Description
These Levain-Style Rocky Road Chocolate Cookies are irresistibly thick, rich, and packed with gooey chocolate goodness. Made with cold butter, a combination of cake flour and all-purpose flour, Dutch-style fudgy cocoa flavor, generous semisweet chocolate chips, soft mini marshmallows, and crunchy cashews, these giant bakery-style cookies feature beautifully craggy tops, lightly crisp edges, and wonderfully soft, brownie-like centers. Baked at a high temperature for that signature Levain-style thickness, each cookie delivers an indulgent combination of molten chocolate, chewy marshmallows, and nutty crunch. Perfect for chocolate lovers, special celebrations, homemade gifts, or whenever you’re craving an oversized, decadent rocky road dessert!
Ingrédients
Scale
- For the Fudgy Cocoa Dough Base:
- 1 cup (2 sticks / 226 g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 cup (200 g) packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (50 g) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 cup (120 g) cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups (187 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- For the Rocky Road Inclusions:
- 1 3/4 cups (300 g) semisweet chocolate chips (reserve a few for topping)
- 2 cups (100 g) mini marshmallows (keep tucked inside the dough)
- 3/4 cup (100 g) raw or roasted cashews, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Sheet Pans: Preheat your oven to 410°F (210°C) and line two light-colored, heavy-duty baking sheets with parchment paper. This high oven temperature helps create the signature thick, bakery-style cookies with set edges and soft, fudgy centers.
- Cream Cold Butter and Sugars: In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cold, cubed unsalted butter, packed brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed for approximately 4 minutes until the mixture becomes creamy, thoroughly combined, and free of large butter lumps. Keep the butter cold rather than bringing it to room temperature.
- Add Eggs and Vanilla Extract: Add the room-temperature eggs and pure vanilla extract to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Beat on medium speed for another 60 seconds until the ingredients are smooth and fully incorporated.
- Combine Dry Flour Base: In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the sifted unsweetened cocoa powder, cake flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and fine salt until the dry ingredients are evenly blended.
- Form Chocolate Cookie Dough: Gradually add the prepared cocoa and flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed just until a thick, heavy chocolate cookie dough comes together. Avoid overmixing to maintain the tender, fudgy texture of the finished cookies.
- Fold Inclusions and Protect Marshmallows: Gently fold the semisweet chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and roughly chopped cashews into the thick chocolate dough until evenly distributed. Reserve a small handful of chocolate chips and marshmallows for decorating the tops. Keep most of the marshmallows tucked inside the dough to prevent them from melting onto the baking sheets.
- Shape Massive Dough Mounds: Divide the heavy rocky road cookie dough into 8 equal portions, approximately 165 g (5–6 oz) each. Shape each portion into a tall, rough, craggy mound without pressing it down or flattening it. Make sure any marshmallows exposed near the bottom edges are pushed inward and covered with chocolate dough to prevent burning and sticking during baking.
- High-Heat Bake Until Fudgy: Arrange 4 tall dough mounds on each prepared baking sheet, leaving approximately 3 inches of space between them. Gently press the reserved semisweet chocolate chips and a few mini marshmallows onto the tops, keeping marshmallows away from the bottom edges. Bake at 410°F (210°C) for 9–11 minutes, or until the outer edges are set and matte while the centers remain soft, puffed, and slightly underdone. Avoid overbaking to preserve the wonderfully gooey, brownie-like interiors.
- Reshape and Cool Completely: Remove the baking sheets from the oven and immediately use a round cookie cutter or spatula to gently push any uneven edges inward for a beautifully rounded bakery-style appearance. Allow the cookies to rest on the warm baking sheets for at least 15 minutes so their delicate, gooey centers can firm up before carefully transferring them to a wire cooling rack. Let them cool further before serving and enjoy their rich chocolate flavor, chewy marshmallows, and crunchy cashews!
Notes
- Start with Cold, Hard Butter: Never substitute room-temperature or softened butter for this Levain-style cookie dough. Cold, cubed butter helps the oversized dough mounds maintain their impressive height during baking at 410°F (210°C), resulting in thick cookies rather than thin, flat discs.
- Tuck Marshmallows Inward: Keep the mini marshmallows buried inside the chocolate dough, especially along the bottoms and edges of the cookie mounds. Marshmallows that touch the hot baking sheet directly can liquefy, spread, burn, and stick to the parchment paper.
- High Baking Temperature Is Key: Baking these giant rocky road cookies at 410°F (210°C) allows the outer crust to set quickly while preserving the molten, soft, brownie-like center. Watch the cookies closely and remove them when the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone.
- Temps de préparation: 25 minutes
- Temps de cuisson: 11 minutes
- Catégorie: Dessert
- Méthode: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Portion: 1 giant cookie
- Calories: 880
- Sucre: 65g
- Sodium: 320mg
- Graisse: 49g
- Graisse saturée: 27g
- Graisses insaturées: 19g
- Gras trans: 0g
- Glucides: 108g
- Fibres: 7g
- Protéine: 12g
- Cholestérol: 110mg