No-Bake Rocky Road!

This classic no-bake rocky road is a chocolatey traybake that we all know and love. Melting together golden syrup and butter, mixing with milk chocolate for a smooth but easy to cut texture.

Adding in mini marshmallows, chopped biscuits, and chocolates, this recipe takes 20 minutes to prep, two hours to set and makes 16 delicious pieces.

Notes from The Patisserie

Now, I know for a fact you guys love a rocky road recipes, with my Biscoff rocky road, and my Mint Aero rocky road regularly being the top of my searches. As you can tell, I also love myself a rocky road recipe.

If you are after a classic and simple rocky road, that covers all bases, this delicious milk chocolate rocky road is sweet, delightful yet still with a crunch. I have made and tested dozens of no-bake traybake now in my career, and this is definitely my go-to recipe for an easy no-bake rocky road.

This particular recipe is my favourite recipe to make when I have a party to go to, a picnic, or want something chocolatey in my fridge. Customise and adapt it to however you want (notes below)

The base mixture of a Rocky Road

So when it comes to the base mixture of a rocky road, it can go a few different ways. A lot of people, understandably, make a rocky road with just melted chocolate. It’s the basic way, and I get it, but it makes it absolutely solid and harder to cut up and eat, and I also think it means you need to use more chocolate. 

I make mine a little differently as I want to change the texture and flavour slightly, and this is my favourite way to do it:

• Chocolate – for this recipe, I use milk chocolate, but a mixture of milk and dark would work well, or all dark. I would avoid white chocolate 
• Syrup – golden syrup is such a key ingredient for my rocky road, and I adore it. It’s always in my cupboard as I use it so much in baking – it helps cut through the chocolate sweetness
• Butter – it’s important to use a block butter for rocky road, as a baking spread or margarine may make the mixture split 

What chocolate is best to use?

As the chocolate for the base mixture is so important, it’s good to make sure you have the correct type of chocolate, not just whether it’s milk or dark.

I would personally recommend avoiding using big brands names when making the base chocolate mixture – any confectionary chocolate that is more expensive, added flavour (think dairy milk, galaxy), have lots of other additional ingredients that can cause problems (a split mixture).

I use basic supermarket own cheap chocolate, or I use cooking chocolate. Dark chocolate should always be 70% if you are going to switch to it – but generally, a milk chocolate with a cocoa solids of 25-33% is best.

The mix-in options

This recipe is so easy and amazingly customisable, you can include your favourite dried fruit, biscuits, chocolate bars, even mix up the chocolate. You can really have fun with this recipe and make it your own – perfect for any cravings you have and perfect for the whole family.

• Something squishy = marshmallows – I tend to use mini marshmallows in my rocky road as I love a mini marshmallow, but using a regular sized marshmallow does also work. The only thing is you’ll use less as the weight is different per marshmallow 
• Something crunchy = biscuits – you can use any biscuit, but I love using a digestive. I love the super crunchy and ever so slightly salty flavour of a digestive 
• Something extra = chocolate bars – this is where I am slightly different to most rocky roads… I add some chopped up honeycomb crunchie bars. You can switch this to a classic glacé cherry if you want, however.

Choosing other flavour options

If you want to swap up different biscuits – you can use basically any biscuit you want. A hobnob, a custard cream, an oreo, a biscoff biscuit. The crunchy texture is what you are after, but it’s also worth using your favourites – stick to 200g worth for an even quantity throughout. If you want it extra crunchy though, add up to 300g, and have less chocolate to biscuit.

If you want to jazz it up more, or adapt to include other dried fruits and nuts, you definitely can. I would say it’s best to include 100-200g of something fun or different. Any chopped nuts such as walnuts, pistachios, or even hazelnuts work wonders for extra flavour, and texture. You can also use dried fruits such as cherries, raisins, or even sultanas.

How to make the best rocky road

A delicious no-bake recipe like this is super easy to make, but there are certain steps that could help guarantee the best version. (Full method in the recipe card below)

• If using a pan to melt the butter and syrup, make sure to do this until the butter has melted and the mixture is starting to bubble slightly, but not boiling.
• Make sure the chocolate you are using is finely chopped before adding into the pan (off the heat) as over mixing the chocolate can cause it to split. A finely chopped piece of chocolate melts quicker = less mixing.
• Prep the mix-ins you are using, BEFORE you make the chocolate mixture. Leaving the butter/syrup/chocolate to sit in the pan can cause it to heat more, and then cause a split mixture.
• If you mixture does however split, you can bring it back

FAQs

Storage and Freezing

This recipe is great for a longer lasting no-bake treat. It can last for up to one week in a container such as Tupperware, or a cake box. I store mine in the fridge as I like it to stay firmer, but it can be kept at room temperature on a cooler day

This recipe can be frozen for 3+ months. I would portion the pieces first, and then freeze with layers of parchment paper in-between pieces to prevent them sticking to each other.

What other flavours of rocky road can I make?

There are countless different options of rocky road, once you can crack the basic.

• Toblerone – using a classic and iconic chocolate for that nutty nougat flavour for your rocky road
• Baileys – for a boozy hit with a crunch of biscuit, the baileys rocky road carries a delicious punch of Irish cream
• Cornflake and Malteser – for a fun delicious twist on the classic with cereal and biscuity chocolates throughout adding new texture dimensions
• Gingerbread – for a festive twist, adding the warming spices of gingerbread to every bite