2011 Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap: Rocky Road Cookies!

You know what I love most about the holidays? BAKING! I don’t know why I don’t just bake cookies all year round. Maybe it’s because it’s hard to find the time and it can get pretty messy… but I do love baking. This year, I’m kicking off the (holiday) baking season with my contribution to the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011: Rocky Road Cookies!

Rocky road icecream is my ALL-TIME FAVORITE icecream flavor. I love the chocolate and the marshmallows and the nuts… basically everything about it. I know there are other rocky road cookies out there, but I thought that this one would be extra delicious because it’s adapted from Thomas Keller‘s Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe found in his Ad Hoc At Home Cookbook.

Rocky Road Cookies!!

Rocky Road Cookies (adapted from Ad Hoc At Home Cookbook by Thomas Keller) – makes about30-ish cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips (I used semisweet)
• 1 heaping cup mini marshmallows
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3/4 cup vanilla sugar (which is sugar which has been sitting in a container with a vanilla bean)
• 2 large eggs

Directions:

1. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir with a whisk (sifting is for wimps).
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat half the butter on medium speed until fairly smooth. Add both sugars and the remaining butter, and beat until well combined, then beat for a few minutes, until the mixture is light and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until the first one is incorporated before adding the next and scraping the bowl as necessary.
4. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed to combine. Mix in the chocolate, then almonds, then marshmallows. Mix just enough to incorporate – do not over mix!
5. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the dough with a spatula to be sure that the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Shape into balls using an icecream scoop or appropriately sized cookie scoop (My balls were a little more than2 1/2 tablespoons each). Chill in the refrigerator while the oven preheats (Keep the dough balls chilled while they are waiting to bake).
6. Position the oven racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.
7. Place chilled cookie dough balls on prepared cookie sheet about 2-3 inches apart.
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Let cool slightly on the cookie sheet (to firm up), then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Seal them up and give away before you eat them all!

NOTE: The dough or shaped cookies can be refrigerated, well wrapped, for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 weeks (probably longer, but that’s entirely at your own risk). Freeze shaped cookies on the baking sheets until firm, then transfer to freezer containers. (Defrost frozen cookies overnight in the refrigerator before baking.)

I packed them up nicely with a couple servings of homemade peppermint hot chocolate on a stick and sent them off to my swap matches: Big Bear’s Wife, Katie’s Cucina, and Rosy Girl Baked Goods. I hope they enjoy them!