There can't be an easier candy to make than peanut clusters. Three ingredients and no measuring. I can remember the first time I tasted one of these delights. Someone had brought them to a church social. One bite and I thought, "These are expensive." No, what they were was fresh. That makes a big difference.
Peanut Clusters
12-ounce bag of semisweet chocolate chips
24-ounce package of vanilla almond bark
Redskin Spanish peanuts (at least 2 12.5-ounce cans)
I. Heat oven to 200 degrees.
II. Put the chocolate chips and almond bark in a 9x13 pan and set the pan in the oven. Allow the chips and almond bark to melt. Stir occasionally to hasten melting and blend the two ingredients. I suppose it takes about 10 minutes of heating. Just keep an eye on things. While you wait for the mixture to melt, get out two big cookie sheets and cover them with wax paper.
III. Remove the pan from the oven and add peanuts. Stir until all the peanuts are coated. Don't scrimp on the peanuts!
IV. Drop clusters from a teaspoon (from your flatware drawer, not a measuring spoon) onto wax paper-covered cookie sheets. You'll want two spoons, one in each hand. If the mixture sets up before you get done, put the pan back in the oven for a few minutes to soften it. Remove the candies from the wax paper once they are no longer sticky to the touch. Store in tins or Ziploc bags.
Voice of Experience:
What about these peanuts? First of all, I only use the little redskins. And I've never measured since I usually have one of those great big cans from Sam's Club on hand and I just keep adding peanuts as required. I suggest you buy three of those little 12.5-ounce cans. It will take at least two and it would be better to have leftovers from the third can than to run out. The success of this candy is that the chocolate coating holds these salty little peanuts together ran than the peanuts form random lumps in a chocolate coating.
Recipe source: My husband's aunt told me the proportions. I varied her version by switching, you guessed it, to redskin peanuts (and more of them).