Chocolate Caramel Peanut Clusters
Happy 4th of July!! I often wonder when reading about the American Revolution and the early years of our country (I do this fairly often), what our Founding Fathers would think of America today. Do you think that too or am I just nerding out on history??
Also, as a side-note, one day when I own a house with a backyard and get a dog, preferably a husky or lab, one of the potential names of my future dog is George Washington. I also have the names of my future children picked out and they all happen to be from presidents… I swear I’m not that history obsessed I just really like presidential names! I mean, come on, how cute would it be to see a little Abe and Teddy running around?
Anyway, back to the dessert at hand: Chocolate Caramel Peanut Clusters. These are seriously the easiest thing you will ever make. In fact, if you need to whip up a dessert for today, look no further! These are inspired by my Aunt Joy’s peanut clusters that she used to make every year around Christmas. I was going to recreate her classic recipe but I had a huge hankering for caramel so I decided to incorporate caramel into the mix. These definitely hit the spot and satisfied my caramel craving!
Although this is a super simple recipe, it is done in two steps with refrigeration time in between. Step one is the caramel/peanut cluster formation. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before step 2, which is dipping the clusters in chocolate. Refrigerate for at least another hour before serving!
Be warned, these are addicting but totally delicious! Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful 4th of July!
-Kelly
Ingredients:
- 1 bag Kraft soft caramels
- 3/4 can of cocktail peanuts
- 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 bag white chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbls heavy cream
Directions:
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In medium saucepan, melt caramels and 2 tbls. heavy cream until smooth. Stir in the cocktail peanuts.
- Drop the caramel mixture into small mounds on the parchment paper. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
- For the chocolate coating, melt both bags of chocolate chips and 1/4 cup heavy cream in a saucepan until smooth.
- Using two forks, dip one cluster into chocolate mixture until completely covered. Return to baking sheet.
- Repeat until all clusters are fully coated and refrigerate for at least an additional hour.
- Enjoy as desired! (Be careful, sometimes best to let sit outside the refrigerator before eating to soften the caramel.)
