OK, girls! This is a good one, recipe that is! You’ll want to save this one.
I first shared this recipe 6 years ago, it doesn’t seem possible it’s been that long (sweet Aunt Mary is no longer with us), but mom and I made it back then at her house and I made it again this year at my house, so I’m sharing it all over again and added new pics too!
If you haven’t tried crockpot Chocolate Chocolate Candy before, you are going to love how easy and tasty it is. This was a first for our family and our late Aunt Mary brought it to our Thanksgiving spread 6 years ago. I only got one of them that day, but we brought home the recipe to try for ourselves. Aunt Mary said it was so easy and she was telling the truth. It is!
Here’s a disclaimer: This recipe has really taken off on Pinterest and since I originally posted it, I’ve gotten comments that many of you have tried it and the peanuts burned badly and ruined the whole batch. I am not sure how to remedy this, because all crockpots burn at different temps. I’ve heard older crockpots work fine, but newer ones may be too hot. So please be aware that even on low your candy can burn and be ruined. I’m so sorry for those of you who have had problems with it! Check your crockpot watts before your start this, I’ve read that 275 watts will work fine, but any hotter and you may have problems. Thanks!
Crockpot chocolate candy
Note: I made it this year in my crockpot which is probalby 10 years old and it worked just perfectly in it. I decided not to put all the peanuts on the bottom, but I layered it with white chocolate on the bottom with peanuts poured on top and the rest added as well. It all melts together anyway, so I don’t think it really matters how you layer it. Do not stir for 3 hours! Full recipe at the bottom of the post!
What is not to love about cooking in the crockpot. I just never imagined we’d be making candy in the thing. Four ingredients is all you need for this. The vanilla candy coating is sometimes challenging to find, I usually find it at our Kroger.
I did a little Googling and found out that this recipe is from Trisha Yearwood’s cookbook, Home Cooking with Tricia Yearwood. She’s a good Southern girl from Georgia too!
The recipe says to layer the peanuts first but with some people saying the peanuts burned, I decided to just layer it all together. I started with some of the vanilla candy on the bottom, then poured in the peanuts. Dry roasted salted peanuts. Someone in the comments mentioned just adding it all together and letting it cook on low, so that’s what I did this time. It worked great! I added one of the vanilla packages on the bottom and one on top.
After about 3 hours, it’s all soft and melted, on the top and bottom. I did have a few of my chocolate chips burn on the side, but nothing major.
This is the way mom and I did it a few years ago in her crockpot and the layer looked like this, according to the recipe. Do what you think is best for your crockpot!
Per the recipe: Layer Almond bark. You might have to cram it in there to get it all in place, but that is fine too.
Lay out plenty of small cupcake liners.
Fill them up, let them cool and prepare to WOW your friends! These are great gifts for neighbors and friends. It really is a great recipe to share with friends and family.
I will totally warn you, they are addicting.
Here’s mine this year in the crockpot after melting it all for 3 hours and stirring all ingredients together.
I used a small spoon to spoon them out in the small cupcake liners. I bought a pack of 100 small cupcake liners and filled about 85 to 90 of them.
They will cool in a couple of hours and then store them away to eat! Your family will love these!
Crockpot Chocolate Candy
2 lbs (36 oz) salted dry-roasted peanuts
4 oz (4 squares) German’s sweet chocolate
1 12-oz package semisweet chocolate chips (about 2 cups)
2½ lbs white almond bark
- Put the peanuts in the bottom of a 4-quart slow-cooker. Layer the chocolate over the peanuts, beginning with the sweet chocolate, followed by the chocolate chips, and then the almond bark. Set the temperature on low and cook for 3 hours. Do not stir the mixture.
- After 3 hours, stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until smooth. Drop the candy into cupcake pan liners, using about 2 tablespoons per liner. Allow the candy to cool completely before removing the cupcake liners. Makes 30 to 40 pieces.
If you can’t find almond bark, substitute white chocolate chips.
(Ours made more than that, more like 75 –80 pieces. I think it depends on how much you put in the liner.)
Read more: Recipes from Trisha Yearwood – Crock-Pot Chocolate Candy – Redbook
I make a very similar receipe and to me the 3 hours noted here is way too long for my fairly new slow cooker. My original recepe said 2 hours on low, stir, then another half hour. Even that was too long and the at the end the chocolate started to scorch. Now I only do ONE hour and then stir. At this point some of the while bark might not be completely melted but after stirirng and then the final half hour, it is perfect. (Also, I so one jar salted and one jar unsalted peanuts. Still yummy!)
I think that’s why so many people have chimed in on this recipe over the years. All crockpots are a little different heat so everyone should get acquainted with how their crockpots work with this particular recipe.
