Dear friends, consider this your official notice. White Christmas Rocky Road is my go-to food gift this year! Festive sweet-meets-nutty-chocolatey bliss that delivers maximum “homemade magic” vibes with minimal effort. Really, I just melted some chocolate!
After regular chocolate rocky road? Find it here!
White Christmas Rocky Road
I’ve tinkered with a Christmassy-looking White Rocky Road for years but was never quite happy. The colours weren’t festive enough, the add-ins combo could’ve been better, and one year I even skipped the marshmallows (pink didn’t feel “festive”!) and overloaded it with nuts and fruit. It ended up tasting like a white chocolate Christmas cake. Not my finest moment!
I also learned you can have too much chocolate in rocky road. If there isn’t enough “stuff”, you basically end up biting into thick slabs of white chocolate. It’s very…sweet. And full on!
Who knew there was such an art to rocky road? We all think it’s just “melt chocolate, throw in things!”, but it turns out there’s a bit more to it.
My one trick – a smidge of oil in the melted chocolate so it slices without cracking. It also loosens the melted chocolate so it coats everything nicely so the surface sets smoothly. 🙂
Ingredients in White Christmas Rocky Road
Here’s what I put into my White Christmas Rocky Road. My goal – festive colours! Red cherries, green pistachios, white chocolate, marshmallows and coconut (don’t skip this!). Feel free to switch it with what you like / have – you need 4 1/2 cups in total.
White chocolate – I just use melts (discs) for ease, but you could totally upgrade to block. If Lindt white chocolate is on sale, that’s what I reach for.
Note: melts are designed for easy melting but chips melt fine too. If using a block, chop it finely. Just don’t use eating chocolate from the confectionary aisle as it doesn’t melt smoothly (they are designed to not melt in the glove box of your car on hot summer days!). The on exception is Lindt white chocolate (it’s tempered and as brilliant for cooking as it is for eating).
Glacé cherries – My festive pops of red! More red than dried cranberries which I’ve also used. I also like the texture which is soft rather than chewy like dried fruit, and it goes so well with the coconut! I really like it.
Pistachios – My nut of choice for the little green colour, but also, everybody knows pistachios are fancier than other nuts. 😉 Christmas worthy!
Bonus: no need to chop them, they are small enough. But I do insist on roasting. It brings out the flavour soooo much, especially if yours are not nut-farm-fresh (mine are not! #PistachioTreeGoals).
Marshmallows – As noted above, I made the mistake of skipping this and I regretted it. They add bulk without weighing the rocky road down. You need the soft-fluffiness to break up the formidable amount of chocolate in rocky road!
Size – I use regular size ones from regular grocery stores, ~3cm / 1.2″ wide, then I cut most in half and keep some whole (I am very particular about this, don’t question me! 🤣). If using larger ones, cut into appropriate sizes. If using minis, you probably don’t need to cut.
Desiccated coconut – You can’t see it but everybody loves that it’s in there!! Coconut adds distinct “rocky road flavour” and I can’t believe I tried leaving it out once. It’s just not the same!
Well, that was a little more writing than expected. I supposed it shouldn’t shock anyone I had plenty to say even about something as simple as rocky road! 😃
More rocky road add-in options
Here are ideas for other things you can use for Rocky Road add-ins, including some excellent suggestions from readers!
Honeycomb, caramel popcorn – candy cane??! Would you??
Dried fruit – apricots, mangoes, cranberries, peaches, sultanas, raisins
Any nut of choice – roughly chop large ones, and don’t forget to toast them to bring out the flavour!
Turkish delight – great colour!
Raspberries – like used in classic rocky road
Biscuits – break into bite size pieces and mix in! Biscoff, shortbread, gingerbread come to mind.
M&M’s! Fun if you can get Christmas red-and-green ones. 🙂
How to make White Christmas Rocky Road
Melt chocolate, dump everything in, set in fridge!
Cut most of the marshmallows in half (~ 2/3). I use a knife as I do multiple in one go, but I know most people instinctively reach for scissors.
Melt the chocolate with the oil in the microwave in bursts, stirring in between. For this volume of chocolate, I do 2 x 30 seconds to get it going, then 3 – 4 x 20 seconds, at the default microwave high power (ie I don’t reduce the power).
PS Have I mentioned before I stir with a chopstick? Moves the chocolate around easily with less surface area for chocolate to stick to!
PPS You can also melt chocolate using a double-boiler (set the bowl over simmering water).
Everything in – Once the chocolate is smooth, put all the add-ins in and mix until well coated.
Pan – Pour into a paper lined 20cm/8″ pan. Coax into the corners with a spatular then bang on the counter firmly to make everything settle and even the surface.
TOPPINGS – Oh! I forgot to mention, I reserve some cherries and pistachios to decorate the top of the rocky road. Just because, well, you know. Christmas. Special! I don’t do this for regular Rocky Road. 😁
Set in the fridge for 3 hours. Don’t cover it with cling wrap – the warm chocolate will cause condensation and water will drip onto your rocky road. Nobody wants a watery rocky road!
Cut into desired pieces. My default is to cut into 5 strips, then into sizes appropriate for intended purposes – either squares (for piling onto a plate to share, small gifts), small logs (each strip in half or thirds) or large “nougat-size” bars for gifting with impact (and I’ll choose the prettiest bars with the cherries in the perfect position!).
Cut and gift with pride – or keep for yourself! Lasts for weeks and weeks.
