These easy crock pot peanut clusters have a rich chocolate coating. With only 4 ingredients, anybody can make this sweet-and-salty homemade candy—perfect for Christmas candy, gifts, or a delicious chocolate treat.
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Featured Comment by Jan:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐"Oh my gosh! Seriously, the best chocolate-covered peanuts I have ever made! I really don't know if they will last until Christmas at the rate we are "testing" them.."
😊 TL;DR (quick answers)
What: Easy crock pot peanut clusters with peanuts and a rich chocolate coating.
Why: Only 4 ingredients, mostly hands-off, and perfect for holiday candy or gifts.
How: Melt on LOW for 90–120 minutes, stir until smooth, scoop onto parchment, and cool until firm.
🍫 Ingredients
- Peanuts: Dry-roasted, lightly salted or unsalted, and skinless. Other dry-roasted nuts—almonds, pecans, cashews, or walnuts—may be used alone or in a mixture.
- Chocolate chips: Semi-sweet, milk, or dark. Don’t use “baking chips.”
- Vanilla candy melts (or almond bark): Firms and smooths the coating.
- Baker’s German chocolate: Adds richness.
- Options: Add shredded coconut, mini marshmallows, crushed pretzels, or holiday sprinkles.
👨🍳 Quick Overview: How to Make Crock Pot Peanut Clusters
1. In a crock pot, layer the peanuts, chocolate chips, Baker’s chocolate, and candy melts (almond bark).
✅ Pro Tip: Never cook on high — it overheats and ruins the chocolate.
2. Cover and cook on LOW. At 90 minutes, stir and check. It’s ready when everything mixes smoothly, usually in about 2 hours.
3. Let the mixture firm for a few minutes, then drop heaping teaspoons onto parchment paper.
4. Cool for about 2 hours or until the chocolate is firm.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
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↕️ Crock Pot Size & Scaling
- Crock pot size: A 3-quart or larger crock pot works well. For a half batch, use a 2-quart mini; for a double batch, use a 6-quart.
- Large crock pots: Smaller batches may melt faster in a large crock pot, so start checking at about 60 minutes.
- Scaling: Use the recipe card serving adjustment to change the ingredient amounts.
❄️ Storage
Store peanut clusters in an airtight container at room temperature. For longer storage, refrigerate for up to 1 month or freeze for up to 3 months.
🎅 More Easy Christmas Candy Recipes
- 5-Minute Fudge — fast, foolproof, and chocolatey.
- Crock Pot White Chocolate Almond Clusters — the sweet companion to this recipe.
- Cinnamon Candied Almonds — a holiday classic with warm spice.
- Christmas Crack Candy — salty, sweet, and addictive.
- Pretzel Candies — festive and kid-friendly.
❓ FAQs
Moisture and chocolate don’t mix—it can cause the chocolate to seize and ruin the smooth coating. Dry-roasted nuts help keep the chocolate smooth.
No, but it adds cocoa butter and extra richness. If you skip it, replace it with an equal amount of chocolate chips.
No. HIGH heat can overheat or scorch the chocolate and cause it to seize. Always use LOW for gentle melting.
📖The Recipe Card
Crock Pot Peanut Clusters (Easy Chocolate Recipe)
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry roasted peanuts - lightly salted or unsalted
- 1 pound vanilla candy melts or almond bark
- 12 oz good quality chocolate chips
- 4 oz Baker's German chocolate
Step-by-Step Instructions
- In a 3-quart (or larger) crock pot, add 1 pound of dry roasted peanuts. Top with 12 oz of chocolate chips, 4 oz of broken-up Baker’s chocolate, and candy melts (or almond bark).
- Cook on low with the lid on. Do not cook on high. At 90 minutes, stir and check. It’s ready when everything mixes smoothly — usually about 2 hours.
- Scoop clusters — let the mixture firm for a few minutes, then drop heaping teaspoons onto parchment paper.
