Rocky Road

This month's we should cocoa challenge is surplus stock or leftovers.  Two things immediately sprung to mind - rocky road or compost cookies/bars.  I then saw this post on ultimate rocky road and decided that it had to be rocky road hummingbird style with a little me flavour :)
I had a lot of leftovers from the festive baking as I bought way more than I needed as usual.  I also didn't quite bake everything I had planned to for the festive season. I still have dates that I bought for last month's we should cocoa challenge but decided against using it this time. Look out for a future date recipe though.
A picture speaks a thousand words so it's probably best to illustrate the ingredients that way. The 2 large slabs of dairy milk chocolate were initially for a chocolate fountain at my friend's new year's eve party but everyone was too full and drunk for it to even materialise.  I had marshmallows, nuts, dried cranberries and chocolate chips leftover from baking various things during the festive period. I seem to have a bit of everything leftover so this recipe was perfect! The rich tea biscuits I had in the cupboard and the maltesers were for a malteser cupcake which is still on my to bake list.  I have to admit I did buy the chocolate bars after reading the recipe.

Ok now here's a secret.... I'm not a huge fan of rocky road but I'm a total convert now.  I usually use Nigella's recipe when I make them but I have to say that these are seriously amazing!! You really, truly have to try them. I brought them to work and they disappeared by lunch time!! I have to echo Steven of Adventures of a foodie and proclaim these the ultimate rocky road. The plus side is it's a no bake recipe. It's so simple and quick to make, I'm actually making these again tomorrow as I still have a lot of leftovers to use up!

 melt chocolate 

 bowlful of goodies! 

 I thought it looked a bit plain so... 

 .. I added some rainbow sprinkles 

 large, chunky rocky road 

 the crunchie bar is my favourite bit 

This is the actual recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook

1.4kg milk chocolate, roughly chopped
8 regular sized chewy, filled chocolate bars of your choice, roughly chopped (eg snickers, mars, crunchie, etc)
100g marshmallows
180g chocolate-coated malt honeycomb balls (Maltesers)
100g dried apricots, roughly chopped
100g raisins
100g cornflakes
100g chocolate vermicelli

a 33 x 23 x 5 cm baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper

• Put the milk chocolate in a large saucepan over medium heat and heat until melted and smooth, stirring occasionally. 
• Put the chocolate bars, marshmallows, honeycomb balls, apricots, raisins and cornflakes in a large bowl and pour in the melted chocolate. 
• Mix with a wooden spoon until everything is well mixed and the dry ingredients are evenly dispersed. 
• Press this mixture into the prepared baking tray, using a  tablespoon to flatten and compress it.
• Sprinkle the chocolate vermicelli all over the top.
• Leave to cool completely then cover and refrigerate overnight.