Rocky road chocolate bark combines rich chocolate, marshmallows, and almonds into an easy to grab and eat treat with only 3 ingredients that you’ll love!

side angle of Rocky Road Bark


 

Making your own candy doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, this recipe for chocolate bark with almonds and marshmallows is a great place to start if you are new to making homemade candies or chocolate barks.

With only a few ingredients, this treat comes together really easily and tastes amazing. It’s a perfect sweet to make year round to satisfy chocolate cravings, but it is also perfect for including on a holiday dessert table, or to make as homemade food gifts for Christmas.

If you’re looking for other easy homemade candy give our easy microwave fudge, homemade peppermint bark, reindeer chocolate bark, and Portuguese chocolate salami.

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Thank you!

ingredients for Rocky Road Bark

Want to learn more about candy making? Here are a few of our favorite recipe books to get you started: The Sweet Book of Candy Making, Candy Making for Beginners, and Kitchen Science Lab for Kids: EDIBLE EDITION

What You’ll Need

You really don’t need much to make this delicious bark. Here’s what to get from the store:

  • Bittersweet chocolate – For the best results you’ll need to use at least 60% cacao chocolate. Milk or semi-sweet chips don’t work as well and will not temper like they need to so that you get a nice snap at the end.
  • Almonds – Whole almonds work best for this recipe. In a pinch, you could chop up slivers or slices. You can also use a food processor to rough chop the almonds to make it easier.
  • Marshmallows – Mini marshmallows work best. If you only have large ones, you could cut them into smaller pieces.
how to make Rocky Road Bark

Instructions

1. Get the toppings ready. Before getting started with tempering the chocolate, make sure your almonds and marshmallows are ready to go. A great short cut for chopping the almonds is to use a food processor and just do a couple quick pulses until the nuts are rough chopped.

2. Get the silicone mat ready. We love our silicone mat! It is a great surface for making chocolate bark and lots of other baking projects. Spread half your almonds over about 11 x 7 inches of space on the mat. If you prefer, you can use a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and follow the same step of spreading out the almonds.

3. Temper the chocolate. or more details, check out the sections below on tempering chocolate either on the stove top or in the microwave.

4. Pour the chocolate. Pour the tempered chocolate on to the cookie sheet or silicone mat. Spread the chocolate out evenly in a rectangle approximately 11×7 inches.

5. Add the toppings and serve. Sprinkle the almonds and marshmallows over the chocolate. Press them down lightly to make sure they stick to the chocolate. Then, let chocolate cool on the counter for 1 to 2 hours or until fully hardened. 

Break up chocolate bark into large pieces. Serve or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Rocky Road Bark on a cookie sheet

What is the Best Chocolate to Use?

You’ll want to use a high quality chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa. The better the quality of chocolate means the cocoa is less processed. Good quality chocolate is essential to get the best results with your bark. 

We like to use Ghirardelli chocolate 60% cacao bittersweet baking bars or Ghirardelli chocolate 70% cacao extra bittersweet baking bars. Both are great options.

Regular chocolate chips are not recommended for the bark because they don’t usually have a high enough percentage of cocoa. 

If you are looking to save some cash, you can use Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet chocolate chips, Ghirardelli 72% extra bittersweet chocolate chips, or Trader Joe’s pound plus dark chocolate bar. They are decent options and will save you a bit of money, especially if you are making a large batch.

Do I Need to Temper the Chocolate? 

Yes, you will need to temper the chocolate. Tempering chocolate gives it a glossy sheen and a bit of a snap when you break it into pieces. It makes a great looking bark with the right consistency. 

How to Temper Chocolate 

Don’t let tempering chocolate scare you! Tempering chocolate sounds complicated, but it’s actually pretty simple. We highly recommend using an instant read thermometer. This will make your life much easier. 

Here’s how to temper the chocolate using the stove top:

  1. Add 2/3 of the finely chopped chocolate to a double boiler or a bowl over a pot of water that is just barely simmering. If you are using a bowl and pot, make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water or the chocolate could burn. 
  2. Stir the chocolate as it melts and use your thermometer to determine when it reaches 110 – 115 degrees F for dark chocolate. Do not let it exceed 120 degrees F!
  3. Remove from heat and start adding the remaining finely chopped chocolate a little at a time stirring and letting the chocolate cool. This is called “seeding” the chocolate and it helps ensure the correct crystalline structures form.
  4. At 95 degrees F add the last of the finely chopped chocolate and continue to stir and let the chocolate cool to about 80 degrees F.
  5. When the chocolate reaches about 80 degrees F you can test it by drizzling a little spot of chocolate onto a piece of parchment paper. It should firm up very quickly 3-5 minutes) and it should be glossy, no cloudy film, or streaks.
  6. If your chocolate was nice and glossy, released easily from the paper, and has a good snap to it when you break it then it is tempered!
  7. Now, gently heat your chocolate to 85-90 degrees F. Do NOT exceed 95 degrees F or you’ll break the temper. Once it is about 90 degrees F it should be smooth, pourable, and ready to use.
  8. Now your chocolate is tempered. You need to use it immediately so it doesn’t begin to harden. It is a good idea to have all your ingredients on hand so you can work with the bark when the chocolate is ready. 
holding a piece of Rocky Road Bark

Using a Microwave to Temper Chocolate 

Short cuts are a lifesaver! If you’re like us, you like to take shortcuts when you can, and in this case, the microwave makes the tempering process even easier. 

The instructions are almost identical. The big difference is you just eliminate the double boiler. Instead you heat the chocolate in the microwave in short bursts of 15-30 seconds, making sure to stir well in between each cycle. 

