Dark Chocolate Peanut Clusters

Dark chocolate peanut clusters, also know as crock pot Christmas crack (!), is easy-to-make candy that’s great for the holidays. You only need four ingredients and a slow cooker to make it. Make a big batch for an easy gift for family and friends… or keep it all to yourself! I won’t tell.

Seeing as it’s the holidays, I figure there’s no better excuse to make things with “crack” in the name. In this case, we’re making crock pot Christmas “crack” or what I like to call dark chocolate peanut clusters.

There are many variations of this holiday treat (I played around with a recipe I found on Just a Pinch) and mine has a salty-sweet combo of roasted peanuts, dark chocolate, and peanut butter. There’s some vanilla in there too, so its sort of like a peanut butter cup fell into a vat with some whole peanuts and white vanilla candy.

I’m not usually into things with the word “crack” in the name, but this four-ingredient chocolate candy is so good and so simple to make I’ve made batches of the stuff over the last few weeks. I’ve given out little baggies of the stuff and have gotten requests for more, more, more! So, the name really isn’t hyperbole: crock pot Christmas “crack” really lives up to expectations.

Make it for gifts or make it for yourself – if you love chocolate, peanut butter, vanilla and nuts all wrapped up in a piece of candy, well, this is a recipe for you.

FOUR INGREDIENTS AND A SLOW COOKER

I’m not one for fussy candy recipes, but this one I can handle. It’s so ridiculously easy it’s hardly a recipe. All you need to start are four ingredients and a slow cooker, that’s it.

• 12 ounces dark chocolate: I used dark chocolate bars but you can use chocolate chips if you prefer. Other recipes call for milk chocolate or semi-sweet so you can play around with it if you want to switch it up.
• 16 ounces roasted salted peanuts: I love the salty/sweet combo but if you’re not into it you can use plain roasted peanuts, too.
• 16 ounces vanilla candy coating
• 10 ounces peanut butter chips

Pull out your slow cooker and layer all of the ingredients in it starting with the peanuts followed by the chocolate, peanut butter chips, and vanilla candy coating.

Set the slow cooker to low and melt the candy for 30 minutes. Give it a stir and let it cook for another 30 minutes or until all of the candy is melted. Give it all a really good stir so it’s well combined.

All slow cookers are different so you may need more or less time, so keep an eye on it. You definitely don’t want it to burn!

The most time-consuming part is scooping all of that melted goodness into mini cupcake liners. I admit it’s easier to just scoop it directly onto wax paper in little mounds, but I like the little liners so I opted to do it that way. If you have a small cookie scoop it makes the job easier. I scooped a generous tablespoon for each candy.

It depends on how big you make your candies, but I am able to get about 70 candies using mini cupcake liners and filling them almost all the way. The candy is pretty rich, so a little goes a long way.

Once you’ve filled the cups just pop them in the fridge (I line mine up on a baking sheet) until the chocolate is set.

MORE FUN FACTS

• Want a big giant batch? You can double the recipe!
• These dark chocolate peanut clusters keep well at room temperature as long as it’s not too warm.
• You can also keep them in the refrigerator if you like them chilled.
• Because they keep so well they are perfect for gifting and for candy or cookie platters.

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