Rocky Road Bars

If you like rocky road ice cream, you are going to love these bars. Loaded with all the good stuff like nuts, chocolate chunks and gooey marshmallows. Have fun baking a batch and enjoy the deliciousness!

When I was a little girl my mom would take me for ice cream every Friday after school. Just the two of us. I filled her in on the week of school and we talked about the weekend ahead.  Looking back, those days still bring back wonderful memories spending time with my mom. When my daughter was younger we planned a day as ice cream day and now my son and I carry on the tradition. My mom always got plain chocolate ice cream and I almost always ordered rocky road ice cream. I loved the crunchy nuts, the chunks of chocolate, and of course the gooey marshmallow. To this day, it’s still one of my favorites and usually my first choice.  This is what inspired me when making my Rocky Road bars. I swapped out some of the white flour for whole wheat pastry flour for some added fiber (you can’t even tell it’s there). I just made these again today, and within 5 minutes my son and his friends finished them. So, I knew I could post these for everyone to enjoy. Bake a batch for your family and watch them disappear really quickly.

Rocky Road Bars

Yields 12 bars

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted then cooled for a couple of minutes
•  4 oz jar baby applesauce, you can use regular applesauce too
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
• 1/4 cup slivered or chopped almonds
• 1/8 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 1/4 cup mini marshmallows
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; line an 8×8 square baking pan with foil, generously grease the foil, set aside.
2. In a small bowl toss the chips or chucks  and nuts. Set aside. Have the mini marshmallows ready as well.
3. In a large bowl add all the ingredients from the top and with a rubber spatula mix until smooth (but don’t over mix the batter). Add everything but the three ingredients you have set aside.
4. Spread batter in prepared baking pan and bake for about 15-18 minutes.
5. Remove pan from oven and spread the nuts and chips evenly. Now toss the marshmallow over. Bake another 5-7 minutes or so. Check with wooden skewer or toothpick and moist crumbs should be on skewer.
6. Place pan on cooling rack and let cool for 15 minutes. You can now lift the foil up to remove and place on cutting board to cut into 12 nice size pieces. Enjoy!