Here’s the details on tempering chocolate in the microwave:

  1. Add 2/3 of the finely chopped chocolate to a microwave safe dish. 
  2. Heat in the microwave for 15-30 seconds at a time, stirring the chocolate in between each blast, until the chocolate is melted, smooth, and has reached 110 to 115 degrees F for dark chocolate. It is important you do not let dark chocolate exceed 120 degrees F.
  3. Set the bowl on the counter and begin to add the remaining finely chopped chocolate a little at a time making sure to stir the whole time letting the chocolate cool.
  4. When the chocolate gets to 95 degrees F add the last of the unmelted chocolate and stir until it is fully melted, and smooth.
  5. When the chocolate reaches about 80 degrees F you can test it by drizzling a little spot of chocolate onto a piece of parchment paper. It should firm up very quickly 3-5 minutes) and it should be glossy, no cloudy film, or streaks.
  6. If your chocolate passes the temper test gently heat your chocolate to 85-90 degrees F. Go in short 5 second bursts in the microwave so you don’t overheat. Do NOT exceed 95 degrees F or you’ll break the temper. Once it is about 90 degrees F it should be smooth, pourable, and ready to use.

That’s it! Slightly different process, same result. You get beautiful, shiny, and crisp chocolate without having to boil water. 

stacked Rocky Road Bark on top of eachother

What Can Go Wrong with Tempering Chocolate?

Overheat it – If you overheat the chocolate you can get cloudy swirls in your chocolate when it cools. This means your chocolate wasn’t correctly tempered and you’ll need to redo it. Don’t worry though, you can reuse your chocolate. You’ll just need a little more finely chopped chocolate (that hasn’t previously been worked with) to seed your mixture.

Water in the chocolate – Chocolate is oil-based so it does not mix well with water. If you are using a double boiler be very careful that no water gets into the chocolate. If it does the chocolate will seize up and you won’t be able to save it.

How to Re-Temper Chocolate

Trust me, you’re never going to get it right 100% of the time, at least not in the beginning. If you need to re-temper your chocolate you can reuse the chocolate you have been working with, you’ll just need a little more chopped chocolate to seed your second try.

Also, if you’re like me sometimes you just don’t feel like trying again, you can see in some of our pictures that I slightly overheated my chocolate in a rush and I got a few cloudy swirls. It still had a nice snap so I used it.

A little bit of a cloudy swirl in the chocolate isn’t going to affect the taste just the look. If you go through the whole process and the next day you have a bit of cloudiness I promise your family will still love it just as much! 🙂

How Long Does It Last? 

This delicious rocky road chocolate bark can last for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Store it at room temperature for best results. We don’t recommend freezing it or using the fridge for the bark. 

Looking for More Easy Desserts?

Like this recipe?
Make sure to follow us on Instagram and Pinterest for more recipes like this.

Servings: 14
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Rocky Road Chocolate Bark

Rocky road chocolate bark combines rich chocolate, marshmallows, and almonds into an easy to grab and eat treat with only 3 ingredients that you’ll love!
side angle of Rocky Road Bark
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces Bittersweet chocolate
  • 8 ounces Whole almonds
  • 3 ounces Mini marshmallows

Instructions

  • Have all of the toppings chopped and ready to go.
  • Place a silicone mat or parchment paper on a cookie sheet and top with half of the almonds. Spread them out to cover a space approximately 11×7 inches.
  • Temper the chocolate using the microwave (see detailed instruction in post above for tempering using a double boiler or a microwave).
  • To temper chocolate start by adding 2/3 of the finely chopped chocolate to a microwave safe dish.
  • Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time stirring the chocolate in between each until the chocolate is melted, smooth, and has reached 110 – 115 degrees F (for dark chocolate).
  • Set the bowl to the side and let the chocolate cool stirring from time to time.
  • When the chocolate gets to 95 degrees F add the last of the unmelted chocolate and stir until it is fully melted, and smooth.
  • Continue stirring the chocolate, allowing it to cool to 80 degrees F.
  • Test the temper by drizzling a little spot of chocolate onto a piece of parchment paper. It should firm up very quickly 3-5 minutes) and it should be glossy, no cloudy film, or streaks.
  • If your chocolate passes the temper test gently heat your chocolate to 85-90 degrees F. Go in short 5 second bursts in the microwave so you don’t overheat. Do NOT exceed 95 degrees F or you’ll break the temper. Once it is about 90 degrees F it should be smooth, pourable, and ready to use.
  • Pour the tempered chocolate on to the parchment paper or silicone mat lined cookie sheet spreading the chocolate out evenly into a rough rectangle of about 11 inches x 7 inches. You don’t have to be precise just make sure you don’t make the chocolate so thin that it can’t hold the toppings.
  • Sprinkle the almonds and marshmallows over the chocolate pressing down lightly to make sure they stick to the chocolate.
  • Let chocolate cool on the counter for 1-2 hours, or until fully hardened.
  • Break up chocolate into large pieces.
  • Serve or store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 weeks.

Nutrition

Serving: 2ounces, Calories: 300kcal, Carbohydrates: 25g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 20g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 2mg, Sodium: 8mg, Potassium: 298mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 16g, Vitamin A: 16IU, Calcium: 63mg, Iron: 3mg
Nutrition Disclaimer: We are not certified nutritionists. Nutrition facts are an estimate and are provided as a courtesy. They are generated by an online API which recognizes ingredient names and amounts and makes calculations based on the serving size. Results may vary.
Author: Kat Jeter & Melinda Caldwell
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chocolate bark, rocky road chocolate bark
Handwritten signature for Kat & Melinda