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Rocky Road Bars

These quick and easy-to-make s’mores rocky road bars are packed with smooth chocolate, crunchy cookies, and soft chewy marshmallows.

Sliced cookie bars on a plate.

updated from 2011

HOW TO MAKE ROCKY ROAD BARS

WHAT’S IN ROCKY ROAD BARS?

First, you need to prepare chocolate sauce, and then you can add your fillings – pretty much anything goes. However, I’d stick with graham crackers, digestive crackers, or tea cookies. And you can even add some oats to the bunch. Marshmallows are an excellent addition as they add a soft, chewy texture. And I can’t resist to use an extra dose of chocolate to make them even tastier. My s’mores-inspired rocky road bars are popular with kids and adults alike.

  • Chocolate Sauce:
  • Butter
  • Dark Chocolate
  • Cocoa powder
  • Sugar
  • Corn syrup/Invert Sugar Syrup (or use honey, agave) – it helps to keep everything smooth
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Fillings:
  • Graham Crackers, Digestive or other neutral-tasting crackers; you can add some oats, too.
  • Milk and While Chocolate
  • Marshmallows – mini or micro or cut-up regular marshmallows
Bowls with ingredients.

CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Heat butter, sugar, cocoa powder, dark chocolate, and corn syrup/invert sugar syrup until melted. This is the chocolate base, and you can add pretty much anything to it.

Stainless steel pot with butter, chocolate sugar, cocoa powder.

FILLINGS

What’s great about this delicious rocky road recipe is that you can use any crackers/cookies you have. I like to use graham crackers or digestive biscuits, but you can use other mild-flavored cookies, like tea cookies, or crushed ladyfingers.

Crush crackers into small pieces with a rolling pin. Be careful not to turn them into powder. You want small cookie chunks.

Cookies in a ziploc bag, rolling pin on top of the bag.

To make these no-bake bars, I use milk and white chocolate, and dark chocolate in the chocolate sauce. In this recipe, you can use chocolate chips or a chocolate bar. The most important is to use the chocolate that you like to eat.

Hand holding a knife chopping chocolate on a cutting board.

Rocky road bars are best made with mini or micro marshmallows. However, if all you have are regular-size marshmallows, you can use them, too. Cut them with kitchen shears and use them in place of minis.

Ziploc bag filled with crushed cookies, chopped white and dark chocolate and marshmallows in a blue bowl.

PREPARE BAKING PAN

Line the 8×8 or 9×9-inch baking pan with parchment. Spray the pan with a nonstick spray and then line it with parchment, leaving the sides longer. This will help you remove the rocky road slab from the pan.

Square baking pan lined with parchment.

ROCKY ROAD BAR MIXTURE

Into a mixing bowl, pour crushed cookies, chopped milk, white chocolate, and most of the marshmallows. Reserve some marshmallows for the topping. Pour lukewarm chocolate over dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

Blue mixing bowl with cookies, chocolate and marshmallows and chocolate syrup.

FILL THE PAN

Gently press rocky road bars filling into a prepared pan. Use the back of the measuring spoon to flatten the top. Don’t press it too hard; you want to keep the rocky road appearance. Sprinkle reserved marshmallows on the top and gently push them into the mixture so they stick. Use wax paper to cover the top and gently press the mixture down with your hands.

Everything looks nicer with sprinkles. I used colorful nonpareils to add some color to my cookie-chocolate bar.

Square pan filled with cookie chocolate filing, hands pressing down the filling.

Cover the baking pan with food wrap and chill for 2 – 3 hours before cutting.

Hands covering the cookie chocolate slab in a baking pan with a food wrap.

SLICE

Remove the slab from the pan and slice it into a small bars.

Cutting chocolate cookie slab with a knife on a cutting board.

ROCKY ROAD SUCCESS TIPS

  • Don’t over-crowd chocolate sauce with fillings.
  • Allow a minimum of 2 hours for chilling before slicing the cookie slab into bars.
  • Use fresh cookies/crackers; stale cookies are not very tasty.
  • Don’t use an excessive amount of different fillings; less is more.
  • Can I use nuts like pecans, walnut, and almonds? – Yes. Roughly chop the nuts before adding them to the mixture.
  • For an adult version, try adding Baileys (1/4 cup) into lukewarm chocolate sauce.
  • And to satisfy coffee lovers, dissolve one tablespoon of instant espresso powder in the chocolate sauce.
  • Many recipes carry a rocky road name, from cupcakes, ice creams (via Barefoot in the Kitchen, cakes (via Preppy Kitchen), or cookies (via Modern Honey). Where did the name come from?
Cookie bars on a cutting board.

MORE DELICIOUS NO-BAKE RECIPES

Rocky Road Bars

Course Candy, Cookies, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword no-bake bars, rocky road bars, s’more bars
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Chilling 2 hours
Author Hani

Equipment

  • 1 8×8 or 9×9 inch baking dish
  • 1 mixing bowl
  • 1 cooking pot

Ingredients

ROCKY ROAD BARS

    Chocolate Sauce

    • 1 cup butter (226grams)
    • ½ cup dark chocolate chips (90 grams)
    • 3 tbsp granulated sugar
    • 3 tbsp inverted sugar or corn syrup (optional- use honey)
    • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
    • ½ tsp vanilla

    Fillings

    • 250 grams crackers/cookies crushed (digestive, graham crackers)
    • 1 cup micro or mini marshmallows (65 grams), plus more for topping
    • ¼ cup milk chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (45 grams)
    • ¼ cup white chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (45 grams)

    Instructions

    ROCKY ROAD BARS

      Prepare Pan

      • Line an 8×8 or 9×9 inch pan with parchment.

      Chocolate Sauce

      • In a medium-sized saucepan, melt butter (1cup, two sticks, 226grams), dark/bittersweet chocolate chips (1/2 cup, 90 grams), cocoa powder (2 tablespoons,) sugar (3 tablespoons), invert sugar syrup (3 tablespoons). Stir chocolate syrup until smooth. Stir in Vanilla extract (1/2 teaspoon). Stir till melted, and smooth, about 5 minutes.

      Fillings

      • Place graham crackers (250 grams into a 1-gallon Ziploc bag. Place the bag onto a kitchen towel, and fold the towel over the bag. Use a rolling pin or meat thinner to crush the crackers into chunks.

      Rocky Road Cookie Mixture

      • Into a large mixing bowl, pour crushed crackers (250 grams), mini or micro marshmallows (1 cup, 65 grams), ¼ cup roughly chopped milk chocolate chips (45grams), ¼ cup roughly chopped white chocolate chips (45grams). Stir gently until well combined. Spoon the mixture into a prepared pan lined with parchment. Evenly distribute the mixture for even thickness.
      • Place wax paper on the top and gently press the mixture down. Remove wax paper and sprinkle with additional ¼ cup mini or micro marshmallows. And for a festive look, use colorful sprinkles. Cover loosely with a food wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.

      Slice

      • Use the parchment lining to remove the rocky road bar from the pan. Set it on a cutting board and cut it into squares or rectangles. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 10 days. Or freeze for three months.

      Notes

      • Can I use spices? – Spices are great for adding more flavor.
      • Filling Suggestions: Use orange zest, crystallized ginger, and toffee bits for example. Try adding chopped pecans or other nuts.

      This recipe was originally published on March 27th, 2011. On January 11th, 2023, I updated this post with new step-by-step photo, and written instructions.

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      2 Comments

      1. ola haniela,gostaria de saber que quer dizer tbl de açucar e de xarope aqui no brasil não se usa esta medida portanto não entendi achei muito bonita a ideia obrigado bjs

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