- Cool for about 2 hours or until the chocolate is firm.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
Use good-quality semi-sweet, milk, or dark chocolate chips. Don't use baking chips. Use only dry-roasted nuts. A 3-quart or larger crock pot works well. Use a 2-quart mini for a half batch or a 6-quart for a double batch. Crock pots vary. Check at 90 minutes; it's done when everything mixes smoothly. For a smaller batch in a large crock pot, start checking at 60 minutes. Make clusters about 1 tablespoon each; smaller is better. Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature. For longer storage, refrigerate for up to 1 month or freeze for up to 3 months.Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
Originally published November 25, 2016. Updated with new photos, streamlined instructions, and extra tips for success.
Patty says
my mixture was way too thick & I added water. i guess that was a mistake. Will they still harden up?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Patty,
Welcome to the blog and sorry you are having issues with this recipe. I have done this one at least 20 times (lots of holiday giving) and it works fine with my crock pot and ingredients which I vary at times.
So, let's look at your problem. If it was too thick, cook it a bit longer. Some crock pots are hotter or cooler than others.
As a general rule, water is the mortal enemy of chocolate. Adding water will make the chocolate seize up into a gooey mess and it usually can not recover from there. This is a texture issue and not a taste or safety issue so people will use the seized chocolate in baking.
If this happens again, definitely cook longer 30-60 minutes. The thickness is like half-melted ice cream usually. If you become convinced it needs something, a teaspoon or two of corn or canola oil. If you have Cisco shortening it would be preferred but most people don't have that. Be careful with either, they will make the final result softer at room temperature.
Sorry, you had issues and I can't be much help this time. Google seized chocolate for more information.
Dan
Connie says
How do you cook half the recipe. Thanks for all the helpful info.
DrDan says
Hi Connie,
Welcome to the blog.
To cut in half, you can just use half of the amount of each ingredient. But you can also change it up some.
We have 2 pounds of nuts to 52 oz of "chocolate" (chocolate chips, almond bark and baking chocolate) So for 1 pound of nuts, you need about 26 oz of "chocolate" give or take a little. So you could do 12 oz bag of chocolate chips, 4 oz bar of baker chocolate and about 10 oz of almond bark or candy melts. That uses the whole baking bar and bag of chips.
Happy Holidays
Dan
sara says
This is my go to 'Christmas Candy Recipe'-- well not this particular one but one like it-I have been making this for about 10 years now and it just gets easier and easier-when I first started making it the recipe called for 2 1/2 hours on low- using one of the old REVEL (?)crock pots-- you could not remove the lid- you had to follow recipe exactly-- that accounted for a lot of burnt crock pot candy-through trial and error I came up with low temp- not more than one hour and you a change the recipe drastically and get some pretty darn good candy-I always use the almond bark- not the German Chocolate any more-I throw in a broken Hershey's with almonds bar if I have one - Peanuts are always salted, dry roasted and while the cluster are cooling I add some sea salt to each one-- so yummy--(:
DrDan says
Hi Sara,
Welcome to the blog.
Those old crock were an adventure in cooking. Most did not have any sort of internal thermostat and just got hotter the longer they were plugged in. They could reach over 300 degrees. Chocolate will burn over 120 degrees or so.
Current crock pots should not get over 212 degrees on either high or low. High and low has more to do with timing to get to the top temp. At least that is how they should work but many don't. But still better than the old timers.
With the mass we put in the pot and on low, we are just gently melting things.
This is super easy now with the current crock pots. Almost impossible to not go well. I just published a white chocolate almond version that is even better. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/crock-pot-white-chocolate-almond-clusters/
Thanks for the note and the trip down memory lane.
Dan
Jenny says
I added a bag of small marshmallows to this recipe, it worked out perfectly!
Chris says
Would there be a difference between vanilla almond bark and chocolate almond bark?
DrDan says
Hi Chris,
Welcome to the blog.
