Fully Loaded Rocky Road Brownies

I’m going to start this post a little differently today. I hadn’t planned for it, but then something happened a couple of days ago that had a bigger effect on me than I thought possible. You are more than welcome to skip down to the page-break below and start reading from there if you’d like to go directly to my recipe/post today. But before that there is something I need to get off my chest and I do hope you’d excuse this little bit of rambling on my part.

Some of you following this blog might already know that I grew up in New Zealand and lived in Australia for a period of time and that both those cultures have had a profound effect on who I am as a person. The Lindt cafe in Sydney, Australia is one that I have walked by countless times in the past and when I first heard about the incident there on Sunday (US time) there was a rush of emotions and feelings that overwhelmed me. The effects of war and terrorism are not alien to me. A number of my formative years were spent in Sri Lanka, a country that was ravaged by a brutal civil war for nearly three decades. But I was also very fortunate enough to have lived in New Zealand and Australia, where you didn’t fear for your life constantly, where the freedom to be yourself was cherished and you were accepted by anyone and everyone without prejudice or persecution. Where peace and tranquility were the norm rather than the exception. And then the “Sydney siege at the Lindt cafe” occurred and it reminded me that nothing in life can be taken for granted. My first reaction upon hearing about it was fear and concern for my relatives and friends living there, and then anger at the absolute senselessness of the whole situation. I have seen and lived through much worse during my years growing up in Sri Lanka, yet the incident in Sydney reminded me that no city, no society, no country is immune from the misguided ideologies of a deranged few and the senselessness of terrorism. And then I woke up on Monday and saw the following on my twitter feed and Facebook page,

#Illridewithyou

That one phrase took away a lot of the anger and fear I was feeling as I realized that the Aussies have taken something so horrible and nonsensical and made something positive come out of it. Like one of my Aussie friends said on Facebook, their “No worries, mate” attitude will soon return to the country as they pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get on with their lives while supporting each other with renewed vigor. It surely won’t take away the hurt felt by the loss of two innocent lives but it will go a long way towards restoring faith in their fellow countrymen and women.

Hate cannot be conquered with hate, but only through love and kindness. If all teachings, religious or otherwise, insisted on this one universal truth, the world would surely be a much better place to live. My thoughts are with all my Aussie friends and I hope this Christmas post will help you realize that yes, life is indeed a rocky road, but at the end of it all it can still be deliciously rich and good (I’m sorry but I swear I just couldn’t help it!). 🙂

OK, rambling over.

Rocky Road means slightly different things in different parts of the world.

In the USA, it’s famous mostly as an ice cream with chocolate, marshmallow and nuts.
In the UK it contains chocolate, marshmallow, raisins and biscuits.
In Australia there are so many types of Rocky Road, but whatever type it is it always contains the two main ingredients of chocolate and marshmallow. But it can also contain coconut, glace cherries, jelly (or jello) cubes, Turkish delight, nuts (usually peanuts) and sometimes even strawberry sauce.

New Zealand first introduced me to Rocky Road but it was in Australia that I really started loving it. This was all thanks to my friend Jacqueline who made amazing rocky road. And then just before I left the country I discovered this chocolate shop in Brisbane called Noosa Chocolate Factory that sells the most wonderful rocky road. I bought two bars but I wish I could have bought the whole shop. If ever I go back I will be their number one customer!

Since I can’t have Australian rocky road anymore, I decided I will make my own. But better. So I merged two of my favourite things to make these incredible Fully Loaded Rocky Road Brownies!

So as you can see, this is a more elaborate, rich and flavourful rocky road. My favourite combination of ingredients in rocky road is bittersweet (or semi-sweet) chocolate, white marshmallow (I’m not a fan of flavoured marshmallow. At all!), almonds, agave jelly or gummy bears and raspberry. So that’s exactly what went in to these rocky road brownies. But the best thing about these beauts is that you don’t need to stick to a particular list of ingredients. You can put anything you want in to this.

