Better-For-You Rocky Road is a Thing and Here's How to Make it

I don't know about you, but I absolutely adore rocky road. It's one of my big weaknesses in life — to the point that when I went vegan for Lent, I created a version that slotted perfectly into my plant-based diet because I missed it so much. I have scoured the country to find the best rocky road about (Birmingham Uni Costa, you've been winning for several years now); I've delved into the depths of the internet to discover the most delicious recipes.

But it's no secret that rocky road is not the healthiest food of all time. It's also no secret that I try my hardest to follow a healthy diet — after all, I run a food Instagram account showcasing how many colours I can get into one meal! So of course, I decided to create a better-for-you rocky road that still tastes as delicious.

#SpoonTip: Make this recipe Vegan by simply switching the Flora light for any plant-based buttery spread.

Why is this recipe better for you?

My rocky road uses a number of swap-outs, trading the traditional ingredients for similar ones whilst cutting down on the fat and adding nutritional value. 

Ingredient swap: Flora light instead of butter

Why it's better: Flora light has 85% less saturated fats than butter. Too many saturated fats raise your blood cholesterol levels which is dangerous to your health.

Ingredient swap: Oat biscuits instead of Rich Teas or digestives

Why it's better: The oat biscuits I used contained 41% oats, rather than having flour as the main ingredient, like most other plain biscuits do. It's no secret that oats have a multitude of health benefits — get them packed into your daily sweet treat! 

(Author disclaimer: I do not eat rocky road every single day nor do I endorse this!)

Ingredient swap: Date nectar instead of golden syrup

Why it's better: Date nectar retains some of the health benefits of dates like minerals and antioxidants, rather than just being straight sugar like golden syrup (and it also tastes amazing).

Ingredient swap: Chopped nuts, chia seeds and cacao nibs instead of marshmallows and maltesars

Why it's better: I'm a big fan of controversial food opinions, and here's another one: marshmallows are overrated. They are not the best part of rocky road by any means and they bring no real health benefits to this sweet treat. By trading marshmallows and Maltesers out (I am sad about the Maltesers though) and introducing things like nuts, chia seeds and cacao nibs, you get the extra crunch and flavour as well as protein and good fats. If you're not a fan of chia seeds or cacao nibs, they can easily be hidden in this recipe, which means that you get the additional heath benefits without tasting them.

Better-For-You Rocky Road

• Prep Time:10 mins
• Cook Time:2 hrs
• Total Time:2 hrs 10 mins
• Servings:16
• Easy

Ingredients

• 200g dark chocolate
• 140g Flora light
• 300g oat biscuits
• 2tbsp date nectar
• 175g chopped nuts
• 2tbsp chia seeds
• 2tbsp cacao nibs

• Step 1

  Melt the chocolate, vegetable spread and date nectar in a pan until it is one smooth liquid. Stir continuously.

  

• Step 2

  Take the pan off the heat and crush the oat biscuits. This can be done by hand or with a food processor. If using a food processor, be careful not to completely blitz all of your biscuits — it's important to get a variety of sizes of biscuit chunks in order to make the best Rocky Road. Stir the crushed biscuits into the chocolate mixture until they are completely covered.

  

• Step 3

  Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.

  

• Step 4

  Pour the mixture into a tray lined with baking paper and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

  

• Step 5

  Remove from the fridge and cut into 16 pieces. Enjoy!