Vegan White Chocolate Rocky Road

A dairy-free white chocolate, biscuit and marshmallow rocky road, topped with white chocolate, pretzels and coloured royal icing details. 100% vegan, no-bake, less than 10 minutes to make!

Rocky road is great if you have spare chocolate and marshmallows laying around in your kitchen.

This recipe is super quick & easy, and makes tasty, chewy, chocolatey treats! Perfect for a fun and magical (but very tasty) Christmas.

Watch me make these treats here.

It’s November, so you know what that means… TIME TO START CHRISTMAS BAKING!

I am so excited to share all of my festive bakes this season leading up to the big day in December!

I have SO many desserts planned, so I hope you’re hungry- haha!

Christmas is fast approaching, so why not get in the festive spirit a little early and make my scrumptious VEGAN WHITE ROCKY ROAD BARS?!!

These bars incorporate the classic elements in a rocky road, but use white chocolate instead of milk or dark for a ‘snowy’ alternative.

The white chocolate makes these bars creamy, sweet and gorgeous in colour, perfect for adding on bright and colourful decorations.

These tasty ‘reindeer’ bars feature a delicious creamy white chocolate fudgey base with plain biscuits and vanilla marshmallows, topped with a layer of white chocolate and edible details. I know Santa would love these treats left out for him on Christmas Eve!

What is a Rocky Road?

Rocky road is a no-bake slice made up of chocolate, marshmallows along with other ingredients, which tend to vary by country. They can contain biscuits, nuts, chopped chocolate or a mixture of candy bars. The variations are endless!

How cute are these reindeers? I took inspiration from my Vegan Halloween Rocky Road bars.

The addition of the pretzels for the antlers along with the royal icing red nose and black eyes make these bars look ADORABLE and super festive! They are the perfect treat to make with kids!

Why you need to make these bars?

They’re fun to make
100% vegan
Can be made gluten-free if using gluten-free biscuits
They’re SUPER delicious
Extremely quick to make
They’re extremely versatile
Great fun to make with kids
No baking required
Can be made in advance

What vegan marshmallows to use?

There are countless vegan friendly Marshmallows out there but my personal favourites are ‘Dandies Vanilla Marshmallows’ or ‘Freedom Mallows’.

These taste identical to the non-vegan marshmallows! In fact, you literally can’t tell the difference! They also have the most delicious vanilla flavour which helps flavour these little treats even more!

Looking for more Christmas desserts? Look no further:

Vegan Yule Log

Vegan Chocolate Gingerbread Tart

The Snowman Hot Chocolate Bomb

Notes*

What vegan block butter to use?

My favourite vegan / dairy-free block butters are ‘Naturli Vegan Block’ or Flora Plant Based Block Butter Alternative (salted or unsalted).

As you’re using white chocolate along with a yellow coloured butter, the overall look of these rocky road will have a yellow / cream coloured tint. They wont be pure white. If you do want them pure white, you can add in a drop of white food colouring (i personally haven’t done this as i think the creamy colour looks lovely).

What is Aquafaba:

Aquafaba is the water from a can/tin of chickpeas. The chickpea water or brine as it’s called, acts as an amazing egg substitute for cakes, cupcakes and delicious meringue buttercream. You can also get aquafaba in a carton for easy use. Check it out here.

What vegan white chocolate to use?

I used Sainsbury’s own Deliciously Free From White Chocolate. Vegan / dairy-free white chocolate can sometimes be oily / grainy, its best to search for your best local dairy-free white chocolate. Another i highly recommended is iChoc Vegan White Chocolate.

Preparation: 10 minutes

Chilling time: 2-3 hours

Serves: 12

Level: Easy

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Ingredients for the rocky road

200g of plain biscuits (you can use gluten-free)
100g of mini vegan marshmallows
2 tablespoons of golden syrup
260g of dairy-free white chocolate (see notes*)
140g of dairy-free block butter (see notes*)

Ingredients for the white chocolate coating

175g of dairy-free white chocolate

Ingredients for the royal icing

40g of icing sugar
1 teaspoon of chickpea brine (aqauafaba) see notes*
Black food gel
Red food gel

Decorations

Mini pretzels
Edible glitter ( optional)

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Method (rocky road)

1. Line a 9 inch square baking tin with grease proof paper. Make sure the paper is overhanging the tin. This will make it easier for removing the bars when ready.

2. Break up the biscuits into small chunks and place into a heat proof bowl, along with the marshmallows. Set aside.

TIP: If you’re using large marshmallows, cut them into small pieces.

3. Add the golden syrup, dairy-free white chocolate and butter in a medium sized saucepan. Heat on low until fully melted. Use a heatproof spatula to stir the mixture to prevent sticking and burning onto the sides of the pan. Don’t let the mixture burn, the white chocolate has a tendency to go gritty if it’s left in the pan for too long.

4. When ready, pour the melted chocolate mixture over the biscuit and marshmallows. Stir to combine, making sure everything is covered in the chocolate mixture.

5. Tip the mixture into the lined tin, compacting it with a spatula. Try to get this as compact as possible, pressing down into the edges.

Place into the fridge for 2-3 hours or until fully set.

Method (white chocolate coating)

1. Add the dairy-free white chocolate into a heat proof bowl. Fill a medium sized saucepan 1/4 full with water. Place the saucepan on the hob over low / medium heat, and add the bowl on top. This creates a bain-marie. Allow the white chocolate to melt.

If you want to temper the chocolate, check out this amazing video tutorial.

2. Remove the rocky road from the fridge and slice into bars using a sharp knife.

Dunk or drizzle the white chocolate over each rocky road bar and place on grease proof paper. As the bars are chilled, the chocolate will set quickly.

You want to be quite quick with adding on the pretzel decorations

3. Break a mini pretzel in half and place them on the front, either side of the rocky road (as seen in the photos). This will create the reindeer antlers.

Allow the white chocolate to set before adding on the royal icing details. If not, the royal icing will bleed into the chocolate. (see storing details for additional information).

Alternatively, you can colour white chocolate using black and red food gels.

Method (royal icing details)

1. In a small bowl, mix the icing sugar with aquafaba (chickpea brine), until a thick paste. You want it to resemble a similar texture to tooth paste – thats the best way of describing it.

2. Divide the mixture into two separate bowls. Colour one bowl with black food gel, and the other with red good gel.

3. Transfer each icing into a separate piping bag, snip off the tip and pipe two dots on the front of each rocky road (for the eyes), and a red dot below the eyes (this makes the nose).

Place back into the fridge for 5 minutes to set.

Serve and enjoy!

To store:

Keep these rocky road bars in a sealed container in the fridge. Best enjoyed within 4 days of making.

The royal icing does have a tendency to bleed into the white chocolate if left too long due to the moisture.

If you want to store the rocky roads for longer, finish decorating at the pretzel step, and add on the royal icing / chocolate details on the day of serving.