These soft and chewy rocky road cookies are packed with marshmallow, chocolate, and nuts, just like your favorite rocky road ice cream. The cookies have chewy edges, a gooey, and stay soft for days. The toasted marshmallow instantly transports you to campfires with friends.
These Rocky Road cookies are to die for. Rocky road is a mixture of marshmallows, chocolate, and crunchy nuts like almonds or peanuts. You’ve probably had rocky road ice cream or rocky road fudge. But the combination is so delicious you can put it in any dessert, like these delicious cookies.
The ultra soft chocolate chip cookie base is made from my peppermint chocolate chip cookies and then mixed with toasted almonds and stuffed with marshmallow fluff.
The marshmallow seeps out of the cracks of the cookies as they bake and then you toast it gently when they come out of the oven. Add some extra chocolate chips for the most delicious rocky road cookies you will ever have.
And if you want a fudgy chocolate base, follow the same instructions but use my chocolate pudding cookies.
Need another cookie recipe? You’ll love chocolate chip pudding cookies, Triple chocolate cookies, or pistachio pudding cookies.
Ingredients You Need
Here are the ingredients to make this rocky road cookie recipe. Skip to the recipe card for exact measurements.
- Flour: all purpose or 1:1 gluten-free baking flour work.
- Baking soda, vanilla, and salt: for flavor and to help them rice.
- Unsalted butter: leave it out for 1-2 hours for perfect room temperature butter (it should still feel cool and slightly firm to the touch)
- Sugar: you need both light brown sugar and granulated sugar.
- Cornstarch: keeps them soft and helps prevent spreading, which means no chilling the dough!
- Chocolate chips: you can use semi sweet or milk chocolate.
- Toasted almonds: buy them pre-toasted and sliced to save time.
- Marshmallow fluff: this is the best option to stuff inside cookies!
How to Make Rocky Road Cookies
Here are the steps, with photos, to make these rocky road cookies. Skip to the recipe card for the printable version.
- Mix dry ingredients: add the dry ingredients to a large bowl.
- Wet ingredients: beat the softened butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until light it’s light, 2-3 full minutes. Do not skip this step. Beat the eggs and vanilla extract for another 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Finish the dough: add the dry ingredients and mix on low then turn the speed up to medium-high to full combined. Stir in the almonds and chocolate chips.
- Stuff with marshmallow: Use a large cookie scoop to portion the dough. Break them in half and fill the center with a heaping teaspoon of marshmallow fluff.
- Shape cookie dough: Close the seem of the dough, leaving some marshmallow fluff showing on the tops.
- Bake: Place the dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet and pan for 9-11 minutes, until the edges are set but the tops still look just underdone. Add extra chocolate chips and mini marshmallows to the top right out of the oven while they cool.
- Toast the marshmallow: Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking pan then transfer to a cooling rack. Use a kitchen torch to toast the mini marshmallows and marshmallow fluff seeping from the inside of the cookie.
Tips for the Best Cookies
- Let the butter sit at room temperature for only 1-2 hours. Room temperature does not mean really soft. It should still feel cool to the touch (about 60°F) and leave a small indent when you press into it.
- Use room temperature eggs for best mixing.
- Measure your flour correctly by spooning it into the cup and scraping it off. Better yet, measure it with a kitchen scale.
- Beat the butter and sugar for the full 2-3 minutes. It introduces air into the dough and makes them thick and tall.
- Don’t overbake them. In fact, underbaking them slightly is better. They’ll continue to cook a bit on the sheet pan.
- Reshape the baked cookies if the marshmallow seeps out the sides when baking. Place a large rimmed glass around the cookie and swirl it around gently to reshape the sides.
- Add extra chocolate chips and marshmallows to the tops right out of the oven. More flavor and they look so pretty!
Do I have to Use a Kitchen Torch?
It’s best to toast the marshmallows at the end, but you can leave them as is (without adding mini marshmallows). You can also broil the cookies in the oven for 2 ish minutes.
How to Store
Leftover rocky road cookies will stay soft at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can store them in the fridge for up to a week.
You can freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months, but it may impact the texture of the mini marshmallows. To freeze the dough, follow instruction to make the dough balls. Flash freeze on a baking sheet and transfer to a freezer bag. Bake directly from frozen and add 1-3 minutes of bake time.
Rocky Road Cookies
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Ingredients
- 2¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter cool room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate bar roughly chopped, plus more for topping
- ½ cup chopped roasted almonds plus extra for topping
- 1/2 cup marshmallow cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and light-colored baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, corn starch, and salt.2¼ cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- Cream butter and sugar: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and creamy, 2-3 full minutes.3/4 cup unsalted butter, 3/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- Add egg and vanilla: Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, and beat for another 1-2 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Finish the dough: With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in the chopped chocolate and chopped nuts using a rubber spatula.8 oz semi-sweet chocolate bar, ½ cup chopped roasted almonds
- Stuff with marshmallow cream: Use a large cookie scoop (or a scant 1/4 cup) to scoop the dough. Break them in half and fill them with a heaping teaspoon of marshmallow cream. Running the measuring spoon under hot water between scoops prevents it from sticking too much. Close the cookie dough seams, leaving some of the marshmallow fluff showing on the tops of the cookies.1/2 cup marshmallow cream
- Bake: Arrange the cookies 2-3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are slightly golden and the tops are just set. Swirl a large-rimmed cup or round cookie cutter around the edges when they come out of the oven to gently nudge them back into a round shape if they spread at all during baking. Press extra chocolate chunks and almonds into the tops of the warm cookies. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Toast the tops: Use a kitchen torch on the lowest setting to to toast the marshmallows for 1-2 seconds.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe by: Molly Thompson of What Molly Made | Photography by: Kate Poskochil
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These were awesome in taste. Mine turned out huge and slightly under done. I also didn’t read all of step 10, to reshape the spread. Next I will do a better job with the sizing. Maybe use a 1.5″ scoop.
I am also going to use the base recipe and use half flour and half crushed graham cracker, no nuts for a s’mores version. Thanks for another winner Molly!
Key Kate! Thanks for the feedback. If yours spread slightly also take a look at your butter temp. It should only sit out for 1-2 hours and still feel cool to the touch. Butter that is slightly too warm makes for bigger cookies. If you reduce the size of the cookie just double check the bake time and keep a close eye on them. Thanks!
Can this be refrigerated to cook later?
Yes, up to 3 days!
Does this recipe call for peanut butter? You say cream the sugars , butter and PEANUT BUTTER, but the recipe didn’t call for peanut butter!
That’s a typo!!
Turned out awesome. I didn’t do the sandwich method or use marshmallow fluff. I just made a crater in each cookie and filled it with marshmallows.
Wow, these look really tasty. Thanks for sharing!
You’re so welcome, Matt!