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”
Wow, these look so yummy! Thanks for the recipe– can’t wait to try it out this week!! 🙂
I hope you enjoy the cookies! They are one of my favorites.
These cookies look really good! But i’m wondering if it will still turn out ok if i dont put the almonds,chocolite chips, and marshmallows?
Hm…that’s an awful lot of the main ingredients in a cookie that doesn’t have a lot to begin with, but if you want to try it you can. It will just be the chocolate shell essentially.
I love your recipe! And the pictures are so delicious!
Joanne, you can lightly spray parchment with “pam”.
Due to high sugar content, sometimes this type of cookie sticks to parchment.
I work in a bakery, and we do this for our dacquoise, which also has no flour.
Hi Joanne, thanks for sharing this tip! Can you believe I’ve never bought pam before? I will have to try it sometime.
I’m older and I have used “Pam”, but I am a “Celiac” person, so this tip on flour-less cookies, with high sugar content, sticking is usually an issue. Thanks
So rich and chocolatey; but really you had me at ooey gooey!
Do you have to add the almonds? What would happen if you didn’t?
Hi Sarah, you can just leave them out. It won’t impact the structure or anything. Enjoy the cookies!
Thank you!
Love, love, love these cookies!!!!!
YAY! That’s awesome, Jennifer. Glad to hear it =)
Hi Joanne! I made these with my boys tonight. We are in Switzerland so we had to use choc bars & marshmallows that we cut up so the results were not as pretty as yours but they were very tasty! Thanks for the recipe!
Love the recipe! I want to try it but I’m a little skeptical on the “3 cups of powdered sugar” part. My family and I don’t have issues with gluten, so I was wondering if replacing a cup of the sugar for a up of regular baking flour would have a negative effect on the final product. No more Ooey-gooeyness? Problems rising? Feedback is much appreciated!
Hi Sam, Aside from how the recipe is written, I’m not sure how it would turn out. Adding flour would definitely change the product significantly. I wouldn’t know exactly unless I tried it.
Hello,
I was wondering how these would turn out if I didn’t add almonds? I wonder if I could add something in its place or can I just remove it altogether?
Thank you.
Hi Brooke, you can just omit the almonds altogether, won’t make a big difference in the outcome of the cookie, just a bit less texture. Enjoy!
I made these today. They turned out really yummy! The only thing I would change next time is putting less sugar (about 2/3). I was really surprised to see that this recipe did not have any flour, but they turned out so soft and gooey that there was no reason to worry at all. Thank you for this wonderful recipe 🙂
I made these cookies a few days ago and I was SO nervous about burning them & having them get yucky but they turned out perfectly! This is so simple & it took me no time at all to whip up a batch (I started at 8 & was done by 10!).
Hi there! Quick question! If I bake these the night before, will they still be gooey and yummy the day after? I’m planning on baking these tonight for the first time (super excited!!) to take to a get together tomorrow. Thanks a million!!!
PS. My mother-in-law is a celiac so the fact that these are gluten free is a PLUS! 🙂
Hi Fatima, these cookies don’t store incredibly well, they get a bit dry 🙁 If you do make them tonight, just make sure to store them in an airtight container as soon as they’re cool.
Hello! Baking in the oven right now. Can’t wait to try them. Question, I’m a bit of a Cookie Monster and have a hard time keeping baked cookies around the house longer than a day or two. So I tend to use my cookie scoop and freeze the dough. Have you tried freezing them longer than 5 minutes?
Amber, I haven’t tried freezing the dough. Most cookie doughs freeze beautifully but this one is so strange being flourless and all, that I’m not sure how it would turn out. If you try it will you make sure to let us all know? I’m sure there are many who are curious. Thanks!
Thanks for this amazing recipe, can’t wait to try it tonight. I was wondering, do you switch on both the oven top and bottom, or just the bottom?
I’m sorry, I’m not quite understanding your question.
These were really yummy!!! Thanks for sharing.