Without my own kitchen, I asked my best friend if she would like me to come and cook at her house or if we should go out to eat. She opted for the latter, which seemed like the better option to me as well. Although I love cooking, it is different working in someone else’s kitchen. You spend a significant portion of your time asking where things are located. On a day that you’re making many dishes, it is good to know where everything is.
However, I knew we would spend the rest of our day at their house. With our reservation set for 3:00, there would be many hours for lounging and chatting. And, of course, snacking. I mean, after eating a couple plates of food, why not eat a whole bunch of snacks later on?
I was determined that I could make some sort of homemade dessert. As our buffet included dessert, I didn’t feel compelled to make anything heavy. Of course, making any serious, heavy dessert in a microwave would have been tricky. Making bite-sized sweet treats was a much easier task with a microwave as my only kitchen tool. Thus, the recipe for these clusters was born. Few ingredients, simple prep work, and small portions made these a winner for both my cooking situation and the post-dinner snacking.
I chose to use salted peanuts in this recipe to balance the sweetness of the milk chocolate. If you have a higher tolerance for sweetness, you could use unsalted peanuts instead.
- 1/2 cup salted peanuts
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- Break (or cut) peanuts in half.
- Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe container, and microwave on high for 30 seconds.
- Stir, and microwave for 15 more seconds.
- Stir. If not fully melted, microwave in additional 10 second increments.
- Add peanuts and cranberries, and stir.
- Scoop heaping teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper.
- Refrigerate until hardened.
- Store in a resealable container.