Oh, also, when you cut, you will be happy we added that little smidge of oil in! Without, the chocolate is rock hard so you’d need a big sharp knife and a little *grunt* to cut through it (literally, not just figuratively speaking). Rocky Road is formidable, it is not a dainty one-bite handmade artisan chocolate truffle. It has heft, it’s colourful and loud and opinionated and slightly unhinged and gloriously over the top.
And we love it, just as it is! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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White Christmas Rocky Road
Ingredients
- 500g/ 1 lb white chocolate melts/discs (I use this), chips or block chopped (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp grapeseed oil or other neutral flavoured oil (Note 2)
Add-ins
- 2 1/2 cups (tightly packed) marshmallows (regular size), most cut in half
- 1 cup pistachios , unsalted ,toasted (Note 3)
- 1 cup glacé cherries
- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut , unsweetened (or finely shredded, not flakes)
Instructions
- Pan – Lightly grease a 20cm/8" square pan with butter then line with baking paper (parchment paper) with overhang (to make it easier to lift out later).
- Reserve toppings – Set aside 8 or so of the nicest glacé cherries. Finely chop 1 tablespoon of the pistachios.
- Melt chocolate – Place chocolate and oil in a heatproof bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.
- Add-ins – Stir the Add-ins into the chocolate. Pour into pan, spreading out evenly – I also like to bang and shake the pan assertively (also very satisfying!).
- Top with reserved glace cherries and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.
- Refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm. Lift out of the pan using the paper overhang, then cut! I cut into 5 lines, then into chunks for eating or larger pieces for gifting!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Festive season means parties and events!! Here is the order of events when I get home:
Kick heels off.
Go straight into Dozer-smother-mode.
He’d like everyone to know he endures these Christmas cuddle-attacks purely for the snacks afterwards!
I accidentally had my last name on my submission and can’t figure out how to remove it. Here is my submission again without my last name. Thank you.
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These were fantastic! Everyone loved them! I only had salted, roasted pistachios and dried cherries on hand. They were delicious! Happy New Year!
These were fantastic! Everyone loved them! I only had salted, roasted pistachios and dried cherries on hand. They were delicious!
No gifting left!! All gone after Xmas day. Really lovely recipe (the oil trick was great)
Hope you and Dozer, and the rest of your family had a great day, making no knead artisan bread later to go with some pea and ham soup, I’m in Tasmania, 3 degrees last night!
Love, delicious and so pretty. A great keeper.
This was so delicious! Will be making again very soon! 😋
Another win. Agree with some others, very sweet. I added some mini Christmas Oreos but think I’d like to try ginger nut biscuits next time or simp,e digestives. Cranberries instead of cherries and it looks gorgeous. Thanks Nagi!
Thank you so much, this recipe was absolutely delicious 🎄🥰
Hi Nagi! Thank you so much for this recipe. I’m on my 3rd batch!! I have one question, please. Does this need to be stored in the fridge? My husband and I like it out of the fridge but I want to gift some too. Merry Christmas!
I’m vegetarian-what can I use instead of marshmallows
Made this with vegan marshmallows. It is dangerously good.
I enjoyed making this yesterday for visitors at Christmas- very easy . Very pretty. However, whether it’s because I don’t eat much sweet stuff in general or the ingredients I used (all exactly as the recipe), I found it over the top sweet when I cut a small square. Very nice but a bit instant diabetic coma or hyperactivity inducing. Never rated a Naga recipe less than a full 5 before but I don’t think I’ll be making this one as is again. I’ll stick to the firecracker beef!!
Good simple instructions make things come out as they should. Ta ! 👍
Another home run! I used “dandies” mini marshmallows here in the US, coconut oil (the taste-less kind), dried bing cherries, unsweetened shredded coconut, lightly salted pistachios, and for the 2nd batch I added maybe 1/8 to 1/4 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg to the melted chocolate. Very tasty!
To melt the chocolate, I put chunks in a bowl and then put in the oven set to warm. I checked periodically to stir as I did other things in the kitchen. Worked great!
Super quick and easy – absolutely delicious and looks very festive. Had to make a second batch to hand out as gifts because the kids ate the first batch on day 1.
These were easy to make and so decadently delicious – they also look so pretty!
Hi, I am really enjoying your emails! This looks wonderful and I have a ton of white chocolate to use up too! I have two questions:
1. Can I sub sweetened condensed creamer for the oil?
2. Can I use cling wrap instead of parchment paper?
Thank you!
Made this today! So easy and soooo delicious! A great gift that shows a little kindness and thought!
These are absolutely delicious and very special – I think so much nicer than dark chocolate ones. The coconut really adds something extra and a great idea to toast the pistachios as this really adds a crunch. Just perfect for Christmastime. Really love your recipes which I have
been following for some years and have told so many people here in England (and Australia) about them. Thank you so much and Merry Christmas.
Loved this recipe. Super easy and tasted as good as it looked. Swapped cherries for dried cranberries which worked well. Even forgot to add coconut so I shook this evenly over the top before it set.
Thank you Nagi for this recipe, I would not normally attempt a traditional Rocky Road, but I have just made this, and so happy with myself. It will be a hit with family x
Merry Christmas to you and Dozer (woof woof)
This was so easy and good. I usually don’t make a “candy” for Christmas but this was so pretty I had to try. I did have a tweak because I couldn’t find colored marshmallow so I ‘painted’ mine with food coloring and water , because I loved the look of the pink in the recipe. Came out perfect.