Chocolate Fruit And Nut Clusters (Chocolate Rocks!)
on Sep 11, 2019, Updated Mar 11, 2022
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These chocolate fruit and nut clusters are the easiest edible gift you can imagine. They take just 5 minutes to make with just chocolate and your favourite nuts and dried fruit. But they have a touch of class, don’t you think?
A quick and easy gift for anyone
I’m a huge fan of quick and easy homemade food gifts. Chocolate bark takes just minutes to make, as do chocolate pretzels, and… these yummy chocolate rocks!
Other reasons I think you’re going to love them:
- You can adapt them so easily to different tastes. Don’t like or can’t eat almonds? Replace with peanuts. Or skip the nuts altogether and add crushed biscuits or something else instead (see more ideas below!).
- They’re great gifts but they also make excellent party food, or ’emergency’ treats to have in the fridge ‘just in case’.
- They’re great snacks to make with children. They’ll love stirring the fruit and nuts into the chocoate… and of course licking the bowl!
- Perhaps surprisingly, if you use dark chocolate with 70% or more cocoa solids, they’re a healthy snack. Nuts, seeds, berries and dark chocolate are all foods that reduce inflammation and help boost brain health!
Fan of healthy snacking in general? You have to check out this list of 50+ healthy sweet snacks that don’t taste boring!
Ingredients
This is going to be a very short section because you only really need 2 or 3 main ingredients to make these:
- chocolate (any kind you like – milk, dark, white, or a combination)
- nuts (again, any kind you like! In the photos you see here I’ve used sliced almonds, but any kind of nut works.)
- dried fruit (Here I’ve used dried blueberries, but any kind of dried fruit works. Just use easy-to-find raisins, or chop up dried apricots, dried apples or another kind of dried fruit.)
How to make chocolate nut clusters
This ‘recipe’ (really just an idea?) is so easy it’s almost – but not quite – embarrassing.
Literally all you do is melt chocolate and stir in your goodies. Take spoonfuls of the mixture and place it in little piles on a baking tray.
Let set in the fridge for a while. Done and ready to package up for gifts. Or to just snack on at home! (why not?)
How to melt the chocolate
There are 2 ways you can melt your chocolate:
- This is my favourite way. Simply break the chocolate up into a glass bowl or jug. Then microwave on full power for 1.5 to 2.5 minutes. The trick is to microwave in 30-second bursts. Check the chocolate after each 30 seconds.
I find some types of chocolate melt faster than other types. White chocolate for instance usually melts faster than dark chocolate with a high cocoa content.
What I recommend is to melt the chocolate until MOST of it has melted. Then stir it together well until it’s smooth and completely melted. This is a very effective and quick and easy way to ‘temper’ the chocolate so that it doesn’t get weird white streaks in it when it sets. - If you prefer you can melt the chocolate on the stove. Simply break the chocolate into a glass bowl, then set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
Don’t let the bowl touch the water. If it does it can kind of ‘cook’ the chocolate and change it to a sticky, stodgy texture that you don’t want!
Some ideas for different kinds of chocolate clusters
For the clusters you see in the photos here I used chopped almonds and dried blueberries. Here are some alternative ideas:
- white chocolate with pistachios and chopped apricots
- dark chocolate with chopped crystallised ginger and hazelnuts or another kind of nut
- milk chocolate with dried cranberries and peanuts
- skip the nuts altogether and add crumbled biscuits/cookies, mini marshmallows and raspberry jelly sweets/candies (rocky road!)
- swirl a bit of nut butter through the chocolate
You’re only really limited by your imagination. Other mix-ins I can think of:
flaked coconut, mini m&ms or chopped chocolate/candy bars (naughty but nice), seeds like sunflower or pumpkin seeds, banana chips, chopped caramel sweets/candies…
How to give these as a gift
I sometimes like to put the chocolates into a little food gift bag and tie up with a pretty ribbon.
Like this:
More easy chocolate food gift ideas
- These addictive peanut butter cheerio bars make a great gift. Make them with your kids, then package them up in a nice box.
- I love these super easy chocolate lollipops. Another easy one to make with the kids!
- This list of 11 easy homemade chocolate ideas has some great ideas, too, especially for Christmas!
- If you’ve never made chocolate bark, you have to try it. It’s ridiculously easy! Christmas? You have to make this 10-minute Christmas rocky road – everyone loves it!
- I call these chocolate pretzels the easiest chocolate biscuits ever! You have to try them!
Or see all my food gift recipes.
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Chocolate fruit & nut clusters (chocolate rocks)
Ingredients
- 7 ounces chocolate, I used milk, but use dark or white if you prefer
- 2½ ounces dried fruit, I used blueberries
- 5½ ounces nuts, I used chopped almonds
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
- Melt the chocolate in a microwave in 30-second bursts or in a bowl over a pan of boiling water.
- Stir in the fruit and nuts until all of the nuts and fruit are well coated in the chocolate.
- Scoop up spoonfuls of the mixture and place them in little piles on the baking sheet. Leave them to set in a cool place.
