Holiday Rocky Road

Published Nov. 30, 2024

Holiday Rocky Road
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. Prop Stylist: Megan Hedgpeth.
Total Time
1½ hours
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
1¼ hours
Rating
5(422)
Comments
Read comments

Rocky road might be synonymous with ice cream in the United States, but, in Australia and Britain, it’s a fudgelike candy made by stirring any assortment of marshmallows, dried fruit and nuts into melted chocolate. (In Australia, gummy candies also feature.) This recipe relies on the subtle aroma of speculoos cookies, spice drops and pumpkin pie spice to evoke the holidays. You can also use it as a guide to utilize leftovers from gingerbread house decorating: Swap the cookies for broken gingerbread and the marshmallows and gumdrops for any chewy candy.

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Ingredients

Yield:12 pieces
  • Nonstick spray or neutral oil, for pan
  • 1(12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips
  • ½ cup/125 grams speculoos cookie butter
  • ¾teaspoon pumpkin or apple pie spice
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
  • 1cup/60 grams coarsely broken speculoos cookies
  • 1cup/50 grams mini marshmallows
  • ¾cup/150 grams spice drops or gumdrops
  • ¾cup/89 grams toasted and salted pecans (see Tip)
  • Sprinkles
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Lightly grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray or oil, and line the bottom and 2 long sides with a sling of parchment paper, leaving enough overhang to later lift out the candy.

  2. Step 2

    Combine the chocolate chips, cookie butter, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat until melted and smooth, stopping every 15 to 20 seconds to stir. (Alternatively, place in a heatproof bowl and melt over a pot of gently simmering water.)

  3. Step 3

    Add cookies, marshmallows, spice drops and pecans, and fold until evenly combined. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan.

  4. Step 4

    Use a spatula or the back of a spoon to press the mixture evenly into the pan. Top with sprinkles and firmly tap the pan against the counter a few times to ensure the mixture settles into the pan. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour until set.

  5. Step 5

    Use the parchment sling to lift the set candy out of the pan. (If you’re having difficulty, run a hot butter knife along the edges.) Use a sharp knife to cut the candy as desired. For clean slices, dip the knife in hot water and wipe dry between cuts. Store candy in the refrigerator tightly wrapped for up to 1 month.

Tip
  • Feel free to double this recipe and set it into an 8- or 9-inch brownie pan. If you can only find raw pecans, toast them in a 350-degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes and generously salt while hot.

Ratings

5 out of 5
422 user ratings
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Comments

What is speculoos cookie butter? Not something we have in Sweden, so how do you make it at home?

I made this together with my 7 year old son! Had a blast. Totally kid friendly! Thank you for incorporating a recipe that kids can make! We used Fruit snacks, Nutella, peanut butter, marshmallows, and honey roasted cashews!

What is cookie butter?

I found Biscoff (same as speculoos) cookies and cookie butter at World Market Cost Plus.

Absolutely no one in my family liked these and I ended up throwing the whole thing out. What a waste of my speculoos cookies and paste, not to mention my good chocolate! We love all the ingredients but not together, apparently. I think it was the pumpkin spice flavor that really was off-putting in these so if I did these again, I would leave that out but I honestly doubt I’ll ever do them again. We love pumpkin spice but I wish I’d omitted it this time.

This was a grownup type of rocky road. The cookie / speculo0s butter made all the difference. A lovely presentation in the the cookie boxes I gifted this Christmas. Easy to execute. Will be making these again.

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