The chocolate usual has some cocoa but does not have to where the vanilla has vanilla ( I had to say it). I think the vanilla adds a little something but extra cocoa wouldn't be bad either. So use what you can find.
Dan
Diane says
Can you use
milk chocolate chips
DrDan says
Yep, it should be fine. The milk chocolate has more sugar and less cocoa so the flavor will be slightly different but still fine. If you made a batch of each, you might not be able to tell them apart but I think I could if I knew there was a difference. But I believe I would like both equally.
Dan
Helen says
Using a plastic crock pot liner makes this an even better experience!!
Gloria says
What can I do if my candy is too dry
DrDan says
Hi Gloria,
Welcome to the blog.
Since there are only a few ingredients one of them is not acting right. Old or poor quality chocolate would seem to be the most likely.
Also, chocolate can "seize" becoming stiff and clumpy. This can happen if exposed to water or too much heat. Here is a discussion of that. https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-fix-overheated-or-burnt-chocolate-521579 and discusses some solutions.
Dan
Lori says
Going to make these today. Is there a specific nut that stands out more than another for this recipe? I saw some suggestions but wondering what the consensus is.
DrDan says
Dry roasted lightly salted peanuts are my favorite. Friends use roasted almonds.
Eva says
Have made different recipes for crock pot fudge before without much luck! Made this recipe and it is delicious🤗. Am making another recipe for gifts 👌🏻
monica says
Well...I've made this before but I forgot the German Chocolate at the store and cant get there for a few days and I need to make it. :) So, I am going to give it a try without GC. I think all it does is add a bit more sweetness to it or more balance...I dunno. Gonna try anyways.
DrDan says
Maybe some chocolate chips?
Dan
Joe says
I made several batches of these, and this recipe is VERY flexible. I tried it with almonds and coconut. I added caramel chunks to the peanuts, and I also made a batch with white chocolate and cashews. Then, I tried pretzel sticks instead of nuts. We put one of each variety in gift bags to hand out during the holidays.
DrDan says
Many of our friends did this over the holidays with endless variations. It just always works.
Thanks for the note and Happy Holidays.
Dan
Rita D. says
I too changed out the almond bark for more chocolate. And I found something interesting. I now know why you say to use parchment paper or waxed paper - if you drop it onto aluminum foil to cool, it acts like putting them into the frig and the chocolate dries to a dull finish instead of a shine.
BEWARE all you folks who didn't go out and buy parchment paper!
Robin Baker says
I I'm not a big fan of peanuts and neither is my husband, so we switched out the peanuts for cashews and made the recipe otherwise the same way... Oh my goodness! Heavenly is all I can say. Our daughter and her husband finished off what we couldn't, and I swear I put on several pounds, but it was definitely worth it!! Thanks so much
DrDan says
Sounds great.
Thanks for the note and happy holidays
Dan
I'm not a cook says
What about subbing in a package of caramel bits for some of the almond bark and pecans instead of peanuts. Has anyone tried it? Did it work?
DrDan says
I don't know the characteristics of the caramel and how it will react to cooking like this to answer that part. But I have many friends doing pecans and almonds for the peanuts.
Bud says
That is a great idea. Try adding 2 tblsp of vanilla and a 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg to this recipe along with the original recipe. Add or substitute the pecans and any kind of nuts to this and there you will have them begging for more.
DrDan says
I think way too yummy. Bound to be repeated here frequently.
I took a whole recipe to my old office last week. I make the pieces a little more appropriate size and had 120 for the 20 employees. It does make a huge amount. But I would think it would freeze well.
Dan
sara says
It does freeze very well-- Christmas is such a busy time-- this is one of those things you can do ahead and freeze- I have made this at Christmas and frozen to share over Valentines Day-
Leslie says
5 star recipe, easy and yummy! I put half of the candy I made in my freezer, have not tried (the frozen) version, will update after serving.