Oh wow- I need these for my brain fog! And they look delicious! I really love homemade gifts (who doesn’t?) and these look like a really nice one. Who wouldn’t gladly accept some brain food? A batch of these would make my day! Great idea, Helen.
Thanks so much, Sarah! Maybe I should have written ‘to banish brain fog’ on the label I put on this gift.
I agree with Susan, you should definitely switch to beer and then the words will start to flow right out! You may end up sharing things you didn’t want to share, but oh well, haha! I love how you say “senior moments” are you allowed to call them that when you are as young as your are, ha! I feel like I have those moments too, especially the spacing out at my desk part, that happens all too often these days… I love these little homemade chocolate rocks! Gifting food is so fun and I bet everyone would love to get these chocolate goodies wrapped in a nice little bag!
Ha … yes, I’d better be a bit careful how far I take the beer thing, hey? I’m not sure if I should have said ‘senior moments’ or not … I guess it could be interpreted as being a bit rude!
So glad you like the little gifts … they are almost ridiculously simple, of course, and they hardly need a recipe, but I figure it’s the idea that’s useful. Have a great weekend, Isadora!
Aw, so sorry you have a summer cold…ugh. I get a lot of brain fog…think it’s my age, though 🙂 I wish chocolate rocks were on the list for boosting brain heath. Darn it!
Well, you could say it’s a winter cold, as I’m in Australia, but it was so warm this week I don’t know how Australians have the cheek to say it’s winter. I know it’s a slight twist, but I’m sticking to my theory that these chocolate rocks do help to reduce brain rock … soooo … bring em on!
Chocolate and nuts are one of my favourite combos! And good to know that brain fog is a thing. I definitely get it especially when I am tired!
It’s my fave combo, too! It seems I’m the queen of brain fog, but I’m very happy that I can have an excuse to stuff myself to distraction with these choccy rocks to ‘get rid of it’ now!
I hope you feel better soon, Helen. I have always loved chocolate rocks. The combination you used in yours is fantastic.
Thanks so much, Norma! The cold has just about gone now, thankfully. 🙂
Helen, I took my own advice and we had beer with lunch today. 🙂 My husband and I both have senior moments – especially my husband (he just turned 70, and I’m less than a year behind him). My senior moments tend to be with my vocabulary, when I lose words that I use with some frequency. I guess that’s a hazard or growing older, but I’d rather deal with being old and having senior moments than the alternative… My husband and I have concluded that between us we have a functioning brain. Guess we’ll have to stay married to be able to function in our old age – but don’t worry, that’s the plan anyway. To link this to your recipe, clearly it’s something I’ll have to make. I’d do it with 72% dark chocolate. I wonder if it’s possible to find dried gooseberries? I love them with chocolate and dried cherries would be nice, too. Carnberries? I can see him headed for trouble so I’ll stop now.
Ooh, yes, dried gooseberries or cranberries would be perfect with a rich dark chocolate, Susan! I actually don’t think ‘senior moments’ always have a lot to do with age, because I most definitely have them all the time! I think I will be happy, though, too, if my husband and I share one brain between us when we geet a bit older! Great reason to eat plenty of these little chocolate treats though, isn’t it? I hope you have a wonderful weekend, Susan, with as few senior moments as possible! 🙂
You made them look so neat, perfect for gift giving! I am never that neat. I love that you can add ”brain food” to chocolate. It would certainly make anything in my world better.
Well, it is probably a stretch but I thought I would try to get away with it! 😉 Thanks for saying I made them look ‘neat’! To be honest though I really don’t think it matters with these, so don’t worry too much if you have a go at them. They look fine if they’re slightly different shapes and sizes. Have a great weekend, Mariana!
what a great idea for a homemade gift. We always try and give some homemade gifts at Christmas, as I just think they are really personal. Plus, they save money too 😉
The only problem with my Christmas gift-giving this year is that my family will probably have seen some of these posts so I’ll have to come up with some new ideas! So glad you like them, Dannii, and I hope you have a really great weekend 🙂
I tend to get a brain fog EVERY SINGLE DAY! I walk into my room to get something and by the time I reach my room, I’ve already forgotten why I was there in the first place! It can be sooooo frustrating! :S 😀 Buuuuuuuut, you have offered the perfect solution to this brain fog situation and now I have all the more reason to make these and eat them by the handful {and I might gift the rest; if they last hahaha}
You got me, Samina. Yup, this post was just a great excuse to eat more chocolate – well, and nuts, I suppose. I’m with you on the brain fog, though. Happens to me all the time. Hope you have a great weekend!
I hope you feel better, Helen! Colds are no fun. And I’m glad you snapped out of your brain fog, although I get that too sometimes! I love these chocolate rocks. So easy to prepare and they sound delicious. They sort of remind me of birds nest cookies, but using nuts instead. Definitely looks like they make great gifts, too!
Oh, really? I think I know what you mean by a ‘bird’s nest cookie’ and yes, they are a bit like that! Ridiculously simple anyhow! Hope you have a fabulous weekend, Gayle!