IOWA & KANSAS-PEANUT CLUSTERS

I spent a Saturday in January trying to make up for lost time by whipping up several recipes for OUR COOKIE NATION series here on the blog.  I've been such a slacker for over 3 months that I'm now compelled to get my act together, and get caught up, at least a little!

In the Readers Digest article on 'Our 50 States Favorite Cookies', Iowa and Kansas had the same results.  The most popular recipe at ALLRECIPES.COM for these 2 mid-west states is PEANUT CLUSTERS!

I don't really see how Peanut Clusters qualify as a cookie, but hey, I'm not complaining because I love chocolate candy too! 

These were a huge hit with my husband and mom.  I mean HUGE. They loved them, and so did I.  In fact I hid a few so that I would have a little treat when the "others" weren't looking... My girlfriend Beth Anne was the guinea pig taster and she said they were fabulous too, so this one is a WINNER!

 Grade: A!

PEANUT CLUSTERS

1 (12 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (12 oz.) pkg. peanut butter chips

12 oz. raw Spanish peanuts

(I used cocktail peanuts-I'm not a fan of the Spanish variety)

Combine the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips in the top of a double boiler. Stir frequently over low to medium  heat until all the chips are melted and completely combined.

Pour in the peanuts and stir well to make sure all the peanuts have been incorporated.

  Drop by tablespoon onto waxed paper, allow to cool, and for the chocolate is set.  Store in the fridge or a cool place.

These took maybe 15-20 minutes to make, and if you drop them onto a baking sheet that you can move to the fridge for quicker set-up time, then they would be ready to go in less than 60 minutes!  Awesome! 
I got about 40 candy clusters from this recipe.

THANK YOU IOWA AND KANSAS!

The one small thing I wish I could change about this particular recipe is the storing temperature.  I found that if I left them out, the chocolate was soft and got all over my fingers, and if I stored them in the fridge, then the chocolate was solid and harder to bite thru... sad, sad story, right? hahahahaha!

Recipe source: ALLRECIPES.COM