I wanted these brownies to have a little bit of a festive feel, so I decided to go with pistachios and almonds for nuts, beautiful red, orange and yellow Agave jellies, mini white marshmallows, raspberry sauce and bittersweet chocolate.

I have a huge aversion to flavoured and coloured marshmallow (except chocolate flavoured ones though). I remember when I used to work as a barista I was very generous with how much marshmallows I gave my customers with their mocha or hot chocolate. As long as they were coloured ones. The white ones were all mine! But hey, If you like flavoured marshmallow better you’re more than welcome to use those instead. Just don’t expect me to bite into your brownies though.

You are also welcome to use any kind of jelly you like. I chose red and yellow ones because I wanted those bright colours. But really you can use anything from gummy bears to gum drops to gummy snakes to any other jelly based candy. I chose delicious Agave gummy bears. I also chose to spread a generous amount of raspberry jam on the brownie before it was baked.

By doing this, the jam bakes into the brownie and gets lost in it but you get these little bursts of intense raspberry flavour when you bite into the brownies. You have to try it, it’s amazing!

I highly recommend that you toast/roast the nuts and the desiccated coconut. This really intensifies the flavours of these two ingredients. So even though it’s an extra step – try not to skip it.

These brownies are incredibly fudgy! I am a fudgy brownie fan through and through and these have a very satisfying fudgy layer of bitter sweet brownie beneath the deliciously rich layer of chocolate ganache, marshmallow, coconut and gummy bears. While I recommend using this recipe, you are welcome to take a shortcut and use your favourite fudgy brownie mix if you’d like (I promise I won’t tell).

I used bittersweet chocolate for the brownie and semi sweet chocolate for the topping. You can use white chocolate instead for the topping, if you’d like a sharp contrast in colour. But my husband and I find white chocolate to be just too sweet to be used in the brownie or in the topping. However I couldn’t resist grating a thin layer of white chocolate on top of the brownie. It just looked like snow!

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5 from 1 vote

Fully Loaded Rocky Road Brownies

Author: Dini K.

These Rocky Road Brownies are a take on the Australian Rocky road - but in brownie form. You can definitely let your imagination run wild with your favourite add-ins, but I wanted to add some seasonal colours with bright green pistachions, red gummy bears and raspberry sauce, white coconut and a sprinkling of white chocolate.

Servings: 16 pieces

Print Rate

Ingredients:

Fudgy Raspberry Brownie Layer

• ▢ 1 stick/115g unsalted butter
• ▢ 8 ounces /228g coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate
• ▢ 2.8 ounces/ 80g granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 ounces/ 50g brown sugar
• ▢ 3 large eggs
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2.8 ounces/ 80g all purpose flour
• ▢ 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 4.5 ounces/ 125g roasted nuts I used pistachios and slivered almonds (see note 1)
• ▢ 1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Rocky Road Ganache Layer

• ▢ 10 ounces finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate can be substituted with any kind of chocolate - white, milk or dark
• ▢ 1/2 cup cream
• ▢ 1 cup mini marshmallows
• ▢ 1 cup gummy bears gum drops or turkish delight
• ▢ 1/3 cup toasted desiccated unsweetened coconut you can increase this upto 1/2 cup if you prefer (see note 2)
• ▢ extra white chocolate to grate on top optional

Instructions:

Fudgy Raspberry Brownies

• Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
• Line a 8x8 inch square pan with foil or parchment paper.
• Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler (if using a stove) or microwave safe bowl (if using a microwave). Stir at intervals to make sure they do not burn and that they melt evenly.
• Leave aside to cool. (please see note 3)
• If you completely cool the chocolate mix, reheat it just to melt this mix and whisk in both sugars into the chocolate-butter mix.
• Whisk/beat in the eggs, one egg at a time until it is incorporated well.
• Add the vanilla and salt and mix through.
• In a separate bowl, sift the cocoa powder and flour together. Add the nuts and coat them with the flour.
• Add the flour, cocoa and nuts into the brownie batter and mix well.
• Evenly spread in the pan and tap it on the counter to break any bubbles in the batter.
• Spoon the raspberry preserve over the batter and use a spoon to gently swirl it into the batter.
• Bake in preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes. Check at the 25 minute mark. The brownie is done when you insert a tooth pick (or cake tester) into the brownie and it comes out cleanly with only a few crumbs attached.
• While the brownies are still warm, spread the rocky road layer on top. Recipe follows.

