These soft & chewy Chocolate Marshmallow Almond Rocky Road Cookies are packed with crunch from the nuts and sweet, gooey melted marshmallows! You are going to love these for cookie plates at Christmas, bake sales in the summer, and enjoying with your family any time of the year!
I LOVE rocky road, with all the marshmallows and nuts! So many good textures and flavors going on in the mix!
Every year I make rocky road fudge and Grandma Nash’s toffee recipe at Christmas and share it with friends and neighbors. It’s a tradition that I love and my family enjoys taking the plates of goodies around to give out.
If you love chocolate, nuts, and marshmallows, you might also like my Irresistible Mississippi Mud Brownies or S’mores Bars. And be sure not to miss any of my other cookie recipes!
These rocky road cookies have that classic combination of chocolate, marshmallows, and almonds in cookie form, and what’s even better is that you can go from zero to cookie in about 20 minutes!
No chilling is necessary and you still get wonderfully rich, soft chocolate cookies that are chewy and crisp around the edges. If you are looking for a cookie to take to a Christmas cookie exchange, I’m pretty certain this one would be a contender!
HOW TO MAKE ROCKY ROAD COOKIES
- Start by creaming the butter and brown sugar by beating on medium-high speed. Creaming is when butter and sugar are combined at a high speed until the mixture becomes light in color and fluffy in texture. An electric hand mixer totally works for this cookie dough, but I find a stand mixer to be easier.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix again. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl so the batter mixes evenly, and mix until everything is well combined.
- Slowly mix in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Take your time so you don’t end up with a cloud of flour and cocoa powder that dusts all of your kitchen surfaces!
- Now the fun part! Stir in chocolate chips, chopped nuts, and marshmallows just until they are evenly spread throughout the cookie dough. You don’t want to over mix your cookie dough or you could end up with a dry and crumbly cookie.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop out evenly-sized balls of dough. You can drop them right onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, or roll them lightly between your hands for perfectly round, uniform cookies. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can eyeball it, but I definitely recommend investing in one if you love to bake cookies. They are really affordable (around $10-$15) and come in super handy.
- Bake your Rocky Road Cookies, just until the cookies are mostly set up, but still a little doughy in the middle. Then, and this is a total vanity step to make the cookies look pretty, stick a few marshmallows, chopped almonds, and chocolate chips into the tops of each cookie, pressing a bit so they stay put.
- Bake for 1 more minute, just so the marshmallows puff but don’t completely lose their form. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
TIPS FOR BAKING ROCKY ROAD COOKIES
- Be sure to use parchment paper or a silicone mat on your baking sheet for these cookies. Sometimes the marshmallows in the dough will melt and stick to the pan, so it’s much easier to remove the cookies when they are baked on parchment paper.
- You can use almonds, walnuts, or even pecans in rocky road cookies. I don’t think there is one right answer about whether rocky road uses one nut over the other. We like both, but I love the extra crunch of the almonds with the gooey-ness of the marshmallows.
- Don’t skip adding the marshmallows on top toward the end of baking. Not only does it make the cookies more attractive, but it really boosts the marshmallow element that is needed for rocky road and balances out the cookie.
Storing and Freezing Rocky Road Cookies
These cookies will keep on the counter in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
To freeze rocky road cookies, place them in an airtight container in a single layer, then add a layer of parchment paper in between the layers. Stick them in the freezer for up to 1 month.
More Chocolate Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
- Best Fudgy Chewy Chocolate Brownie Cookies
- Double Chocolate Nutella Sandwich Cookies
- Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Chocolate Thumbprint Turtle Cookies
- Chocolate Cut Out Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Andes Mint Cookies
- Chocolate Salted Caramel Whoopie Pies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
Rocky Road Cookies
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup salted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup almonds coarsely chopped
- 1 cup mini marshmallows plus more for the tops of each cookie
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and brown sugar together until light, about 3 minutes.2/3 cup salted butter, 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, mixing on medium-low speed until combined.1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Stir in chocolate chips, almonds, and marshmallows. Scoop balls of cookie dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheet using a medium cookie scoop.1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup almonds, 1 cup mini marshmallows
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, until mostly set, but still underbaked in the middle. Remove from the oven and immediately place a few extra marshmallows on top of each cookie, along with a few extra chopped almonds and chocolate chips, if desired. Return to the oven and bake for 1 minute longer, until marshmallows have puffed slightly.
- Cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
Notes
- You can use walnuts or pecans in place of the almonds.
- These cookies do not look like the photos until you take the extra step mentioned in step 6 of adding a few marshmallows to the top of each cookie just before they are done. If you do this too early, the marshmallows will melt.
- For more uniform looking cookies, gently roll the scooped dough into balls between the palms of your hands before baking on the cookie sheets.
Nutrition
This post first appeared on Yellow Bliss Road where I am a contributor.
These are so GOOD!!!
Taste great but the marshmallows spread out on some and it’s a mess. They seem like they needed a bit more flour because they didn’t have much body to them. Flimsy cookies.
Flavor wise everything was great, but the proportions are a lil off. After the first bake as is, I went back and added a bit under half cup more flour. And used less chocolate chips than recommended. Second bake was much better!! Delish