Thursday, July 28, 2011

Crunchy Nut Clusters

Today's chocolate-y recipe is for Crunchy Nut Clusters!


Crunchy Nut Clusters
Ingredients:
Candy Cups (Mini Cupcake Wrappers)
2 2/3 Cups Sweetened Flaked Coconut
2 Cups of Pecans or 1 Jar (6 Ounce) Macadamia Nuts, chopped 

2 2/3 Cups white or semisweet chocolate chips
Glaze: 1/3 cup white chocolate (melted with 1/2 tablespoon vegetable shortening) 
or 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate 


Directions:

  • Line 4 miniature muffin pans with candy cups; set them aside. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the coconut and nuts on separate cookie sheets. Bake each until golden brown, about 9 minutes for the nuts and 10 for the coconut, stirring every few minutes to keep them from burning. Let them cool.
  • Combine the toasted coconut and nuts in a medium-size bowl. Melt the chocolate chips -- white or semisweet -- in the microwave according to the package directions. Add the melted chocolate to the coconut mixture; stir well. Drop the mixture by heaping teaspoonfuls into the candy cups. Chill until set, about 45 minutes.
  • Melt the remaining chocolate according to the package directions. Pour the contents into a ziplock bag. Snip off a small corner of the bag, then drizzle the chocolate over the clusters. Chill until the glaze is set, about 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Fun Fact of the Day!
Chocolate contains two stimulants also found in coffee - caffeine and theobromine - but in relatively small amounts. Fifty M&Ms, for example, have about as much caffeine as a cup of decaffeinated coffee.

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