These fudgy Rocky Road Chocolate Shortbread Bars, are filled with marshmallows, nuts, and anything else your heart desires, all on a buttery chocolate shortbread base. This simple recipe is easy to put together, and made for sharing!
Chocolate Shortbread Bars?
I have an unpopular opinion: regular shortbread can be boring. You almost have to add things to it, for it to have any real personality. Chocolate Shortbread though - already I'm intrigued. Building an entire city of chocolate, nuts, and marshmallows on top of it? Okay, I'm in. All in.
Sometimes you feel like a nut...
These Rocky Road Chocolate Shortbread Bars can be made with any type of nut you’d like, but for goodness sake, toast them!! When toasting nuts, you’re not only making them crunchier (oooh, texture!), you’re releasing their natural oils, thereby making them taste even nuttier. And if you’re cooking or baking with nuts, why wouldn’t you want them to be nuttier? No one ever said, “nice, but those nuts taste too much like nuts!” After all, sometimes you feel like a nut, the rest of the time you’re wrong.
Sometimes you don't!
There are really very few rules when deciding what to put in these bars. They must have chocolate and marshmallows. After that, the possibilities are endless. Have fun!
Looking for more chocolate snacks?
- Dark Chocolate Caramel Oatmeal Rye Bars
- Cast Iron Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes
- My Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie
Rocky Road Chocolate Shortbread Bars
Ingredients
Chocolate Shortbread Crust
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour 98 g
- ⅓ cup brown sugar 65 g, light or dark
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 25 g
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter cold and cut in small pieces
Rocky Road Topping
- ½ cup almonds or walnuts, or any nut you like, some whole, others chopped a bit
- 10 oz chocolate 285 g chopped
- 1 cup mini marshmallows 50 g
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream
- ½ cup anything else you want to Rock your Road chopped up candy bars, dried fruit, cookies...
Instructions
Chocolate Shortbread
- Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 8 inch square pan with non-stick spray and line with parchment paper so that there is overhang to act as handles to remove your finished bars.
- In a food processor, pulse together flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Add butter and pulse just until combined. The dough should be crumbly, but should hold together when pinched.
- Press dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until it is just beginning to get puffy, and remove from oven. Allow to cool on a rack for 15-20 minutes.
Rocky Road Topping
- In a small bowl, mix together the marshmallows, nuts, and any other add-ins you want. Set aside.
- To a microwave safe bowl add chopped chocolate and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between bursts, until melted and smooth. Warm heavy cream in the microwave until hot, but not boiling. It should only take a few seconds. Add the hot heavy cream and stir until fully combined and smooth. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, so the marshmallows don't melt when you add them.
- Fold your add-ins into the chocolate, reserving a bit for a final topping. Using an offset spatula, smooth out the mxiture on top of the shortbread crust. Sprinkle the remainder of the toppings over that and gently press down to “secure” them to the top.
- Chill the rocky road in the refrigerator until set, at least one hour, then remove from the pan and cut into squares. You might want to trim the edges to make it look neat, and then eat the edges. You know, to be tidy.
Nutrition
The nutritional and caloric information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It does not assert or suggest that readers should or should not count calories, and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s or doctor’s counseling.
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