Rocky Road means slightly different things in different parts of the world. In the US, it’s famous mostly as an ice cream with chocolate, marshmallow and nuts.In the UK it contains chocolate, marshmallow, raisins and biscuits (cookies).In Australia there are so many types of Rocky Road, but whatever type it is it always contains the two main ingredients of chocolate and marshmallow. But it can also contain coconut, glace cherries, jelly (or jello) cubes, Turkish delight, nuts (usually peanuts) and sometimes even strawberry sauce. New Zealand first introduced me to Rocky Road but it was in Australia that I really started loving it. This was all thanks to my friend Jacqueline who made amazing rocky road. And then just before I left the country I discovered this chocolate shop in Brisbane called Noosa Chocolate Factory that sells the most wonderful rocky road. I bought two bars but I wish I could have bought the whole shop. If ever I go back I will be their number one customer! Since I can’t have Australian rocky road anymore, I decided I will make my own. But better. So I merged two of my favourite things to make these incredible Fully Loaded Rocky Road Brownies! So as you can see, this is a more elaborate, rich and flavourful rocky road. My favourite combination of ingredients in rocky road is bittersweet (or semi-sweet) chocolate, white marshmallow (I’m not a fan of flavoured marshmallow. At all!), almonds, agave jelly or gummy bears and raspberry. So that’s exactly what went in to these rocky road brownies. But the best thing about these beauts is that you don’t need to stick to a particular list of ingredients. You can put anything you want in to this. I wanted these brownies to have a little bit of a festive feel, so I decided to go with pistachios and almonds for nuts, beautiful red, orange and yellow Agave jellies, mini white marshmallows, raspberry sauce and bittersweet chocolate. I have a huge aversion to flavoured and coloured marshmallow. Unless they are homemade, of course! I’ve made enough regular vanilla marshmallows and flavoured marshmallow variations (like these chocolate marshmallows, peppermint marshmallows, tahini marshmallows, butterscotch marshmallows, orange blossom marshmallows etc.) over the years to fill a castle! And I remember when I used to work as a barista I was very generous with how much marshmallows I gave my customers with their mocha or hot chocolate. As long as they were coloured ones. The white ones were all mine! You are also welcome to use any kind of jelly you like. I chose red and yellow ones because I wanted those bright colours. But really you can use anything from gummy bears to gum drops to gummy snakes to any other jelly based candy. I chose delicious Agave gummy bears. I also chose to spread a generous amount of raspberry jam on the brownie before it was baked. By doing this, the jam bakes into the brownie and gets lost in it but you get these little bursts of intense raspberry flavour when you bite into the brownies. You have to try it, it’s amazing! I highly recommend that you toast/roast the nuts and the desiccated coconut. This really intensifies the flavours of these two ingredients. So even though it’s an extra step – try not to skip it. These brownies are incredibly fudgy! I am a fudgy chocolate brownie fan through and through and these have a very satisfying fudgy layer of bitter sweet brownie beneath the deliciously rich layer of chocolate ganache, marshmallow, coconut and gummy bears. While I recommend using this recipe, you are welcome to take a shortcut and use your favourite fudgy brownie mix if you’d like (I promise I won’t tell). I used bittersweet chocolate for the brownie and semi sweet chocolate for the topping. You can use white chocolate instead for the topping, if you’d like a sharp contrast in colour. But my husband and I find white chocolate to be just too sweet to be used in the brownie or in the topping. However I couldn’t resist grating a thin layer of white chocolate on top of the brownie. It just looked like snow! Like I said these brownies are deceptively fudgy. You will see the raspberry swirls that help these brownies become even fudgier and fruitier. I really like the green of the pistachios and the flavours of all the roasted nuts. The bright, almost glistening gummy bears have melted into the chocolate ganache along with the marshmallows. Together with the toasted coconut they completely elevate the texture of these rich, fudgy brownies. Still not sure? Here’s another close up. But I warn you… it just might be NSFW! And if you’re really in the mood, you can zap these brownies in the microwave for a few seconds and the brownie will become even fudgier, the gummy bears will become softer and the marshmallows will melt even further and become even gooier. One bite of that and I guarantee you will be in brownie heaven! So make these brownies part of your Christmas party this year. What’s your favourite brownie? What’s your favourite Christmas treat? I’m going through a sugar high this week with all these delectable sweets I’m baking in my kitchen. I fear the consequences for when I stop, because I know I must. Repentance will surely follow, but for now all I can do is give in, reach out for my rocky road brownie that’s sitting in front of me as I write this, sink my teeth in and be carried away to ooey gooey brownie heaven. If you would like more chocolatey ideas for Christmas, check out the recipes below. They are definitely indulgent! Intense Dark Chocolate Rum Balls – {or Rum Truffles} These are amazing! Don’t take my word for it. Intense bitter sweet chocolate with a nice boozy Rum kick! Perfect to give as gifts, ONLY if you can bear to part with them. Chocolate Raspberry Bread Pudding – Creamy Custard with Chocolate Swirled Chocolate Babka and Raspberries baked right in this warm delicious winter Pudding.
