Rich, flavorful, high quality dark chocolate makes these Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Bars an upscale treat.
National Rocky Road Day inspires Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Bars
Did you know that there is a list of “holidays” that celebrate a plethora of things you never thought would/should be celebrated?
Did you know that there is a National Rocky Road Day?
It’s true.
Being a Food Media Developer can be especially fun on days when I’m trying to develop recipes to correspond to the (made-up) days. This is one of those days.
Bittersweet Rocky Road Bars are born
It being National Rocky Road Day, I wanted to come up with an upscale Rocky Road Bar that wasn’t like the other Rocky Road brownies/bars/candies I’d seen before.
I went on my field trip to the grocery store to see what I could find. I started in the baking aisle. I knew I needed good chocolate, super chunk peanut butter and whatever else might elevate the quality of my bars.
Lo and behold the Pascha 85% chocolate chips were on clearance.
These are the real deal. Using the super dark chocolate chips offsets the sweetness of the marshmallows in Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Bars.
Half off.
Sometimes you need balance in life
Aside from the obvious reason, my excitement about finding the chips was based upon the premise that there needs to be flavor balance in recipes. Rocky Road bars are notoriously sweet.
Really sweet.
By using an 85% bittersweet chocolate, I was able to offset the sweetness of the marshmallows. There is also some natural sweetness to the peanut butter and walnuts, but mostly the sweetness stems from the marshmallows.
Three cups of marshmallows.
The cream of the crop
I also decided to add a little bit of plant based cream to the recipe. In my previous life as a Personal Pastry Chef, I often made ganache. Ganache is a fudgy topping heaven. It’s made by combining chocolate and cream. Depending upon what the application is, you can vary the ratio of chocolate to cream.
The cream helps to give the ganache that shiny, creamy texture.
By adding a small amount of plant based cream to the recipe, I was giving my new Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Bars the creamier texture I wanted.
The microwave is your friend
The truth is that this is one of the absolute easiest recipes to make.
I find the easiest way to measure peanut butter, ketchup, honey or other thick ingredients is to use a “plunger” type measuring cup. It’s accurate and makes measuring super simple. Perfect for making Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Bars!
You basically microwave the chocolate, cream and peanut butter until it melts, then stir in the rest of the ingredients, spread it into a pan, refrigerate, cut and done.
It doesn’t get much easier than this!
The biggest efforts are mixing and cutting parchment to sit in the pan.
And they look so fancy
The Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Bars look fancy. They look like you slaved over a hot stove all day long to develop the flavors and make sure the chocolate is just the right consistency.
We know better.
And that’s what I love most about this recipe!
It tastes as good as it looks!
SO pretty!! SO fancy!! SO delicious!!
Now the recipe for Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Bars
I really don’t have anything else to say because this recipe is so easy.
So…here’s the recipe. Make sure to post pictures and tag me on Instagram. I’ll do my best to re-post them.
Then you’ll be famous.
Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Bars
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Microwave
- Cuisine: Plant Based
- Diet: Kosher
Description
The dark chocolate and plant based heavy cream give these Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Bars a flavor and texture that are above and beyond. They’re also super simple to make!
Ingredients
- nonstick vegetable spray
- 2 cups (12-ounces) 85% dark chocolate chips plus 1/2 cup
- 2 tablespoons plant based heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup super chunk peanut butter
- 3 cups fresh mini marshmallows
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Instructions
Line an 8 or 9 inch square pan with parchment sheets, overlapping the sides. Spray with nonstick spray, then set aside.
Combine the chocolate chips, cream and peanut butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds. Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir the contents.
Return the bowl to the microwave, and cook for an additional 45 seconds. Remove the bowl and stir until all the chocolate chips are melted. If necessary return the bowl and microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Be careful not to burn the chocolate.
Stir until smooth.
Carefully stir in the marshmallows, walnuts and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Continue to slowly stir until all the ingredients are coated in chocolate.
Spread the chocolate mixture into the prepared pan. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until set.
Cut into 16 or 32 pieces. Serve with your favorite coffee or plant based beverage.
Equipment
OXO Good Grips Silicone Spatula
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Pyrex Prepware 8-cup Measuring Cup
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Sweese Porcelain Round Dessert Salad Plates
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Norpro 18/10 Stainless Steel & Heat-Resistant Flexible Nylon Mini Spatula
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Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper Roll
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Wilton Performance Pans Aluminum Square Cake and Brownie Pan, 8-Inch
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Pascha Organic Bitter Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips 85% Cacao
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OXO Good Grips 2 Cup Adjustable Measuring Cup
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If you can’t find 85% Dark Chocolate Chips, use the darkest/highest percentage you can find.
You can add additional walnuts if you’re a little nuttier.
You can add additional peanuts if you like.
If you are not a fan of walnuts, you can substitute almonds or cashews.
You can make these bars your own. Keep the base of chocolate/peanut butter/marshmallows and add your favorite ingredients like vegan m&m’s or peanut butter chips. The world is open to your creativity.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 257
- Sugar: 11.9 g
- Sodium: 63.6 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Carbohydrates: 20.6 g
- Protein: 5.1 g
- Cholesterol: 1.7 mg
In the unlikely event that you have any Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Bars leftover…You can store any extras in an airtight container.
More awesome treats!
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why do you need the whipping cream for the rocky road bars
Thank You
Thanks for your question Eileen! If you’ve made ganache, which is a smooth, creamy, chocolate, shiny sauce/frosting, a big part of it is the whipping cream. It helps to give the ganache its rich texture and taste. My idea when developing this recipe was to use a rich, dark, high quality flavorful chocolate and to add a little whipped cream to give the Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Bars that creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture that’s associated with ganache. I hope this helps! Please post pictures and tag @koshereveryday when you do! I’d love to hear from you!
Where can I find plant based heavy whipping cream? Hopefully I will be able to find your suggestion in Canada. Any brand names you can give me? Thanks.
Hi Claire! Thanks so much for your question! You have several options. First, I looked on Amazon.ca and there is a coconut based heavy whipping cream that you could use. Here in the US there is Rich’s Whip and Silk makes one as well. You can also use coconut cream as a substitution. Worse comes to worse…you can just leave it out or add a bit of shortening. Hope this helps. Sharon