5-Minute Dark Chocolate Covered Peanuts (Healthy-ish!)
2 ingredients are all you need for The BEST Dark Chocolate Covered Peanuts Clusters. Perfect for healthier Christmas treats and as handmade gifts!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (146 grams) dark chocolate chips (see notes for substitutions)
- 1 cup (146 grams) peanuts, roasted and salted (can be substituted with unroasted and/or unsalted depending on preference)
- sea salt or flake salt for garnish
Instructions
- Add the dark chocolate chips to a large microwavable bowl.
- Start by microwaving at 50% of your microwave capacity (for me, this is 400 Watt) for 45 seconds. Stir the melted chocolate using a spatula. Then repeat microwaving in 15 to 30 seconds increments until the chocolate chips are melted.
- Tips; You might need to do step 2 above for 3-5 times, since you want to be extra careful to not burn your chocolate. Therefore, always start low in the microwave power, and only increase bit by bit.- If your chocolate chips are not melting quickly enough, you can increasing the percentage of your microwave power to 75% instead of 50%.- Similarly, decrease the power percentage to 25% if your chocolate chips melt too fast. This is important to do because you do not want to burn your chocolate.
- Now stir in the peanuts and fold with a spatula until all the peanuts are evenly coated.
- Option 1: Making peanut clustersUsing a spoon, transfer a scoop of the peanut and chocolate mixture to a lined baking sheet. Repeat until your baking sheet is full.Option 2: Making individual chocolate covered peanutsIf you can use chopsticks, use chopsticks to transfer each individual chocolate covered peanut to a lined baking sheet. Otherwise, use 2 spoons to help you do this.
- Sprinkle some sea salt or flake sea salt as garnish.Also feel free to sprinkle some finely chopped dried fruits (such as cranberries), and nuts for garnish.
- Refrigerate until serving, for at least 30 minutes.
Notes
Top Tips
- Feel free to substitute the dark chocolate chips with semi-sweet chocolate chips, or use a high-quality dark chocolate bar (at least 70% pure cacao).
- With a chocolate bar, make sure you chop/shave it up into smaller pieces first to make sure that they melt evenly.
- I highly recommend using roasted and salted peanuts for the best flavor. Roasted peanuts add an extra layer to this recipe whereas a bit of salt in a sweet recipe makes for a great combo!
- Do NOT skip lining your baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminium foil.
- If you don't line it, you'll most likely have a hard time getting the peanut chocolate clusters out!
- Make sure that your peanuts are at room temperature, and that it wasn't sitting outside in the cold winter/didn't just come out from the fridge. I know, we don't usually store peanuts in the fridge, but you know, I just have to say it just in case.
- If the peanuts are cold, there's a chance that your melted chocolate chips will harden again such that they will just form large clumps that you do not want.