Rocky Road Cookies
These flourless chocolate cookies are chewy and ooey gooey delicious, and studded with all the components of Rocky Road: toasted almonds, gooey marshmallows, and chocolate chips!
Ever since the idea of rocky road cookies popped into my head a month ago, I have been tweaking recipe after recipe so I could come up with a cookie delicious enough to be posted here.
These chewy rocky road cookies are complete fudgy chocolate goodness (I mean, flourless chocolate goods usually are). The crunchy nuts contrast nicely with the melty semi-sweet chocolate chips, and the marshmallows on top are crispy and golden brown on the edges and gooey in the middle.
Just like if you roasted them on a fire!
This is also one of those quick and easy recipes with zero chilling time required. If you want a deeply fudgy chocolate cookie, this is it.
Don’t Mix the Marshmallows In
In a large bowl, sift together powdered sugar (aka confectioner’s sugar) with cocoa powder. These are your dry ingredients.
Then whisk in salt, egg whites, and vanilla extract, then finally, chocolate chips and almonds.
You might be wondering why we don’t just mix the mini marshmallows into the batter, and the reason is that they sort of melt and disappear that way.
The golden brown crispy shelled marshmallows on top make this cookie truly incredible and rocky road-esque. So they must be placed on top of the cookies, in order to become browned but gooey melted marshmallows.
Take your time here to whisk thoroughly each step of the way, but especially when whisking in the egg whites. You want to break up the egg whites and distribute everything evenly.
I don’t mind doing this with just a whisk and a mixing bowl, but you can also use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer over medium-high speed to ensure it’s well mixed. Because there is no flour here, there’s no risk of developing gluten and making the cookies tough.
When the batter is ready, know that it will be relatively loose because there is no flour. It will look almost like a melted chocolate mixture.
I recommend using a medium cookie scoop for portioning out the batter in dollops. If you want perfectly round cookies, or another shape, you can also portion the batter into a cookie form or metal rings.
Place 4 to 5 marshmallows on the tops of each cookie. And if you think this is stingy, then by all means, feel free to add extra marshmallows.
Also, while you can get away with baking right on an uncoated cookie sheet, I now recommend you line baking sheets with parchment paper, to ensure the cookies don’t stick (this is updated in the recipe card below). Others have reported that a silicone mat does not work well.
Bake in a 350 degrees F oven for 12 minutes, until the marshmallows are brown and a crispy edge has developed all around.
Be careful not to overbake here, as these can go from chewy cookie to hard cookie if all the moisture is baked out.
Let the cookies cool for a couple minutes to set, right on the silicone mat or layer of parchment paper. If you try to move them to a wire rack or cooling rack immediately after baking, they may fall apart.
For more favorite cookie recipes, try No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies, or Shortbread Cookies.
For the chocolate lover, I also recommend Chocolate Muffins, Homemade Hot Chocolate, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips and FAQ
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Note that if you live in a humid climate, these will turn into soft chocolate cookies in a day or two after baking.
Try to use a good quality one, and avoid the standard Hershey’s cocoa. Guittard is my favorite brand, but Callebaut, Vahlrona, Scharrfen Berger, and Ghirardelli are all great too.
Absolutely. Substitute an equal amount for the semisweet chocolate chips. You may also use any kind of dark chocolate you like.
Did you enjoy the recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Or, follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest!
Rocky Road Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 extra large egg whites
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 2.5 oz sliced almonds toasted
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, sift together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Whisk in the salt. Add the egg whites and vanilla and whisk until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and almonds.
- Use a disher to portion out small mounds on to the parchment paper, then top each cookie with 4-5 marshmallows. Pop into the freezer for 5 minutes to chill slightly (this prevents them from spreading too much in the oven).
- Bake for 12-13 minutes until the marshmallows are golden brown. Let the cookies sit on the paper for a few minutes to set, before moving them to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!!!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
189 Comments on “Rocky Road Cookies”
Hi! These look amazing!!! If I just have large eggs not extra large how many large eggs should I use to have it equal 3 extra large egg whites?? thank you!! I am going to make this recipe this weekend!!!!! thank you for your video you make it look so easy and your video is very helpful!
Hi Robin, Thanks for your comment! I would say to just use 3 large egg whites, as long as you don’t double the recipe it will be close enough. Happy baking!
Oh my goodness I made these cookies last night and boy was I impressed. We didn’t have enough almonds so I just didn’t add them and I ended up having to cut big marshmallows in bits. I also didn’t have parchment paper…which made these a lot more difficult to work with (ended up using wax paper). Let’s just say that I was so eager I didn’t think twice about this. Halfway through baking I usually rotate the pan since our oven cooks one side faster, and got a face full of smoke. Yea…the bottoms of the cookies were burning on the wax paper (even when I had 3 layers). Nonetheless, I managed to get the cookies off in somewhat one piece and they tasted delicious. My brother even said they tasted like fudge in cookie form. I’ll definitely be using this recipe in the near future, especially since one of my brothers girlfriends is gluten free. Thanks!
