Store bought candies can be expensive, but cluster candies can be made at home with a few simple ingredients. To make the clusters simply melt the chocolate of your choice in a microwave. Use a microwave safe bowl and make sure the chocolate is in similarly sized pieces. Microwave on low for a minute or two and gradually add more time until the chocolate is just melted. Once that is done, stir in the cluster ingredients of your choice. Cover a cookie sheet or pan with waxed paper and drop small clusters of the candy mixture onto the cookie sheet. Refrigerate them until they set.
Peanut clusters are some of the more popular candies out there. Just be sure to use a low or no salt type or it may not taste right. You can also add cashews, almonds, pecans or other nuts. You can buy nut pieces at the grocery store and this is more economical than buying whole nuts.
Many enjoy dried raisins, but you can also try cranberries or chopped dried apricots. Don't try this with fresh fruits as they can add too much moisture and make the cluster fall apart.
If you really have a sweet tooth, chop up a candy bar that contains caramel and nuts, and add the pieces into the chocolate. Or, crush peppermint hard candies and stir them in. If you have too much candy after Halloween or Christmas, make these clusters and give them away as gifts.
Chocolate covered pretzels can be time consuming to dip, but it is faster and easier to make clusters out of the broken pieces. Just make sure the pieces are small enough to bite into easily.
Shredded coconut is inexpensive in the store and can easily be stirred into melted chocolate. The bagged kind is better because it is dry and won't add extra moisture to your clusters.
I had not thought about using dried fruits. Thanks for the list. H5
These candies sound awesome. H5
select one here...