A number of years ago I visited the office/kitchen at All Recipes, and was introduced to a recipe for Rocky Roads Dessert Bars.
A girl can’t go to a place like All Recipes and not leave without a new recipe up her sleeve.
Figuratively speaking.
Not literally.
I don’t keep recipes up my sleeves. That would be uncomfortable. I keep them in binders, and on printed sheets (yay internet!) that float unorganizedly around my house.
But I digress.
Just look at these. My mouth is watering…
I came home and made Rocky Roads Dessert Bars for me my family immediately. I knew the graham cracker, marshmallow, chocolate & carmel-y goodness would be their jam, and we now have a new treat we love to over-consume.
A little personal creative license was taken with the original recipe. I dialed-in the recipe to fit my family baking pan. The original recipe called for a 10x 15 pan. I have 10×12 inch pans and 12×17 inch pans. Since more Rocky Roads is better… I decided to go with the 12×17 sized pan.
And a lot more marshmallows.
Plus the original recipe didn’t call for lining and spraying the pan with oil… and I found the caramel, gooeyness needed a little barrier and help keeping it from sticking as much as it likes to. So I line my pan with foil, and give the foil a spray of oil. I also have about an inch extra on the short and long sides of the pan after laying down the graham crackers so here’s my pro tip:
Bring the foil in on the sides to help keep the graham crackers close together. It keeps the bars more bars-y when the graham crackers snuggle each other closely.
Another pro tip?… I let the Rocky Roads cool completely before cutting. I also lift the entire dessert from the pan and place it onto a cutting surface. It’s way easier to cut when cool aaaand without pan edges in the way.
Bakers Challenge: I dare you to not eat the whole thing before you cut it up and put it on a plate.
Speaking of plates… Look how easy these are to get ready to give to your neighbors, or take to that annual holiday cookie exchange!
If a one-layer approach is too basic… I have also layered the treat. Just add another layer of *stuff* on top and THEN cook. Then cook that doubled-up goodness! It is double yummy.
Related: you might want to be doubly-patient because the cutting part is definitely not the fun part of the layered option. BUT?… totally worth the effort.
What are recipes you most love to make and share with others?
If you are at a loss for ideas, I have a couple other fun ones for you:
I bet you just want the recipe already… OK. Here ya go!
- 15 graham crackers (I break mine in half)
- 4 cups miniature marshmallows
- 1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup + one small handful dry-roasted, salted peanuts
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
- I let the bars cool in the pan. Once completely cool, I lift the foil (with yummies) onto a cutting surface and chop. I cut them into quarter-graham cracker sized bars-ish... which makes about 48. There are always a few that break or fall apart. Those make for delicious testers. Though this recipe is pretty hard to goof-up so no testing is needed. Even broken, they taste like magic.
