Peanut Clusters

Name: Peanut Clusters
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 24 h
Total time: 24 h 10 min
Yield: 10-15 Cookies
Ingredients: 1 (10 ounce) bag chocolate chips; 6 ounces cans dry roasted salted peanuts; 3 -4 sprigs of fresh mint, to garnish serving dish

Submitted by Undrline Kosher

"I learned this one in my middle school food class many years ago, and still make it. What is best, is that, if you use dairy free chocolate, then the result is Parve. Depending upon your custom and ingredients, it can also be Kosher L'Pesach."

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Ready In:: 24hrs 10mins
Ingredients:: 3
Yields:: 10-15 Cookies

ingredients

1 (10 ounce) bag chocolate chips
6 ounces cans dry roasted salted peanuts
3 -4 sprigs of fresh mint, to garnish serving dish

directions

Before starting, prepare a cookie-sheet by covering it with a sheet of wax or parchment paper, and make enough room in your freezer for this tray to fit.
Pour the chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl and melt them until**just soft enough to stir**-- the chips don't have to change shape before they can be considered melted.
While the chocolate is still warm, pour a few of the nuts into the bowl.
Stir with a spoon until they are covered with chocolate, then pour a few more in, and repeat-- try to judge when no more nuts can be completely covered in chocolate- stop before you get to that point.
It should be about 6oz of peanuts per 10oz of chocolate.
Use a tablespoon to drop a bit of the mixture onto the cookie sheet setup.
Remember, you only wanted your chocolate soft enough to stir-- by now, since it will have cooled a little, the mixture should not be very runny, it should be fairly tight-- your clusters should look the exact size and shape of the way you are about to lay them out-- unlike regular cookies which you might space out because they will spread.
Immediately put the full cookie sheet in the freezer.
They are best left overnight, but should be ready in a minimum of 15-30 minutes.
Keep in mind that the chocolate will start to"sweat" then melt very soon after these are served- the colder, the better (also, a good reason to take them back into the freezer, rather than leaving them out on the table after you have served them).
They look great piled onto a glass dish with sprigs of mint sticking out of the layers.
In my experience, people will only take one, though semi-sweet chocolate, which goes well with the salt of the peanuts, will leave an aftertaste that should be chased with milk, white wine, or another cookie cluster.