Soft and chewy chocolate cookies stuffed with melty marshmallows and loaded up with crunchy almonds and chocolate chips!
When it comes to classic ice cream flavors, you got your chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, mint chocolate chip, cookies and cream, and your rocky road. What I love about rocky road is its perfect balance of textures–fluffy marshmallows, crunchy almonds and snappy chocolate chips all swirled throughout creamy chocolate ice cream.
Well, what if you incorporated all of those wonderful elements into a cookie instead?
These Rocky Road Cookies are thick, soft, and exploding with chocolate marshmallowy goodness! They’re loaded with crunchy roasted almonds and filled with a fluffy marshmallow center. Whether you’re a rocky road fan or not, these cookies are destined to please any palate they touch!
Key Cookie Ingredients:
Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix – My favorite ingredient for achieving THICC, soft, and chewy cookies is instant pudding mix. Not only does it produce soft and doughy results, but it also adds extra cocoa sweetness as well. Since pudding mix contains cornstarch (a thickening agent), the cookies bake up EXTRA thick, so you don’t have to chill the dough beforehand. Once the dough is mixed, it’s ready to bake! Oh, and make sure it’s the INSTANT variety, NOT Cook n’ Serve.
Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder – I prefer to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder in most chocolate baked goods since it lends a much deeper, richer chocolate flavor. It’s also less bitter and acidic than natural cocoa powder. Nowadays, you can find Dutch-processed cocoa in most grocery stores. I usually use the Hershey brand–it’s the least expensive. If all you have is natural cocoa powder, that works too!
Roasted Almonds – Key word being ROASTED. Roasted almonds are much more flavorful than raw almonds, and they have a better crunch. I used almonds that were already roasted, but you can also roast almonds yourself by scattering them in a single layer on a baking sheet and baking them in a 350ºF oven for 10-15 minutes. You’ll know they’re done roasting when they smell fragrant and have nice tan color.
Tips for Ooey Gooey Marshmallowy Success:
Don’t mix, STUFF: Rather than simply mixing the marshmallows into the dough, I’ve found it’s better to stuff the cookies with marshmallows instead. By doing so, you eliminate the problem of having the marshmallows melt and stick to the baking sheet. Since the marshmallows are wrapped in the dough, rather than exposed, they don’t stick to the sheet as they bake.
Add MORE marshmallows partway through baking: For extra marshmallowy goodness, press a few more marshmallows into the tops of the cookies after they’ve baked for 6 minutes. At this point, the cookies will be partially-baked, making it easier to push the marshmallows into the cookies. And since they’re pressed into the tops of the cookies, they won’t melt onto the cookie sheet either. Return the cookies to the oven for 3 more minutes to finish baking the cookies.
How to Stuff the Cookies:
- Grab a hunk of dough (about 2 Tablespoons), and flatten it between the palms of your hands.
- Place 4 mini marshmallows into the center of the dough disc.
- Wrap the edges of the dough around the marshmallows, sealing all the edges and making sure no marshmallow is showing.
- Roll into a ball and place on the baking sheet. Gently press down on the dough balls so they look like thick hockey pucks.
These are definitely some of the softest, thickest, most OOEY gooey-est cookies around. In fact, I might recommend doubling the recipe, seeing as they won’t last long once they’re out of the oven…
Rocky Road Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder (I used Dutch-Processed)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 (3.56 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix (dry)
- ½ cup roasted almonds, chopped, plus more for topping
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for topping
- 1 cup mini marshmallows, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together until combined; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth. Add in both sugars and mix on high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until combined. Add in the vanilla. Then stir in the pudding mix.
- With mixer set on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture into the wet mixture until everything has been incorporated. Stir in the almonds and chocolate chips.
- Scoop out a portion of dough about the size of a golfball, and use the palms of your hands to flatten it. Place 4 mini marshmallows into the center, then wrap dough around marshmallows. (Make sure no marshmallow is showing.) Place onto prepared baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between cookies. Gently press down centers to create a thick hockey puck shape. Repeat process with the rest of the dough and marshmallows.
- Bake for 6 minutes, remove from the oven and push 3-4 mini marshmallows into the tops of the cookies. Return cookies to the oven for 3 more minutes.
- Immediately after removing cookies from the oven, gently press more almonds and chocolate chips into the tops of each cookie, if desired.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.