Rocky Road Chocolate Ganache Layer.

• Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and keep all the other ingredients close by.
• Heat the cream in a saucepan until it just starts to boil.
• Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and whisk to melt the chocolate completely.
• Add the gummy bears, marshmallow and coconut into the chocolate. Leave aside until the brownies are ready.
• When the brownies come out of the oven, warm up the chocolate for about 30 seconds - 1 minute (on a double boiler or in the microwave) to allow the chocolate and candy to soften (but not melt the marshmallow)
• Spread this mix over the hot brownies while it is still in the baking tray.
• Grate some white chocolate on top while it is warm (optional).
• Leave to cool completely until the chocolate layer on top is set - preferably leave it to rest over night. Loosen the brownies from the pan using a warm knife or palette. Cut into 2 x 2 inch squares.
• Can be eaten at room temperature, cold or warm!

Tips & Tricks

Note 1 - You can buy raw nuts and toast them in a 350°F/180°C oven for about 10 minutes until they become very lightly browned.
Note 2 - You can get untoasted unsweetened coconut and place them on a dry pan and over low-medium and toast them (keep them moving constantly) until they just start to discolour and you can smell the coconut.
Note 3 - If you melt the chocolate and butter, and leave them to cool and then re-heat it again it adds to the fudginess of the brownie. It is not necessary to do this, but I try to at least melt the butter earlier, let it cool and then melt it again whenever I make brownies.

“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”

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Like I said these brownies are deceptively fudgy. You will see the raspberry swirls that help these brownies become even fudgier and fruitier. I really like the green of the pistachios and the flavours of all the roasted nuts.

The bright, almost glistening gummy bears have melted into the chocolate ganache along with the marshmallows. Together with the toasted coconut they completely elevate the texture of these rich, fudgy brownies.

Still not sure? Here’s another close up. But I warn you… it just might be NSFW!

And if you’re really in the mood, you can zap these brownies in the microwave for a few seconds and the brownie will become even fudgier, the gummy bears will become softer and the marshmallows will melt even further and become even gooier. One bite of that and I guarantee you will be in brownie heaven!

So make these brownies part of your Christmas party this year. What’s your favourite brownie? What’s your favourite Christmas treat? I’m going through a sugar high this week with all these delectable sweets I’m baking in my kitchen. I fear the consequences for when I stop, because I know I must. Repentance will surely follow, but for now all I can do is give in, reach out for my rocky road brownie that’s sitting in front of me as I write this, sink my teeth in and be carried away to ooey gooey brownie heaven.

If you would like more chocolatey ideas for Christmas, check out the recipes below. They are definitely indulgent!

Intense Dark Chocolate Rum Balls – {or Rum Truffles} These are amazing! Don’t take my word for it. Intense bitter sweet chocolate with a nice boozy Rum kick! Perfect to give as gifts, ONLY if you can bear to part with them.

Chocolate Raspberry Bread Pudding – Creamy Custard with Chocolate Swirled Chocolate Babka and Raspberries baked right in this warm delicious winter Pudding.

You can hang out with me on facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest or google-plus. There’ll be plenty of pictures of what I’m doing in my kitchen in real time and you can see how I’m handling the sugar high I’m on right now! I’ll be wrapping it up for this week with another recipe coming soon. So remember to subscribe for new posts and recipes via email, below or on the sidebar.