Rocky road is one of those things that should be no more than the sum of its parts but is somehow so much more exciting than plain biscuits, dark chocolate and marshmallows.
This vegan malted rocky road takes the simplest of rocky road recipes and tweaks it just slightly to add a mild malty flavour and a few unexpected health credentials.
Barley malt extract is used in place of the usual golden syrup. Because malt is the distinctive flavour in rich tea biscuits, this feels like a fitting substitute. Unlike refined sugar, malt extract contains numerous vitamins and minerals and is good for your digestion, cardiovascular health and mood.
This recipe also includes pumpkin seeds, which add a firmer crunch alongside the crispy biscuits and are, of course, packed with nutritional value including essential fatty acids.
Add to those two ingredients the nutritional benefits of dark chocolate and you can almost convince yourself this is health food!
malted rocky road…
ingredients
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 60 g coconut oil
- 60 g soft vegan margarine
- 60 g barley malt extract (syrup)
- 200 g rich tea biscuits
- 100 g vegan marshmallows
- 60 g raisins
- 40 g pumpkin seeds
- 1 tsp icing sugar for dusting (optional)
method
- Line the base of an 8″/20 cm square baking tin.
- In a small pan, or carefully in the microwave, melt together the chocolate, coconut oil, margarine and malt extract. Heat it only as much as you need to for the chocolate to melt. Don’t let it come near boiling point. Stir and set aside.
- Place the rich tea biscuits in a small plastic bag and use a rolling pin to bash them until you have a mixture that includes fine crumbs and chunks up to about 2 cm across. Transfer the biscuits to a large bowl.
- Unless you are using the mini variety, chop the marshmallows into quarters and add these along with the raisins and pumpkin seeds to the crushed biscuits.
- Pour in the chocolate, scraping the bowl to make sure as little as possible is wasted, and turn the mixture over with a large spoon until everything is covered in chocolate.
- Tip the mixture into the tin and level (roughly) with the back of the spoon.
- Allow it to chill in the fridge and set completely before dusting with icing sugar and cutting into twelve or more bars.
- Unless the temperature of your kitchen is very low, store the rocky road in the fridge once it’s cut.
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