Rocky Road Chocolate Bark

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Let's do a chocolate post, you know, for a change. Oh wait, 90% of my blog posts involve chocolate in some form of another! What can I say, I eat chocolate every.single.day. My latest chocolate treat was a deliciously chunky Rocky Road Bark!


Yummy! This chocolate bark is made with only three ingredients: chocolate, marshmallows, and walnuts. I made mine with a mix of dark and semi-sweet chocolate. You can't see the marshmallows from the top, but if I show you a side-shot you can see them in all their chewy glory...

Rocky Road Bark 

The recipe, via Brown Eyed Baker, calls for mini marshmallows, but the only vegan marshmallows I could find at Whole Foods were the regular sized Dandies. That's OK, I thought, I'll just chop them into smaller pieces. Pffft. No big deal. I see that some of you are already face-palming at my ignorance - one does not simply chop marshmallows into smaller pieces. I nearly lost the will to live while I was trying to cut the sticky things that were like fluffy, delicious liquid nails glued to my knife. Eventually I decided to freeze them for a while before I continued chopping. It was a little easier to chop them frozen. A little.

Rocky Road Bark 

Is this too Christmassy too early? Sorry! Quick, look at this Autumnal picture and cleanse your eyes of the premature winter-holidays display! Can you spot Lady Goldfinch there? We have been invaded by a large flock of these tiny little birdies and I've gone photo-crazy on them. More goldfinch pictures coming soon! Watch this space! 

Spot the Goldfinch!

Comments

  1. I just tried to post a comment through fb. Hmmm....I don't think it went through. Anyway.....I, too, have made that mistake. The secret is to dust your knife with powdered sugar. And then re-dust it every few chops. Makes life a lot easier.

    I was planning on making bark for Christmas this year. This will be perfect for my little, marshmallow-loving Luna!! Thanks!

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    1. You're right! Pesky facebook didn't publish your comment. Thanks for the tip, Cindy! I will definitely be dusting my knife with powdered sugar next time I need to chop marshmallows. You are my hero!

      If Luna loves marshmallows then she will love this bark! The sweet, chewy, tiny little marshmallow bits are so good encased in the hard/semi-dark chocolate.

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    2. Using powdered sugar to minimize stickiness is genius! I've never heard that idea before!

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  2. My oh my, that bark…. Rocky Road bark has to be the best/most delicious bark variety I've ever heard of, thanks to you, haha.

    Never too early for Christmassy photos/topics!

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    1. Now I know what you'll be making for Christmas! :)

      I actually have a few Christmas decorations scattered around already. Not too many, just a snowman here and a Santa there... so far!

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  3. I made some rocky road bars recently and also used normal sized marshmallows cut into smaller pieces. I used v marshmallows from Ananda Foods www.anandafoods.co.uk, a UK company, and they were wonderful fluffy marshmallows but they split apart easily - I could even do it with my fingers (because I kept eating them straight out of the packet...)

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    1. I *might* have eaten too many marshmallows straight out of the bag too. How strange that they split apart so easily. I definitely couldn't split my Dandies with my fingers. Actually if I tried to break them apart with my fingers they might end up glued to my skin forever! :)

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    2. Gah! That sounds like some kind of marshmallow horror film! I was so excited to eat my first marshmallows in maybe 20 years that I probably ate about half the pack 'raw' but did manage to leave enough for cooking. Just about.

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    3. The Attack of the Sticky Marshmallows! What a frightfully delicious film that would be!

      I don't buy marshmallows too often, so when I do buy them I also eat most of them straight out of the bag. Maybe we should start buying two bags - one for baking and one for snacking :)

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    4. I was also considering coming up with a reason to have a campfire, just so that I too can finally roast marshmallows over it. That'll show all those smug Brownies when I was a kid.

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    5. You show those pesky Brownies who's the best marshmallow roaster in town!

