Easy Chocolate Cluster Candy

Tonight we made a batch of our favorite homemade candy.   I thought it would be good to share during Woodland Christmas week, because the ingredients remind me of nature.  

I apologize for the quality of some of these photos.  The lighting in my kitchen is really bad, especially at night.  I could have waited until morning to take pictures in natural light, but I don't think the candy will last that long.   The first thing we did was melt a bag of milk chocolate chips in the microwave using the 30 second method. If you do not know what the 30 second method is, you can melt chocolate in 30 second intervals, stirring after every 30 seconds.  When you notice the chocolate beginning to melt, you can shorten the time to 15 seconds is needed. You do not want to leave in the microwave too long, or get any water in the chocolate.  It will become too thick and unusable.  

This next step is very easy. Stir in your favorite nuts, raisins, or dried berries.   For this batch we used cashews, raisins, and cherry Craisins. Depending on what you decide to add to the candy, it might even be considered semi-nutritious.  Mix until everything is covered in chocolate. 

We then scooped spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture into mini cupcake wrappers.  The reason why mini cupcake wrappers work well, is because they are great for portion control. They  are  also about the size of a chocolate you would get in a box at the store.  To help the chocolate set quickly, place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.   

Now you can see why these candies are some of our favorites.  They taste really good, and take only minutes to make. Enjoy!