Two ingredients (and a microwave) are all you need to make this incredibly easy 2 Ingredient Peanut Clusters recipe. They take just about five minutes of prep. That’s it!
For more ideas, check out all of our dessert recipes.
If you’re looking for an easy recipe to satisfy your sweet tooth, this Peanut Clusters recipe is it. It’s so incredible simple and only requires two ingredients, which you probably have in your pantry right now: chocolate chips and salty peanuts.
It’s a great recipe for the holiday season too. You can make a bunch of them to bring on your platter for a cookie exchange or to hand out as gifts for your coworkers.
Personally, I make this peanut cluster recipe for parties and put them out on the table with the rest of the desserts. That way, if someone wants a small sweet treat rather than a large piece of cake or a cupcake, this is perfect.
However you serve this, everyone will love it.
If you enjoy peanuts, you’re in luck. We have a huge list of Dessert Recipes with Peanuts to give you more ideas.
Peanut Clusters Recipe
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Peanut Clusters Ingredients:
- 12 oz. bag of milk chocolate chips
- 2 cups cocktail peanuts with sea salt
How To Make Peanut Clusters:
Melt the chocolate in a microwavable-safe bowl.
The easiest way to do this is to melt the chocolate for 30 minutes and give it a really good stir, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. Continue at 30 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted.
You want to keep watching it because chocolate can burn really quickly. And if it does, there’s no reviving it.
Scoop the peanuts into the chocolate.
Gently stir until the peanuts until they’re completely covered.
Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop out globs of the chocolate peanut mixture.
Drop the little clusters onto a silicone baking mat-lined cookie sheet.
Continue until you’re out of peanuts.
If you have any leftover chocolate still in the bowl, you can add extra peanuts and scoop those onto the baking tray as well.
Let the chocolate peanut clusters cool completely on the silicone baking mat before transferring them into an airtight container.
Side note: You want to find a cool place to let these harden that’s not the fridge. If they go into the fridge while they’re cooling, there’s a good chance that they’ll discolor and white streaks will form and they won’t be as pretty.
That’s fine if you’re making them for yourself, but not as fine if you’re making these for a bake sale or as holiday gifts.
Slow Cooker Chocolate Peanut Clusters Variation
We prefer the microwave method because it takes under five minutes of prep time. The slow cooker method is popular, but a lot more time consuming.
But, if you prefer to make slow cooker peanut clusters, here’s how you would do that:
Line the bottom with a slow cooker liner. Trust me on this: slow cooker candy can get really messy to clean up.
Put the peanuts on the bottom of the slow cooker and the chocolate chips on top. If you put the chocolate on the bottom to start, the chocolate will burn.
Heat on low for about 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.
When the chocolate is completely melted, scoop the clusters onto a silicone baking mat, just like the recipe above.
This is similar to how we make our Slow Cooker Candy with cereal.
Peanut Clusters: Frequently Asked Questions
Peanut clusters will last for about two to three weeks if left in airtight containers at room temperature.
Peanut clusters don’t need to be refrigerated. They’ll last just fine on the counter.
However, if it’s warm where you are and you’re worried about the chocolate melting and the clusters melting together, you can store the airtight containers in the fridge.
If you need to, you can absolutely freeze peanut clusters. Make sure they’re completely cooled, then put them in freezer bags. They’re last five to six months in the freeze.
Just be sure to completely thaw chocolate peanut clusters before eating it so you don’t hurt your teeth.
A silicone baking mat is one of those kitchen items that you need. Once you have it, you wonder how you ever made sweet treats without it. It makes life so much easier.
Treats with melted chocolate, like these clusters or chocolate covered-peanuts, and homemade cookies will easily slide off of the silicone baking mat without getting stuck.
If you don’t have a silicone baking mat, you can use wax paper or parchment paper. I just prefer a baking mat because it’s reusable, making it more frugal and eco-friendly.
Since this is just two ingredients, the type of chocolate you choose really matters. You want to choose a high quality milk chocolate for this recipe.
You could use semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips instead, if you prefer. You could also use a combination of chocolates, if you think milk chocolate chips would be too sweet but semisweet chocolate chips wouldn’t be sweet enough.
When we’re melting chocolate as part of a treat, we suggest using vanilla or chocolate almond bark. That’s really forgivable. You can’t over melt and burn the almond bark. And if it starts to cool, you can easily reheat it.
It takes very similar to chocolate, but it’s not chocolate. So, with a treat like this, with only two simple ingredients — and one of which isn’t sweet — we don’t prefer it.
Many people make these during the holiday season for neighborhood gifts. If that’s why you’re making them, you want to change this up just a little bit.
Instead of making the clusters on a baking tray, line a mini muffin tray with mini cupcake liners with holiday images on them. Scoop the clusters into those wrappers and let them cool.
Pack them into treat bags with a ribbon or add them to your Christmas cookie platters.
More Sweet 2 Ingredient Recipes:
The best part about this recipe is that it doesn’t take a lot of ingredients. It’s literally just two. If you’re looking for other two ingredient dessert recipes because that’s you’re speed, we have a few other ideas you might like.
Try our 2 Ingredient Peanut Butter Fudge or our Oreo Sushi.
2 Ingredient Peanut Clusters
Two ingredients (and a microwave) are all you need to make these incredibly easy Peanut Clusters. They take just about five minutes of prep. That’s it!
Ingredients
- 12 oz. bag of milk chocolate chips
- 2 cups cocktail peanuts with sea salt
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate in a microwavable-safe bowl.
- Scoop the peanuts into the chocolate.
- Gently stir until the peanuts until they’re completely covered.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop out globs of the chocolate peanut mixture.
- Drop the little clusters onto a silicone baking mat-lined cookie sheet.
- Continue until you’re out of peanuts.
- Let the chocolate peanut clusters cool completely on the silicone baking mat before transferring them into an airtight container.
Notes
If you have any leftover chocolate after scooping all the clusters, you can add extra peanuts and scoop those onto the baking tray as well.
Nutrition Information
Yield
30Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 83Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 3mgSodium 29mgCarbohydrates 8gFiber 0gSugar 7gProtein 1g
Have you tried this Peanut Clusters recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments.
Susie
Thursday 18th of January 2024
Fantastic, love eating them and giving away. Thank you for the quick recipe
amy liu dong
Saturday 15th of April 2023
One of the easiest and most delicious treats or desserts to make. My husband loves it so much!