Chocolate nut clusters, delicious and crunchy treat made of toasted nuts and dark chocolate. Nut clusters are easy treats that can be made literally in minutes.
When valli announced candy theme for the Blogging marathon, i had quite a lot of recipes to try. When you have lot of options to chose from, it is always confusing, you keep jumping from one recipe to another, unable to decide. I chose 6 recipes and had to pick 3 from the list, was a tough selection, but happy with what i chose.
How to make Chocolate nut clusters
Chocolate nut clusters, quickie recipe, that needs only 2 ingredients roasted nuts and good quality chocolate. I always have Lindt 70% chocolate handy, for my sweet cravings.
I have used equal amount of almonds and cashews for the chocolate nut clusters recipe, you can use nuts of your choice. First step is to toast the nuts, i prefer the oven to toast them. Spread the roughly chopped nuts in a oven-proof tray and toast @ 180C for 10 minutes. Once toasted, let the nuts cool completely.
Cooling the nuts is important, as they crisp up after cooling, or else we end up with soft chunks of nuts coated with chocoalte. To make the clusters, we need to melt the chocolate. I prefer to melt it in the microwave. Take chopped dark chocoalte in a microwave safe bowl, microwave high for 1 minute. Remove the chocolate, stir, check the chocolate for chunks. If there are chunks, then proceed in bursts of 30 seconds to get a smooth melted chocolate
Add the roasted, cooled nuts to the chocolate, along with cinnamon powder and mix well. Lay a parchment lined tray and place scoops of chocoalte nut mixture on it. Refrigerate teh tray until set. It should set in 10 minutes. Remove the clusters from the tray and store it in an air-tight container in the fridge.
I had hard time, keeping my kiddos away from these until i finished clicking the chocolate nut clusters. These make a wonderful gift for any festive occassion. They are healthy, guilt-free treats , they make a great grab & go kind of snacks. Do try and let me know how you liked
Chocoalte Nut Clusters | Vegan | Gluten-free
Ingredients
- 100 grams dark chocolate i use lindt 70% cocoa
- 75 grams chopped almonds
- 75 grams chopped cashewnuts
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder optional
Instructions
To toast the nuts
- I have used the oven for toasting the oven. Takethe chopped nuts in a oven-proof tray, add a teaspoon of oil and using your hands,mix it into the nuts well
- Preheat the oven to 180 C and toast the nuts 8-10 minutes. The temperature and timings vary from oven to oven, so keep an eye from 8th minute. Once done, remove the nuts and let it cool completely, before using it in the recipe.
Let us make the chocolate clusters
- In a microwave safe bowl, add roughly chopped chocolate, microwave it for 60 seconds first. Remove it and give it a stir, check if all the chocolate is melted, if you have huge chunks of chocolate, then microwave it for another 15-20 seconds and mix it again.
- Remove the chocolate from the microwave, stir it until smooth. Let it sit for 10-15 seconds, now add the chopped, roasted and well cooled nuts to this chooclate, add the cinnamon and mix it well.
- Keep a parchment lined tray ready by your side.Place spoonful of chocoalte nuts on the tray, giving some gap inbetween eachlump you put on the tray
- Refrigerate the tray until the chocolate is set. It would be ready in 10 minutes. Remove the clusters and refrigerate them. If the chocolate is well tempered it would stay good in room temperature also, if not it might start melting.
- Enjoy these nutty chocolate clusters, they make a great snack, healthy too.
Video
Notes
- i prefer using the oven to roast the nuts. You can also do it on stove-top, but take care not to burn the nuts, do it in simmer flame until you get a toasted aroma of the nuts.
- The nuts must be completely cooled before adding it to the chocolate.
- Again i prefer the microwave to melt the chocolate. you can also melt it on stove-top, follow bain-marie/double boiler method.
- I have used cinnamon powder as flavoring, you can also use vanilla or your choice flavors.
- I prefer to refrigerate the nut clusters, since the chocolate might melt in room temperature, if its not tempered well.
Disclaimer
I m not a Doctor or a Nutritionist The Nutrition information provided above comes from the plugin and is only an estimate.
Enjoy making these chocolate nut clusters during the festival season and enjoy a healthy and guilt-free snack.
If you have tried this recipe and like it, give it a star rating or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #icampinmmykitchen and tagging me @priyasrinivasan.
You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | twitter
Rafeeda AR
These are like home made cadbury nut bar... slurp! I am trying to figure out how you kept yourself away from them while making it... 😉
Samira Gupta
A nice way to feed nuts to children. Also liked the addition of cinnamon.
Gayathri Kumar
Same pinch Priya. Even I made nut cluster for this week. The combination of nuts and chocolate is just wonderful.
Harini R
I know for a fact that these are addictive and I am always scared to make such goodies as we cannot limit the portion size.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
I love these tiny bunches of chocolate nut clusters and is a great way to snack on some nuts along with the goodness of dark chocolate. Love you video as well Priya!
Swathi
Love combo of nuts and chocolate yet to make a chocolate nut clusters. I need to my kids will love it.
Em
These look so yummy! I will have to make them like now. Scuh cravings!!
Jo
My kids would love this and it's super fun to get them involved in making these delicacies. Nuts and chocolate is such a super fun treat
Pavani
These look so cute and perfect way to feed kids with nuts. Nuts with chocolate is treat for anyone. I can have them all.
CookwithRenu
My son and I can munch on them anytime of the day. They are so addictive and you have made them with almonds and cashews, making it guilt free. delicious.
Shobha
This is a very easy recipe ..I like almonds but not cashews. I will give it a try replacing cashew with walnuts.
Chef Mireille
what a delicious protein packed snack and with the chocolate the kids will love this snack for sure!
Swati
The chocolate and nut clusters look so tempting.. I love this one as it is very easy to make and so delicious with crunchy nuts!!
Mayuri Patel
Priya, your chocolate nut clusters remind me of when my kids were young. Come Friday they would want me to take them to a nearby bakery as they made these clusters. Back then didn't even blog and frankly had no time to make them at home. Now, when I time, the kids are all adults and fancy other treats than chocolate nut clusters. Having said that, I like to make for Diwali with almonds and raisins.
Sujata Roy
Such an easy quick and delicious recipe. Nuts and chocolate who could say no. All time favourite for munching time of kids and adults both. Loved it.
Narmadha
These looks so tempting Priya. Being lover of both chocolate and nuts it will be treat for me. So easy to make them too