Christmas Rocky Road

This Christmas Rocky Road is packed full of chocolate, cherries, cranberries, marshmallows and crushed Amaretti biscuits for a delicious festive treat! 

Hello! The big day is almost here….are you ready?  I still have a few last minute bits to do today…then I can finally relax!!   

I’m just popping in to squeeze in a couple more Christmas recipes before the big day….I meant to post them last week, but life got a bit crazy, as it always does around this time of year! 

This Rocky Road recipe is based on a recipe from one of my all time favourite cookbooks, Nigella Christmas.  I now make it every single year – it’s become a tradition.

I make a big batch and give it away as gifts along with my Peanut butter rice krispie balls, Chocolate peppermint cookies, Chocolate Fudge crinkle cookies, Christmas Linzer Cookies, Candy Cane Hot Chocolate Mix, Stilton and Walnut Star Biscuits, Chocolate Rum Truffles and these Easy Iced Gingerbread Biscuits. 

Yes, I do practically live in my kitchen all through December (but I do have a very large family to feed!)

ingredient list

(Ingredient amounts and detailed instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post!)

• Chocolate.  I use a mixture of dark and milk chocolate – personally I find the rocky road to be a little too sweet with 100% milk chocolate, but if you’re making this for children they might love it! 

• Golden (corn) Syrup to bind the mixture together

• Butter

• Crushed Amaretti Biscuits.  You can use digestives, rich teas or gingernuts if you prefer, but I love the flavour of Amaretti. I know they’re more expensive, but they do give the rocky road an extra festive flavour. You’ll need the crunchy Amaretti, not the soft type.

• Glace cherries – would it be Christmas rocky road without them?

• Dried Cranberries

• Mini Marshmallows

• Christmas Sprinkles or icing sugar to decorate! 

step by step instructions

(scroll to the bottom of the post for printable recipe card)

step one – melt

• Melt the butter, golden syrup and chocolate together in a large saucepan over a low heat.

step two – stir and mix

• When the chocolate mixture has melted and smooth, tip in the crushed amaretti biscuits, dried cranberries, halved glace cherries and mini marshmallows.  

• Give the mixture a good stir to coat everything in the melted chocolate.

step three – transfer to tin and chill

• Tip the mixture into a greased and lined 9×12 baking tin. I’ve also made this in a 22cm square tin – it makes very thick bars, but still works well.

• Lightly grease all around the outside of the jar with butter, then start spooning the rocky road mixture into the tin. It’s important to press it down well to make it nice and compact.

• Smooth the top as best as you can (but don’t worry, it a few lumps and bumps here and there are nothing to stress about, it’s rocky road after all) and place it in the fridge while you get on with the topping.

step four – the chocolate topping

• Melt the chocolate for the topping over a pan of simmering water and once the chocolate is smooth, pour over the top of the rocky road and decorate with Christmas sprinkles, if using. 

• Place the rocky road in the fridge once again for 2- 3 hours to set before removing from the tin, dusting with icing sugar and cutting in squares.

recipe notes and commonly asked questions

**When I first published this recipe in December 2019, I made the rocky road in the shape of a Christmas wreath.  I’m not sure what came over me at the time –  I had obviously completely lost it! But if you quite fancy the idea of making a rocky road wreath, I’ve left the instructions on how to do so in the recipe card! **

how long does rocky road last?

Rocky road will keep very well in an airtight tin for ages – up to two weeks or possibly longer, but it’s never lasted that long in my experience!

why is my rocky road not setting?

If you let the chocolate and butter become too hot while melting, it could take a long time to set.  Try not to let the chocolate get too hot – keep the heat as low as possible.  

I find it’s best to leave it in the fridge for a good few hours before cutting – I often leave it overnight if time allows.

want to see more christmas recipes?

• Mincemeat Loaf Cake

• Gingerbread Latte Cake

• Triple ginger, cherry and pecan Christmas Pudding

• Amaretto Christmas Cake

• White chocolate coconut snowball truffles

• Spiced Ginger Cookies

• Orange, almond and ginger bars

more easy no bake recipes that would make a perfect last minute christmas dessert or gift!

• No Bake Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

• No Bake Chocolate Orange Traybake

• No Bake Mint Aero Traybake

• White Twix Rocky Road

• Malteser traybake 

did you make this reciPe?

I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought of it by leaving a comment below and rate the recipe by clicking on the stars in the recipe card.

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Christmas Rocky Road

Yield: up to 28 Slices

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Additional Time: 4 hours 3 seconds

Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes 3 seconds

This Christmas Rocky Road would make a gorgeous centrepiece for a Christmas dessert table! It's packed full of festive treats such as Amaretti biscuits, glace cherries, dried cranberries and mini marshmallows.

Print

Ingredients

• 350g Chocolate (I use half and half milk and dark chocolate) Broken into squares
• 175g Butter
• 50G Golden (Corn) Syrup
• 225g Crushed Amaretti Biscuits (or other biscuits of your choice)
• 160g Halved Glace Cherries
• 100g Dried Cranberries
• 150g Mini Marshmallows
• 200g Milk Chocolate for the topping
• Christmas Sprinkles or icing sugar to decorate

Instructions

1. Grease a line a 9 x 12 inch baking tin with baking parchment.
2. Melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup together in a large saucepan over a low heat until melted and smooth.
3. Remove from the heat and tip in the crushed biscuits, cherries, cranberries and marshmallows. Stir well to mix until everything is coated in chocolate. Tip the mixture into the lined baking tin and smooth the top as best as you can. Pop in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours, or until set.
4. To make the topping, melt the 200g chocolate over a pan of simmering water, then pour all over the top of the rocky road, tilting the pan to get an even, thin coverage. Decorate with Christmas sprinkles if using. Leave the rocky road to set for about an hour or so before dusting with icing sugar and cutting into squares.

Notes

If you're making the rocky road Christmas wreath, generously grease a large bundt tin with butter. Spoon the rocky road mixture into the tin, pressing it down with the spoon as you go. Place in the fridge for 2-3 hours to set firm. At this stage, you can leave the rocky road in the fridge for up to a day or two. Once set, run around the side of the rocky road with a palette knife to loosen it from the tin (but to be honest, giving the tin a whack sometimes works just as well) then invert the whole thing onto a serving plate.

Release the rocky road from the bundt tin. Drizzle or pour over the melted chocolate and decorate with sprinkles, if desired.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 28 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 164Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 63mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gProtein: 2g

Calories and nutritional information are provided by a third party application and should be viewed as indicative figures only.

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