Oh dear, Wax Paper should not be used in the oven, that’s too bad you didn’t have any parchment paper on hand, but make sure to get some for next time! They will come off much better =)
I guess I realized too late. I suppose I just assumed that since making Hershey and Rolo pretzel bites on wax paper in the oven was fine these would too, my bad!
I was wondering if you could just put the batter in the fridge for 15 mins or so and then scoop them out?
Yes, that would work!
Though these were delicious, I could not for the life of me keep them from totally running all over the cookie sheet and the ones I did, they were hollow inside so they just squished up as I tried to remove them from the cookie sheet. Any suggestions? We are in high altitude and I used cut up chocolate bars since we can’t get chips in this country. Thanks!!!
Hi Tanya, I have a friend (Erin of Dinners, Dishes and Desserts blog) who is in high altitude and she said it’s a totally different game when you’re baking in a high altitude. Unfortunately I’ve always lived at sea level so I don’t have the slightest clue about how to remedy this. The only thing I can suggest is to refrigerate the cookie dough for an hour before baking (skip the freezing). That should give it less “spread” but I don’t know about the hollowness.
I just popped a batch in the oven, but when I mixed all the ingredients it looked waaay different than yours.. Mine was so stiff and dry. I mean I literally broke my fork trying to mix it all together. Idk what I did wrong? Let’s hope the turn out sorta edible
Hi Maddie, Hm, this is strange, many have tried this recipe and said it turned out very well. I wonder if the cups of powdered sugar you measured were especially compacted so you had more?
I’m not sure. I dont have a sifter so I just poured it into cups that’s weren’t quite full. They ended up tasting fine though, still gooey 🙂
Just made these!!!
Oh em gee they are incredible!!
Ok, so these look absolutely delicious! I’m totally thinking about making them & bringing them to a potluck I have on Friday. 1 question though…it’s something I’ve never had explained to me. But…you say egg whites. I know it’s not overly complicated to separate the yolk from the egg white, but how would the cookies be affected if I just used the whole egg??
There’s no way to say for sure without trying it first, but I think they could still be good using whole eggs. The thing is egg yolks and whites serve very different functions and have different makeups. Egg whites don’t contain any fat, build volume and give structure. Egg yolks on the other hand contain all the fat and will change the texture. My guess is if you use the whole egg they might taste a little less chocolatey but they would likely still be good. Now I’m curious and want to try it!
These were AWESOME. The only thing I’ll do differently next time, is i might try a different cut of almond (maybe chopped, something with more thickness). I really like almods, and i’d like them to be a little more prominent. Eat these cookies. GO NOW! BUY INGREDIENTS!
YAY! Glad to hear it Leslie. Sometimes I do slivered almonds in here and I love the texture of those. You could certainly do chopped too!
I am making these tonight, and can’t WAIT until they are done (in 3 minutes!!!). i somehow missed the “freeze” portion, so they’re big…but they still look and smell awesome!
These look so YUMMY, Question: Is there a substitute for the Almonds/nuts you recommend?
Hi Richelle, If you don’t like nuts then you can leave them out of the recipe. I’m not sure what else would go well in here…but the cookies will still be delicious with the chocolate and the marshmallows. Have fun baking!
Are the almonds whole? Do they have skins on them? The cookies look amazing and I can’t wait to make them. Thank you!
Jacqui, thanks for noticing this. I have updated the recipe. I used sliced almonds, but you can use whole almonds too if you like, if you’re using the smaller ones. I imagine slivered might be good too if you’re looking for a more robust crunch.
I’m going to have to do this without parchment:(
any solutions at all?
Bake directly on an uncoated baking sheet and scoop them off the baking sheet as soon as they leave the oven.
Hi Joanne, could I make these without the almonds?
Hi Julieta, yes, absolutely. Have fun baking =)
Dang it! These are beautiful. I determined I had to make them today! No parchment paper? It’s fiiiiiine…..after I put the first batch in the oven (on TINFOIL), I saw the comment about how tin foil doesn’t work. Dang me! Luckily I was able to get them off the tinfoil before they had cooled too much, but the bottom layer still stuck. So, they are edible, (thank the heavens) but not presentable. Ma’ bad! Maybe I can get some parchment paper and save the 2nd batch. Anyhow, thanks for the recipe!!! I love the toasted marshmallows. It’s like a smoore.
Hi Kendra, LOL oh no! Yeah, the parchment is so important here. I’m glad you were able to mostly get them off the foil though. The toasted marshmallows are my favorite part =)
Another awesome recipe and so easy!! Ooey gooey for sure- thanks again!
Have you made these without the parchment? I didn’t have any so I lined a cookie sheet with foil and lightly oiled it. Then, I let the cookies cool completely. But they were impossible to remove. I couldn’t even fold back the foil because the cookies folded with it. And I couldn’t get a spatula under the cookies. They just smooshed everywhere. I ultimately threw all of the smooshed mess away (after picking off the deliciously browned marshmallows and eating them while I cleaned)…
What do you think went wrong??
Hi Jody. These really don’t work without parchment, as you unfortunately have discovered. Foil, even if it’s oiled, is not a good surface to bake on. You need some sort of Silicon surface for these, so you need that parchment paper or a Silpat. So sad you had to throw them out, I’m sure that was very disappointing 🙁