butter is cool to the touch and makes a slight indent when pressed with a finger, it is the perfect temperature! Softened or melted butter won’t cream properly.
Note 2: Cake flour is usually found in the baking supplies aisle in the grocery store near other types of flour. I don’t recommend a different flour substitute or making homemade cake flour—it doesn’t work the same in this recipe.
Note 3: I highly recommend using the exact ingredients called for in this recipe to achieve the best results for these cookies. So wait for a grocery store run if you don’t have the right cocoa powder or flour; the wait will be worth it so you don’t end up with lackluster cookies or cookies that don’t bake properly.
Note 4: If you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour and scoop, you will pack in way too much flour, which affects the texture of the cookies. Instead, spoon the flour into the measuring cup until it’s overfilled. Then use the back of a table knife to level the measuring cup at the top. (Video visual here)
Storage: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They’re best fresh but last up to a week, though texture and flavor fade after 3–4 days. For longer storage, freeze the dough: drop dough balls on a sheet pan, freeze until solid, then transfer to an airtight container or bag for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 143kcal | Carbohydrates: 18.7g | Protein: 2.4g | Fat: 6.9g | Cholesterol: 24.9mg | Sodium: 53.9mg | Fiber: 0.7g | Sugar: 10.1g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have been making these for years now! They have the best chocolate base and all the toppings complement it so perfectly. I’m Chelseas sister and first tried these at her house and let me tell you she tested these to perfection. 10/10 recommend.