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Crockpot Peanut Clusters are the perfect way to give your oven a break during all the holiday baking. This easy crockpot candy is made right in the slow cooker and is perfect for gift giving or on a dessert tray!
Crock Pot Peanut Clusters
Homemade candy is one of my favorite things to make for the holidays. With all the Christmas cookies being baked, it is nice to add some no-bake treats to the menu.
These dark chocolate crockpot peanut clusters are incredibly good and dangerously easy!
With only four ingredients (plus sprinkles!), they are the perfect treat to whip up in no time.
The benefit of using the slow cooker for the melted chocolate is it heats nice and evenly at a low heat without the hassle of a double boiler.
Added to homemade hard candy, crockpot salted caramel fudge, peanut butter fudge, and candied almonds, these treats are perfect to bag up and gift to family, friends, and neighbors during the holiday season.
Why you’ll love these Slow Cooker Peanut Clusters
Easy Candy Recipe – It doesn’t get much easier than 4 simple ingredients made in the slow cooker!
Edible Gift – These little clusters make the perfect holiday gifts when you package them up in little bags with ribbon.
Great Recipe – Switch up the sprinkles and they’re a simple dessert idea for any time of year!
Chocolate Lovers – You use a couple kinds of chocolate which come together beautifully. Mixed with the salty peanuts, it’s the perfect contrast.
Ingredients
Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this recipe. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card.
- Peanuts – You’ll want to use roasted crunchy peanuts. Other nuts will work too – almonds, cashews, etc.
- Chocolate Chips – You’ll want to use a good quality chocolate here. I use Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips.
- German Chocolate Bar – German chocolate is a dark chocolate baking bar that you can find in the baking aisle of your market. It is sweeter than semi-sweet and good for balance.
- Almond Bark – I used dark chocolate almond bark. Or you can try my white chocolate crockpot candy!
- Sprinkles and/or Sea Salt – Though optional, I like to finish my chocolates off with either sprinkles or a coarse salt flake.
Tools you’ll need
- Slow Cooker – Melting the chocolate in the slow cooker makes this process super simple.
- Cookie Scoop – I use a medium cookie scoop (1.5 Tb) to portion out the chocolates and it works beautifully.
- Baking Sheets – I like to have lipped baking sheets so nothing slides off the edge.
- Sprinkles! – Colorful Christmas sprinkles are optional but encouraged.
How to make Crockpot Peanut Clusters
They’re so easy to make. You ready?
- STEP ONE: Spread the peanuts into the bottom of the slow cooker.
- STEP TWO: Layer the chocolate over the top.
- STEP THREE: Cover and cook on LOW for 1.5-2 hours. Give it a stir to make sure it’s fully melted.
- STEP FOUR: Use a cookie scoop to portion out the peanut clusters onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or wax paper. As you scoop, sprinkle on colorful sprinkles or coarse salt.
- STEP FIVE: Let the chocolates set and harden for approximately 30 minutes.
THAT’S IT! And I honestly stretched that process out. It’s really only a couple simple steps.
How to store them
Store these chocolates in an airtight container and they’ll stay fresh for a long time making them perfect as a make-ahead treat, but they don’t last long in my house!
Can I freeze them?
Yes, chocolates will freeze well. After they’re set, put them in airtight containers or freezer bags and move to the freezer. Move them to the fridge to thaw before serving.
FAQs
If for some reason you can’t find a German chocolate bar, you can sub more semi-sweet chocolate chips OR for every ounce, substitute one tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa, one tablespoon plus one teaspoon of granulated sugar and one teaspoon of vegetable shortening.
Quite the conundrum, almond bark is not made from almonds….or bark. It is a “chocolate-like confection” that is sometimes called candy coating or candiquik. I opt for the dark chocolate version in my peanut clusters, but you can also use “”white” or “vanilla”.
The beauty of it is it melts wonderfully. The ingredients include sugar and palm oil instead of cocoa butter so it doesn’t seize up like chocolate can.
If you don’t want to use peanuts, you can use cashews or almonds or whatever other nuts you like – you can even blend them. Just opt for roasted and not raw. You could also throw in some pretzels, dried fruits…
As written, this recipe, using a medium cookie scoop to portion it out, makes 30 peanut clusters. You can easily double it in a 6qt crockpot to make twice as many, or use a small cookie scoop to just make smaller candies.
Need more homemade candy recipes? Try these:
Peanut Butter Balls (“Buckeyes”)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Saltine Toffee (“Christmas Crack”)
Chocolate Cranberry Clusters
Nutter Butter Balls
Christmas Oreo Bon Bons
Click to view my entire collection of Christmas recipes.
Dark Chocolate Crockpot Peanut Clusters
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 ounces roasted peanuts
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 ounces German chocolate bars
- 16 ounces dark chocolate almond bark
- sprinkles
Instructions
- Pour peanuts into the bottom of a 6qt slow cooker. Layer chocolate chips, German chocolate, and almond bark on top.
- Cover the crockpot and cook on LOW for 1.5-2 hours. Stir after 1.5 hours to see if fully melted.
- Line lipped baking sheets with parchment paper or wax paper. Use a medium cookie scoop to portion out the chocolate clusters onto the prepared cookie sheets. Top with sprinkles or coarse salt.
- Let chocolates set and harden for approximately 30 minutes.
- Store in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Would this same method work with other types of nuts too I wonder?
Yep 🙂 I mention it in the text but any roasted nut will work well.
Doyou use salted or unsalted peanuts?
Whichever you prefer. I use unsalted.