Dark Chocolate Peanut Clusters
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot), and Zola to GO! recipe. These are delightfully decadent treats.
CAUTION: These are candy. They have about half as many carbs as the original made with lighter chocolate and sugar, but they are still candy. I am hoping one will satisfy you. The peanut butter ones are especially dreamy. The best news is the glycemic index on a dark chocolate nut cluster is 21. Anything under 50 is low so this is really a pretty healthy treat overall.
Servings: Makes approximately 2 dozen clusters
Ingredients:
- three 3.5 oz bars of dark chocolate (72% cacao or 70% at the lowest) chopped
- 2 tsp of coconut oil (find this is the baking or oil section, it’s white and semi-firm)
- 3-4 cups of roasted Spanish peanuts. If you can’t find Spanish, you can use regular roasted peanuts. You can even do almonds. The bigger the nut the fewer you’ll need or the fewer the recipe will make.
- sea salt to garnish
Instructions:
In the top of your double broiler put in your chopped chocolate. Heat on medium high until you get a mild boil going. Stir chocolate occasionally until melted. Won’t take more than five minutes once it gets started. Add the coconut oil and take off the heat. Stir.
Add the roasted peanuts. Add enough peanuts so that there is no pool of chocolate left in the bottom. You want just chocolate coated peanuts.
You can begin forming them while the chocolate is still hot or wait until it cools down a bit. (Depends on whether you have kids helping.)
Take out a cookie sheet. Line it with waxed paper or parchment paper. Place spoonfuls of the nut/chocolate mixture on the paper. They will spread a bit. If you want them thicker go back and add another peanut or two or three on top. As they cool they will become thicker.
Place your pan in the refrigerator to firm up the candies. In my house, when I was little, we put them in an uninsulated attic. Our cookie sheets would not fit in the refrigerator. This is where they were stored, too. You can also put them in a clean place in your garage if it’s cool.
Store covered or in Tupperware in a cool place. They will last several weeks.
For Z3 and even into ZLife, don’t over do it. One a day should satisfy your sweet tooth. Eat them like a “squirrel” in teeny bites and you can make one last for quite a while!
Variations:
My family did Spanish peanuts
- You can also make some with regular roasted peanuts
- With one batch I added 1/3 unsweetened peanut butter (ration one cup of chocolate to 1/3 cup of peanut butter — or less). And I even added blobs for a peanut butter swirl. The peanut butter won’t harden but it will taste like the inside of a peanut butter cup.
- You can also mince up a few dried cranberries and add those to the plain version for another variation. Careful on the cranberries. They are higher carb. Sometimes I add a whole cranberry on top as a marker so I know which ones have the cranberries in them.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Strawberry Smoosh
ZS-5 Ingredients or Less,Z2-Desserts,ZSpecialties
Strawberry Smoosh is my husband's FAVORITE ZReduction dessert. How could I have been so lax? I'm almost ashamed! Here's the recipe for all to enjoy!
Baked Kale or Swiss Chard Chips
ZSpecialties,Z2-Sides,ZS-5 Ingredients or Less,Z2-Appetizers & Snacks
If you have a hankering for potato chips, try these!
Angry Sandwich Sauce
ZS-5 Ingredients or Less,ZSpecialties,Z3-Sauces & Dressings
Chris, VP Anger Management, loves his food spicy. He invented this sauce to go on sandwiches.
Pesto
ZSpecialties,Z3-Sauces & Dressings,ZS-5 Ingredients or Less
I have seen in some restaurant menus that chefs have made pesto with walnuts, so I decided macadamia nuts must work too. Now I can attest. They not only work, it tastes great!
Southern Tomato Pie
Z3.5-Appetizers,Z3.5-Vegetarian,ZS-Holiday,Z3.5-Sides,ZSpecialties
Two things I love about living mid-South: fried green tomatoes, and tomato pie.
Chive Butter Biscuits
Z3.5-Appetizers,ZSpecialties,ZS-Dieter Favorites,Z3.5-Sides,ZS-Holiday
This is a combination of a few recipes I found. Love the fact that these are low carb and tasty!
Healthy Halloween Treats
Here are some recommendations for healthy Halloween treats the whole family can enjoy.
How to Cheat on Your Diet at Thanksgiving
Featured Posts,ZSpecialties,Zola Blog,ZS-Holiday
Remember, the average American gains at least 7 pounds over the holidays. You don’t have to follow the crowd.
4 Comments
Add comment Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Just wondering if you can tell me what kind of chocolate to use? Should I use the baker’s chocolate from the baking aisle or the dark chocolate “candy” bars from the health food section? I bought some of the candy kind from the health food section once, only to find out that it had 6 grams of sugar with the 80% cocoa. Please advice as to which to use. Thanks!
You had the right thing with the candy bar version. Ghiradelli is good. Just look for the 70 – 72% on the label. The higher the cocoa content the less sugar. 6 grams in a whole bar is not bad compared to other chocolate types of chocolate bars. You have to have some sugar in the bars or 100% cacao tastes like dirt.
you do have to remember this is candy. the real bonus is the fact that you’re not using much… and the peanuts will slow down the glycemic index/uptake. it only scores a 21… anything under 50 is good. so don’t eat too many. enjoy them. savor them.
Hi – These were a hit at Christmas! I used dark bitter sweet Belgium chocolate chips (the really good kind) and dry roasted peanuts (salted). I made a variation with cashews and also some with peanut butter mixed in (organic unsweetened). The ones with the peanut butter were the best. You just have to make them really small; about a teaspoon full for each one. You don’t have to worry about having too many because your friends and family will eat them all up.