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  4. I have been chopping Dandies for ages. It seems like at least once a month I come up with some fool hardy plan that requires tiny marshmallows.
    Luckily for both of us Dandies have mini marshmallows coming out! The organic grocery store I work for gets them in stock this week!

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    1. Awesome! I've used Sweet & Sara mini marshmallows before but I had to order them online. Our nearest Whole Foods carries only the big Dandies marshmallows, but hopefully they will bring the minis in soon too! What are you going to be baking with your mini Dandies when your store brings them in? :)

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  5. Ugh! that looks amazing! Marshmallows are my new favourite thing! I made some rocky road for halloween! http://sketch-freeveganeating.blogspot.ca/2013/10/a-vegan-halloween-rocky-road-treats-w.html

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    1. Sorry I missed your comment! I'm off to check out your Halloween post now...

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  6. That goldfinch! Adorable! Can't wait for more pics. And that chocolate bark--holy damn yum!! Never too early for Christmasy treats :)

    (Blog note--could you add "Name/URL" as a choice under "Comment As" in the comment section? For whatever reason, I can't ever get the Wordpress function to work after switching to self-hosting.)

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    1. You got it, Jes! Let me know if that works better for you.

      Goldfinches are so cute, and they make the cutest squeaky noises! I wish I could get closer to them to take some good photos but they don't like to hang out here when they see me out there with the big scary tripod.

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    2. Thanks girl! It works perfect now :)

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  7. Your bars look so rustic and fantastic! I got a couple of packages of Dandies in the swag bag from Vida Vegan Con, and they're still in the cupboard. I always forget about marshmallows...

    That goldfinch is adorable, and I love the buds already on the tree. Our magnolia bush buds early in the fall, and it's the first bush to flower in the spring. I really treasure those buds before winter has even begun. It feels like a promise to me. It says, "Don't worry. Spring will come again."

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    1. How have you managed not to eat them all straight out of the bag? Impressive! :)

      Trees are so lovely when seasons change, aren't they? I love winter, but after a couple of months I am more than ready for spring. Now summer - I am never ready for that!

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  8. Never too early for Christmassy food. These look great. I bought mini vegan marshmallows once online. They were not what I'd call mini! Just a wee bit smaller than the regular ones.

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    1. I hope you didn't have to cut them into smaller bits after you were tricked into buying those trickster marshmallows!

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    2. I'm far too lazy for that. I just ate them.

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  9. I must have been dozing — how did I miss this? The bark looks like the sort of thing anyone would want me to bring them. Wow. I must make some. And now that I've finally started using evernote I can just clip it to my collection. Woohoo. And read it in the kitchen on my tablet. Double woohoo. As for the marshmallows, well, I would have thought the same as you. I would have thought I could clip 'em with my kitchen shears. Thanks for the warning. :)

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    1. That deserves a double woohoo indeed! I still have to rely on recipes written on scraps of paper that I can't keep track of! :)

      I'm glad I could take one for the team then. Cindy's tip to dust the knife with powdered sugar is genius. Now I need to figure out what kind of marshmallowy treat to make next so I can put that advice to good use.

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  10. Posting Christmasy recipes in November River? For shame! I don't see why chocolate bark has to be a winter thing, it's good any time of year in my books, well, besides summer, that may be a tad messy. I love marshmallows but man they're a pain to cut, I use a sprinkling of icing sugar to cut them but I like the freezing them idea.

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    1. Every store in town already has their Christmas goods on the shelves and the grocery store is already playing Christmas music - I couldn't stand the pressure! I had to do a Christmassy post!

      Freezing the marshmallows worked OK, but next time I'm going to do the sugar thing. Actually next time I'm just gonna buy tiny marshmallows :)

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  11. Wow... it looks really yummilicious chunky Rocky Road Bark!......Due to dipped in rich Chocolate its taste ultimate. When i see this pics water comes in my mouth suddenly and felt in dreams of my childhood. It reminds me my mother handmade chocolate cookies and cakes which i eat a lot. She make it with true love and honesty for family members, my father always appreciate her cooking.

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