My pal at work was grocery shopping and found something that I clearly needed.

Marshmallow Bits. Yup. I must admit, it was only recently that I knew they existed. Often, I’ve had desperate feelings to buy those little hot chocolate packets w/marshmallows, and, well…pick out all of the mini marshmallows.

Best. Gift. Ever. Although I had some explaining to do every time someone walked passed my desk, eying my mallows, with one eye-brow lifted, indicating confusion and curiosity as to why I had a giant can of mini marshmallows right in front of me.

You remember the Lucky Charm marshmallows that you always used to pick out of the cereal box? Well,  some genius thought of creating a whole canister of those, just without all of the cool shapes and designs. They resemble the beloved Jet Puffed marshmallows, just in super mini form. Which also makes them instantly the cutest thing you have ever seen.

After making the marvelous Stuffed S’more Pillows, and sadly noticing that the marshmallow almost always ended up seeping into the walls of the cookie (still delicious and marshmallow-tasting), I realized that I might need a mallow that is a tad more sturdy, to withstand the temperatures of baking.

Marshmallow Bits to the rescue!

These little guys will be there, to love and comfort you, before and after you bake them into a delightful morsel of sweet goodness. Gotta love a reliable ingredient.

These mixed with almonds and dark chocolate, in a cookie, = Rocky Road Heaven.

Another pretty awesome ingredient in these cookies are the dark chocolate chunks. TJs sells about a pound’s worth of various types of good chocolate (Ina would be proud) for a whopping 5 bucks. This is the type of stuff that your baking cabinet needs all day, errrryday.

When you bite into a chunk of melty dark chocolate, you will feel like you hit the gold mine…and instantly realize why I decided to use chunks rather than chips!

Dark Chocolate Chunk Rocky Road Cookies

Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup Marshmallow Bits
1 cup chopped almonds

Directions:

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.

In the stand mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Mix in the eggs, the add in the vanilla and mix well. On a low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until completely mixed in. Stir in the dark chocolate chunks, Mallow Bits, and chopped almonds, until just combined. Drop 1 Tbsp of cookie dough onto silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.

Bake cookies at 350 degrees F for 8-9 minutes. Remove from oven and wait a couple minutes before transferring them to a wire rack or brown paper bag, to cool completely. Enjoy!

From the Little Yellow Kitchen,

Chrissy