Last week I wrote about how lovely it is to receive a handwritten recipe from a friend. It’s even more special when that friend owns a restaurant and shares a favorite recipe. Brenda at Brenda’s Blessings in Fossil recently gave me her recipe for chocolate peanut clusters. This is the perfect recipe if you need an easy no-bake dessert to add to your Christmas sweets list or want an easy recipe that would be fun to make with children.
When I was in Brenda’s restaurant a couple of weeks ago, I spotted chocolate peanut clusters in the dessert case. Brenda makes everything from scratch, so I knew they had to be good. I struck up a conversation with her and she gave me the recipe; that was such a nice surprise! This recipe could not be easier and the slow cooker keeps the chocolate from getting scorched.
2 pounds dry roasted salted peanuts
4 ounces German’s® Sweet Chocolate
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 2 cups
2 ½ pounds white almond bark
Put the peanuts in the bottom of a 4 ‒ 6 quart slow cooker. Layer the chocolate chips followed by the German chocolate then the almond bark. Set on low and cook three hours. After three hours stir until well blended. Drop by the spoonful onto parchment or waxed paper. I used a ⅛ cup measure for this.
All the ingredients can be found on the baking aisle of most grocery stores. While the recipe didn’t call for it, I topped mine with a tiny pinch of Maldon crunchy sea salt flakes, a favorite salt that I have written about. Other options might include adding miniature marshmallows or substituting coconut for the peanuts. Peppermint candies would be good too. I didn’t count how many peanut clusters this made but there were plenty extra. I imagine that a person could make these using miniature muffin tins lined with cupcake papers for a nice presentation. I keep these in the fridge; that way the chocolate is a bit firmer and has a nice crunchy texture to it.
I ate a peanut cluster with ice cream and then I reminisced about a Dairy Queen Peanut Buster parfait. This candy would make a nice Christmas present, especially when accompanied by a handwritten copy of the recipe. Thank you, Brenda, for sharing your recipe for this special treat with us.