Slow Cooker Chocolate Peanut Clusters

Slow Cooker Chocolate Peanut Clusters are one of the easiest, and in my opinion, one of the most delicious Christmas cookie tray recipes that is out there.

Simply throw everything in a crock pot and within a couple of hours you will have delicious candies ready to enjoy!

I have been making a version of this recipe for many years now. However, I used to use a combination of peanuts, cashews and pecans.

Then I would mix the nuts with 3 different types of chocolate chips and bark.

That specific recipe also required a little shortening and vanilla to be added to the mixture.

However, a few years ago I didn’t have enough cashews or pecans to make the recipe. So I decided to switch things up a little bit.

Instead of buying expensive cashews, I decided to stick to making chocolate peanut clusters instead.

Peanut Allergy?

But what do you do if you have a peanut allergy? No worries, simply swap out a different type of nut.

As we said before, we have used pecans and cashews in the past. And we have even considered leaving the nuts out all together and adding in pretzel pieces instead!

Type of Chocolate To Use

Now it is time to determine what type of chocolate to add into the slow cooker to make the best nut clusters!

Although there are many types to choose from, I prefer using a combination of chocolate chips and almond bark.

In fact, I use 4 different types of chocolate for this recipe. But the important thing to remember here is to use some form of bark or melting wafers.

This is what makes the chocolate set up properly so it forms into a candy!

Slow Cooker Chocolate Nut Clusters

The first step in making this recipe is to use a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker. We love our 6 quart programmable Crock Pot.

Pour the nuts in the bottom of the slow cooker as the first layer.

Then add the chocolate candies and almond bark on top. We started with an equal amount of semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips.

Then we added a bag of Reese’s peanut butter chips to the mixture. And finally we added 16 ounces of white almond bark.

Set your slow cooker on LOW and wait for the chocolate nut clusters to melt together.

Stir every half hour. All slow cookers heat at different rates. For us, it took a little over 90 minutes for everything to melt and blend together.

Once everything is melted, stir one last time. Then using a medium cookie scoop or a tablespoon, place a mound of the clusters on 1-2 parchment paper lined baking sheets.

Allow the clusters to cool completely and set up. You can do this at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Once set, store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator or freezer. And let’s hope they last until it is time for your cookie trays to be assembled!

Our Other Favorite Cookie Tray Recipes – Including our famous, easy to make Peanut Brittle recipe!

Enjoy!