Rhoda, I’ve never made this in my crockpot…much faster and fool proof to do it stovetop. Heat until melted, mix well, and spoon into liners. Totally fail-proof!
Merry Christmas!
HI, Sue, I’m sure you’re right about that, it would be pretty fast on the stovetop. I would be concerned about too much heat on the stovetop and having to watch it. I did like just layering and leaving in the crockpot though and mine was perfect as well. Thanks for stopping by!
My recipe calls for cooking 1 hour on low then stirring. Cook for another hour, stirring every 15-20 minutes until melted. I think this might prevent scorching. I have seen this recipe many times on Pinterest and none of them called for cooking 3 hours.
Rhoda…I wonder if you could spoon this onto a greased cookie sheet, instead of spooning it, into the paper liners?…You could break the candy apart, after it cooled…
HI, Sharon, I think that would work fine as well.
Rhoda, Happy Birthday and may you have fun celebrating many more. I have always had success with the following recipe and I use a newer crockpot. Maybe adding the nuts last is better for some crockpots.
Chocolate Peanut Clusters:
2 lbs white or almond chocolate broken into pieces
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon of oil
16 oz milk chocolate chip morsels
2 lbs. salted cocktail peanuts
Place first four ingredients into crockpot on low. Cook 1 hour on low and stir every 30 mins.
Stir in peanuts with large spoon and remove pot from heat. Use a dinner spoon to drop onto wax
paper with newsprint under it to protect countertop. Cool for 1 hour at least so they are easy to
remove from the waxpaper. Store in airtight containers.
Thank you, Tam! Sounds very similar and easy as well. I think adding the peanuts at the end would be just fine too for those who had problems with the peanuts burning.
We usually make this every year. I found the recipe years ago in Trisha’s book. This year my sister made it and instead of cupcake liners she spooned out small batches on wax paper. They taste the same of course, but to me it was bit much to eat at once. I like the small cupcake liners.
Hey, Wendie, it does make a lot! I thought it would be easy to use wax paper too, but it’s sort of nice to use the little liners.
I’ve made these for years & my family loves them. I discovered if you wait to add the peanuts when everything is almost melted they don’t burn.
I made a huge batch of these and they turned out great…..nothing burned…..I followed her instructions to the letter….thanks for sharing!
My son has a peanut and almond allergy. What other nut do you recommend to substitute?
Hi, Alison, I think pecans would be really good in this one too, so that’s one option.
A friend of mine uses raisins and says it is good!
I layered my peanuts first and only cooked it about an hour and a half and it turned out great
I made 2 batches of this last year. The first batch was burned badly, I waited 3 hours to stir. My second batch was perfect. I stirred several times during the cooking time. I’m making this again this year!
This is the worst. 30 bucks scorched in the crock pot. Looking back it doesn’t make sense not to stir.
Hi, Lori, sorry you had problems with it. Some did it just like the recipe and it turned out perfectly & others it burned, so I guess it just depends on the heat of your crockpot. I’ve always had it turn out great in my crockpot. I guess it’s trial and error.
I have made this recipe for years. It is so easy and turns out perfect every time. Like Rhoda says get to know your crockpot. I cook mine for 2 hours on low and it is perfect. If I cooked it in my other crockpot, I would have to cook longer as it cooks a lot slower. To me this is so easy to throw in crockpot and forget about it. I hate standing over the stove stirring candy and making sure it doesn’t scorch. I know several people who make this and have never had problems. But again..Know Your Crockpot! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I recommend using half of the required amount of peanuts and chopping them first. Place some chocolate bark on bottom of crock pot, then add peanuts, raisins, cranberries- whatever you like. Put setting on low and stir after one hour. Also us mini cupcake liners or put them right onto a lined/sprayed cookie sheet. Adding some peanut butter also adds flavor. Tweaking this recipe for your personal taste and your crock pot is best. There is some trail and error involved but overall a super easy recipe.
Thank you, Ken, it is definitely one that can be tweaked depending on your crockpot.
Followed the recipe and my whole family loved it! I did add mixed nuts just bc i like the variety.Layered the ingredients and did not stir until the end, no burning at all. I wonder if the people who had trouble put the lid on? That could create moisture in the mix and cause it to harden. I ended up with about 80 and they came out great!!
Do you have to use peanuts I have a peanut allergy I was wondering if you could use walnuts or pecans and almonds
HI, Barbara, I haven’t made it with anything but peanuts, but I think you could experiment and try it with pecans or something else. Just watch it and see if it starts to burn. Some crockpots burn hotter than others and can scorch the nuts.
I did not have enough chocolate chips so I used a bag of salted caramel chips and they turned out amazing.
Hi, Cathy, that does sound so good! I love salted caramel.
A family favorite at our house. My dear sweet late MIL was making these bake in the 90’s. Her giant green tupperware bowl would be overflowing.