Chocolate covered peanuts are so easy to make, they’re not even worth buying at the grocery store! Enjoy the perfect balance of chocolate and peanut with our recipe.

THE INGREDIENTS: 

Peanuts: It wouldn’t quite be chocolate covered peanuts without the peanuts. We like to save ourselves some work by buying shelled peanuts, but feel free to get cracking if that’s what you have on hand. In terms of salt, we usually purchase the lightly salted option. With that being said, you can use unsalted or salted peanuts just fine in this recipe! The sweetness of the chocolate will offset any of the peanuts’ saltiness. 

Dark Chocolate Chips: It also wouldn’t quite be chocolate covered peanuts without the chocolate! Although we use dark chocolate chips, you really can use any kind of chocolate that you have on hand. Are you a milk chocolate person? Then use milk chocolate chips instead! Feel free to melt down candy bars or baking chocolate bars as well if you don’t have chocolate chips.

Next, we wanted to address the amount of chocolate we add to this recipe. Many chocolate covered peanuts you buy at the store are more like gobs of chocolate with a peanut in the middle. Instead, we like to change it up and make the peanut the star. This coating may be light, but you definitely get that chocolate flavor. If you do like a heavier coating, though, feel free to increase the chocolate in this recipe.

Although we mostly covered the peanuts, the only “flaw” with using a lighter amount of chocolate is that you may find some bare spots. We say-so what? It tastes great, still looks great, a spot here and there doesn’t change anything and isn’t worth adding a ton more chocolate so everything is more picture perfect. The bare spots are far and few in between, especially if you leave the chocolate in larger clusters. You might uncover more not-covered spots if you break up the clusters into smaller pieces. After all, in that case you are breaking off some of the chocolate and exposing what was previously the interior of a cluster. 

Flaky Sea Salt: An optional ingredient, but one worthy of mention! Flaky sea salt helps ensure you really do get that “sweet n salty” flavor you want. With the sweetness of the chocolate, the savory aspect of the peanuts might get hidden more than you want, especially if you are using unsalted peanuts. Adding salt back into the equation can give you the balance you were looking for. 

KEY INFORMATION: 

Do You Need to Temper Chocolate For Chocolate Covered Peanuts? Nope! You actually only need to melt the chocolate and mix in the peanuts. With that being said, this recipe would also be a success if you did decide to use tempered chocolate. If appearance is especially important for you, you might enjoy the shiny look of tempered chocolate compared to the matte look of melted chocolate. If you just like flavor, we say stick to melted. 

How Do You Make Chocolate Covered Peanuts? First, you need to decide whether to use a double boiler or a microwave. Melt your chocolate using either of those two methods. From there, dump in the peanuts and mix. You can use your hand or a rubber spatula for best results. You’ll want to spread the chocolate coated peanuts as a flat layer on a parchment-lined plate or baking sheet before allowing them to set. You can set them quickly in the fridge or leave them out for a few hours at room temperature. 

How Long Do Chocolate Covered Peanuts Last? First, let’s clear up something. You can store chocolate covered peanuts at room temperature or in the fridge. Either choice will not affect the quality of these confections. What it does affect, however, is how long these confections last! You’ll find they last longer in the refrigerator, but we say that they’ll last for a couple months in the pantry. They are just peanuts and chocolate chips, two shelf-stable ingredients, after all. Depending on which method you use to set the nuts, that’s the place where you should also store it!

What Goes With Chocolate Covered Peanuts? Chocolate covered peanuts are a great snack on their own, but they’re also great for baking or as a part of another snack! We like to use them as a peanut m and m substitute-whether for candy munching or baking. One place we love to use chocolate covered peanuts is our peanut butter monster cookies. Otherwise, pop these chocolate covered peanuts in your favorite trail mix, cereal mix, or even granola!

Chocolate Covered Peanuts

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Prep Time 8 minutes mins

Cook Time 0 minutes mins

Setting Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 53 minutes mins

Servings: 4 Servings

Course: Dessert, Snack

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 Cup Peanuts
• 1/3 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips or your favorite kind
• As desired Flaky Sea Salt optional

Method

 

1. Add the dark chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate chips are fully melted.
2. Add the peanuts and stir (your hand or a rubber spatula works best) until the peanuts are evenly coated.
3. Spread the chocolate covered peanuts as a flat layer¹ on a parchment paper lined plate or baking sheet.
4. Top with flaky sea salt, if desired.
5. The chocolate covered peanuts take roughly 45 minutes to set in the fridge or 3 hours to set at room temperature.
6. Enjoy!

Notes

1: Chocolate Covered Peanuts or Chocolate Peanut Clusters?: If you end up with clusters or with individually coated peanuts is a result of how much you spread out the peanuts before letting them set. If you spread them as a flat layer, but many of the peanuts are still overlapping, you’ll get clusters. If they’re even more spaced apart, barely touching, they’ll break off easily into individual peanuts. Even if you do end up with clusters, you can still break them apart into smaller pieces!