I love giving Christmas candies for gifts. And some are so so simple. I have always been a firm believer in that you get what you put into life. And recipes are no different. Meaning that if you spend 5 minutes on a recipe, it will not be as good as the recipe that took an hour. Then I tried to make Nut Clusters. They are seriously the easiest and most delicious candies that I have ever made! Even easier and better than my Christmas chocolate/peanut butter fudge!
Christmas Candies for Gifts : Nut Clusters – The Process
The process for these Christmas candies for gifts could not be simpler or faster. The first thing that must be decided is “What nuts are you gonna use?” I used pecans and almonds. And this is not the recipe to go with unsalted nuts. Trust me, the chocolate and the salt go perfectly together. There are things to keep in mind when you are choosing your types of nuts. First is the crunch factor. This is why I chose almonds for the change in texture to add some complexity. Beyond that, you can choose the nuts you like keeping in mind their properties. For example, pistachios can be bitter if you use too many. But by all means, experiment and see which mix you like best.
After that just coat the nuts in the melted chocolate. For this you have another choice. What kind of chocolate will you use? For this you just need to take into account how sweet you like your chocolate. Or how sweet the person you are gifting these to like it. I went with a mix of milk chocolate and semi sweet.
After the nuts are coated,scoop out the mounds and put them on a cookie sheet to set. Then for decoration you can use whatever you like. I chose a nice design of some melted peanut butter chips.
I hope you all enjoy this recipe and have fun this holiday season. It’s so easy to let the stresses of the season kind of ruin it but don’t. Just relax and enjoy it with your family. I’ll be back next week with another delicious and easy recipe. If you want to see what I’m up to, follow me on Facebook Instagram Snapchat and Twitter Take care. Bye guys.
Nut Clusters
A clump of mixed nuts covered in chocolate and decorated with a peanut butter swirl.
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb of Semisweet Chocolate
- 1 Cup of Salted Almonds
- 1 Cup of Halved Pecans
- 1/4 of a Cup of Peanut Butter Chips
- 2 TBSP of Heavy Cream
- 1/2 of a lb of Milk Chocolate
Instructions
- Empty all the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals until fully melted.
- Add in the nuts and toss to coat until the nuts are evenly coated in the chocolate.
- Portion out 2 TBSP sized mounds of the mixture onto a parchment paper lined sheet tray. Set aside.
- Empty the peanut butter chips into a microwave safe bowl and melt at 30 second intervals until completely melted.
- Add heavy cream and stir until you get a smooth consistancy that is slightly runny.
- Place the mixture into a piping bag.
- Pipe a wavy design on the top of the clusters.
- Put the cluster in the fridge to set for 5 minutes.
Notes
You can use any mixture of nuts you like. Just make sure your final quantity is 2 cups.
If you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below, message me on instagram, facebook or leave me an email.