Candy Girls: Rocky Road Candy Bar

Photo by Liz Kellermeyer

Rocky Road bar is one of those candies you might often see on the shelf, but never think to pick up. With its shiny red wrapper and straightforward name, it's easy to think you've got this bar all figured out, but the Candy Girls know that appearances can be deceiving. The bar beckoned us from the shelf at a local gas station and, of course, we heeded the call.

The Rocky Road was the flagship candy bar of Annabelle Candy Company, which started producing the treat in 1950. The company's website claims it quickly became a favorite in the western United States, where it is "currently ranked among the top 35-40 best selling chocolate bars on the West Coast." Well, if that isn't a glowing endorsement, we don't know what is!

Marshmallow is a somewhat underused confection in your everyday grocery-store candy bar, so we weren't sure what to expect when confronted with the Rocky Road. We guessed it might be a lumpy bar made up of mini marshmallows and nuts (the wrapper promises cashews) and covered in a thick chocolate, so we were a bit surprised to uncover a somewhat smooth rectangular brick. The bar is primarily fluffy marshmallow covered in a thin chocolate coating. The nuts are purely afterthought, ground to an almost imperceptible dust and mixed into the top layer.

The taste is familiar. A guest tester pegged it as "Easter, 1982," which makes perfect sense when you consider that the holiday is the one time of year when candy companies more than make up for their otherwise slack marshmallow usage. Yes, this bar tastes like it should be shaped like an egg and nestled next to a hollow milk chocolate bunny and some Peeps.

The chocolate and nut combination are underwhelming, though the marshmallow is a nice, light way to break up candy bar tedium.

Would we finish the bar? Sure.

Would we buy it again? We actually think there might be a non-Easter time when this would sound good.

Rating: 3 out of 5