This rocky road candy is easy to make with chocolate, marshmallows, and nuts for the best sweet and salty homemade candy. This no-bake holiday treat is heavenly!
Need more candy recipes? Try chocolate coconut balls, chocolate fudge or crunch bars.
Grandma’s Best Rocky Road
With just 5 simple ingredients, you can make this delicious rocky road candy recipe right at home. Simply melt chocolate and nuts together, then mix in the marshmallows. A sweet and salty no-bake treat that’s perfect for neighbor gifts, holidays parties and potlucks.
This and my rocky road fudge are my go-to recipes when I need to quickly make a holiday dessert. If you’re looking for more ideas to make I also love Christmas crack toffee, peppermint bark, and maple peanut brittle.
Chocolate Rocky Road Candy Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Chocolate chips: Semi-sweet chocolate chips taste best in my opinion. If you would like, you can do a combination with milk chocolate chips for extra sweetness in the chocolate candy.
- Dark chocolate chunks: This adds another layer of rich chocolate flavor. Dark chocolate chips also work! Always use the best quality chocolate you can find.
- Peanut butter: The creamy type works best. It is best not to use the natural, drippy kind though.
- Peanuts: The saltiness of the peanuts perfectly balances out the sweet chocolate flavor. They also give it a nice crunch.
- Marshmallows: I love the texture that mini marshmallows add. You stir them in once the chocolate has cooled a bit so that they keep their shape and don’t melt.
How to Make Rocky Road Candy
- Combine. Add all ingredients except marshmallows to the crockpot.
- Cook. Cover and cook for 1 hour. Remove the lid and stir until smooth.
- Mix. Turn the crockpot off and let the chocolate mixture cool (for about 2 minutes). Then add marshmallows and mix.
- Scoop. Immediately place rounded spoonfuls of the candy onto a lined cookie sheet. Top with chopped peanuts and extra marshmallows. Allow to cool before serving.
Rocky Road Tips and Variations
- Chocolate. You can omit the chocolate chunks and use 1 and 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips if desired. You can also use high quality chocolate bars broken into pieces.
- Nuts. You can replace the peanuts with other types of nuts like almonds, walnuts, or pecans.
- When to add miniature marshmallows. Make sure the chocolate mixture has cooled a bit before mixing in the marshmallows or else they will melt. If you don’t want to add marshmallows, make this crockpot candy instead.
- Bars. Instead of dropping in spoonfuls, pour onto parchment lined baking sheet. Once solid, break into pieces.
- Microwave. Instead of melting the chocolate in the crockpot, you can melt the chocolate and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second increments.
- Garnish: Sea salt, sprinkles, coconut or dried fruit could be added.
- Chill. To speed up the cooling process, place the candy in the refrigerator to chill until firm.
The Perfect Holiday Gift!
Package rocky road as a gift. I love to give this as a homemade Christmas food gift along with some 3 Musketeers Cool Whip candy recipe or PayDay candy bar recipe!
Place a piece of parchment paper in a basket, treat box or holiday tin and place the rocky road inside. Then tie it with some baker’s twine and a holiday tag. So fun, festive, and delicious!
More chocolate recipes I love to make include crunch bars, chocolate coconut balls or these homemade Twix bars.
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Rocky Road Candy
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chunks
- ½ cup salted peanuts
- 1 Tablespoon creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Add ingredients to crock pot. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Combine 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, 3/4 cup dark chocolate chunks, 1/2 cup peanuts and 1 Tablespoon peanut butter in a slow cooker.
- Melt on low then add marshmallows. Cover and cook on low for 1 hour. Remove lid and stir until smooth. Turn off the slow cooker and allow chocolate to cool for 2 minutes and then stir in 1 cup mini marshmallows.
- Drop by spoonful on cookie sheet and cool. Immediately place rounded spoonful's onto the lined cookie sheet. Top with extra marshmallows and chopped peanuts if desired. Allow to cool.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Recipe FAQs
This has a sweet chewy texture from marshmallows, a nutty, salty texture from peanuts, and a complex texture of smooth and creamy chocolate flavors.
This rocky road recipe will last about 1 to 2 weeks stored at room temperature, or about 3 weeks in the fridge. I prefer to chill mine in the fridge because it keeps the candy firm and it tastes delicious when chilled.
Make sure the candy has cooled completely and firmed up prior to freezing. Then wrap clusters in plastic wrap and place them in an airtight container. It should last a couple of months in the freezer.
To thaw, place in the fridge overnight. I sometimes even snack on the rocky road right out of the freezer. I let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before eating. It’s still a little tough, but I think it’s yummy that way. :) If you’d prefer your rocky road on the softer side, then stick with the overnight method.
Categorized as: 5 Ingredients Or Less, American, Candy + Fudge, Chocolate, Christmas, Crockpot, Desserts, Freezer-Friendly, Gluten-Free, Kid-Friendly, No-Bake, One Pot, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
These sound delicious! Dangerously good…
I love how quick and easy this candy is to make!!! Perfect for busy days!
My kids love rocky road ice cream so I had to make this for them! It was so easy and it turned out amazing!
I love this candy idea for the holidays! So easy and so delicious!
Love how easy this is and SO a addicting!
These look so yummy and I need to make them! If I don’t put them in fridge, will they get hard and stay hard or will they be soft and sticky?
Thank you for posting all of these beautiful desserts!
I haven’t tried – I don’t think they’ll be hard enough to have that chocolate snap but I think they shouldn’t be sticky.
Looks super easy, yummy and fun. Perfect for the kids.
These look great! Do you think they will freeze well?
If you do not use the marshmallows, they would freeze and defrost very well!
Love that these are made in the slow cooker!
Oh my gosh, these sound amazing!!
I love that you can make candy from a crock pot!
This is a great recipe. It sounds delicious and I’m always looking for gluten free snacks for my daughter’s BFF. Thank you
Do you put the marshmallows in the slow cooker? Or only on top of the pieces at the end? It wasn’t clear to me from the instructions. These look great and I can’t wait to make them!
When it cooled for two minutes, I added some of the marshmallows to the mixture, then topped the spoonfuls with more marshmallows. If I had added them in the beginning, they would have melted completely. :)
oooo I’ve never made candy in the crockpot! I need to try this! yum!
I could eat a dozen of these :-)
My mom used to make something similar growing up. I’ve been looking for this recipe! Thank you!
Whoa, how easy is this? !!!! Marshmallow, for the win. Always.
I love a good sweet and salty combo too. These look fantastic, and I love that you can make them in the slow cooker!