This easy peasy Christmas Rocky Road is packed full of delicious Christmas flavours and looks gorgeous, but is super quick and simple to make! With only 15 minutes hands on time, this is the perfect recipe for when you need a delicious and attractive Christmas treat in a hurry. (It also makes a great homemade Christmas gift!)
This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
Rocky road – made Christmassy!
My easy peasy rocky road recipes are always popular. It seems you guys can’t get enough of my Milk Chocolate Rocky Road and my White Chocolate Rocky Road! So, with Christmas right around the corner, I decided it was high-time to create a Christmas version.
This super simple Christmas Rocky Road is packed full of delicious Christmas flavours: ginger biscuits, cranberries, pistachios, orange zest – and of course marshmallows. (It wouldn’t be rocky road without marshmallows!)
I’ve used dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate as it really complements the Christmas flavours. And for an extra touch of pizzazz, I’ve drizzled white chocolate on the top – kind of a bit like snow.
The result is a delicious festive treat that looks AND tastes super-Christmassy!
So easy to make…
As, you’d expect from me, this Christmas Rocky Road is super simple to make… and only takes 15 minutes hands on time! (Plus an hour in the fridge.)
All you need to do is melt the dark chocolate (super easy if you follow my cheats’ method below!) Meanwhile bash the ginger biscuits into small chunks using a rolling pin and add to the chocolate when melted. Then add the mini marshmallows, pistachio kernels, dried cranberries and half the orange zest. Next transfer the mixture to a lined tin and chill for half an hour. After half an hour chilling, drizzle with melted white chocolate and decorate with extra pistachios and cranberries, and the remaining orange zest. Finally, return to the fridge for a further 30 minutes, then remove and cut into 16 squares. Easy peasy!
(Full recipe given in the recipe card below.)
My cheat’s method for melting chocolate…
The only potentially difficult bit of this recipe is melting the chocolate and even that is simple if you do it my easy peasy way.
To melt the chocolate, I first pour boiling water into a large saucepan, then I sit a glass bowl over the saucepan so the bowl just touches the water on the base. Then I break the chocolate into pieces and place the pieces in the glass bowl, then give them a stir occasionally until they are fully melted.
Basically it’s a slightly cheaty version of the traditional bain marie method, where normally you would have the water gently simmering and the bowl not touching the water. I find my way easier and less likely to go wrong, but if you want to use the more standard method then feel free.
Finally, one really important tip: DO NOT ALLOW ANY WATER TO GET INTO THE CHOCOLATE! Otherwise it will go grainy and bad and you will have to start again. If your bowl fits tightly over the saucepan, and you are careful, this shouldn’t be a problem.
The perfect easy peasy Christmas gift!
If you are looking for an easy peasy edible Christmas gift this year then look no further! This super simple Christmas Rocky Road makes a brilliant homemade Christmas present. Simple wrap a few squares in cellophane bags and tie with a pretty Christmas ribbon and voilà!
(And as a bonus it looks like you have put in way more effort than you really have!)
Perfect for Christmas parties!
This Christmas version of rocky road is also a great option for Christmas parties – especially for people who don’t like mince pies. (Or who have already indulged in one too many mince pies this year!)
You’ll be very popular if you take this Christmas Rocky Road to your next Christmas party 😀
Perfect for Christmas day!
This Christmas Rocky Road is also a great option for Christmas day – maybe to nibble on while opening presents, or even to serve instead of Christmas pudding!
Best chocolate for Christmas rocky road?
In my experience, Cadbury’s Bournville is the best chocolate to use for the dark chocolate part of this Christmas Rocky Road, while Milky Bar is best for the white chocolate drizzle. But you can absolutely use other brands of chocolate if you have one you prefer.
What alternatives can you use as the mix-ins?
I’ve tinkered about to make this Christmas Rocky Road the best combination of delicious, easy and super Christmassy. But you can absolutely tweak the mix-ins to suit your tastes! You could use…
- Digestive biscuits instead of the ginger biscuits
- Raisins, apricots or sultanas instead of the dried cranberries
- Pecans or macadamia nuts instead of the pistachios
- Turkish Delight (chopped into small pieces) instead of either the nuts or the dried cranberries
I’d love to hear if you come up with any really good combos! Let me know in the comment section below.
How long does Christmas Rocky Road keep?
Christmas Rocky Road will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
(Though you’d have to have strong willpower indeed for them to last that long!)
Should you keep Christmas Rocky Road in the fridge?
This is not necessary unless your kitchen is very hot.
Under normal conditions, once it’s had an hour in the fridge to set, Christmas Rocky Road can be stored at room temperature.
Can you freeze Christmas Rocky Road?
No, rocky road does not freeze well.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
- Easy Peasy Christmas Star Biscuits
- Christmas Tree Brownies
- Easy Mincemeat Brownies
- Easy Puff Pastry Mince Pies (Only 3 ingredients!)
- Crumble Topped Mince Pies
- Easy Iced Mince Pies
Christmas Tree Brownies
Easy Christmas Rocky Road
Ingredients
- 500 g dark chocolate (I use Cadbury's Bourneville)
- 100 g ginger biscuits (See Note 1)
- 100 g mini marshmallows
- 75 g pistachio kernels (See Note 2) + extra for decoration
- 75 g dried cranberries (See Note 3) + extra for decoration
- Zest of 1 orange
- 100 g white chocolate (I use Milky Bar)
Instructions
- Line a 23 x 23cm (9 x 9 inch) tin with baking paper
- Melt the dark chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of just-boiled water. Do not allow any water to touch the chocolate! (See Note 4.)
- Remove the bowl from the saucepan when the chocolate is fully melted.
- Place the biscuits in a plastic sandwich bag (or similar). Bash into small chunks using a rolling pin and add to the melted chocolate (you may need to transfer everything to a bigger bowl).
- Add the mini marshmallows, pistachio kernels, dried cranberries and half the orange zest to the bowl and stir everything together thoroughly.
- Transfer the mixture to the lined tin. Spread the mixture out and then press down using the back of a large spoon or similar.
- Chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Melt the white chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of just-boiled water. Do not allow any water to touch the chocolate! (See Note 4.)
- Remove the Christmas Rocky Road from the fridge. Drizzle with the white chocolate and decorate with extra pistachios and cranberries, and the remaining orange zest.
- Return to the fridge for a further 30 minutes, then remove and cut into 16 squares.
Notes
- If you don’t like ginger biscuits, you can use digestive biscuits instead.
- Buy pistachio kernels (ready-shelled pistachios) as it will make your life much easier. (Otherwise you will have to take the pistachios out of their shells by hand!) If you prefer, you can use chopped pecans instead. If you need this to be nut free, omit the pistachios and increase the quantities of cranberries and ginger biscuits to 100g cranberries and 125g ginger biscuits.
- If you don’t like cranberries, you can use raisins instead.
- To melt the chocolate, first pour boiling water into a large saucepan, then sit a glass bowl over the saucepan so the bowl just touches the water on the base. Next, break the chocolate into pieces and place the pieces into the glass bowl. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is fully melted. DO NOT ALLOW ANY WATER TO GET INTO THE CHOCOLATE! Otherwise it will go grainy and bad and you will have to start again. If your bowl fits tightly over the saucepan, this shouldn’t be a problem.
- Not suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Disclosure
*This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
Angela Sanderson says
Delicious, easy, moreish. I forgot to reserve pistachios and cranberries for decorating but it didn’t detract at all. Will definitely make again!
Eb Gargano says
That’s so great to hear. Thanks for this lovely review… and especially the 5* rating 😀 Merry Christmas! Eb 🙂