If you’re looking for a quick and easy chocolate treat that is sweet and crunchy, make some of our Chocolate Cherry Clusters! These are peanut free and dairy free, and only take a few minutes to make.
If you’ve seen those popular recipes for chocolate peanut clusters made in the slow cooker but have peanut allergies, you’re in luck! We created a peanut free version takes only a few minutes to make (unlike the slow cooker versions) and has dried cherries mixed in.
This recipe isn’t going to win any awards for good looks, but these are a super easy way to make a quick chocolate treat that’s allergy friendly. They are school safe and make great treats for Valentine’s Day parties at school!
Our recipe is:
- Top 8 free (depending on the ingredients you choose)
- Vegan
- Sesame free
How to make peanut free chocolate clusters
This recipe is the easiest thing to make and nearly foolproof (this is an overview of the steps, the full recipe is at the end of the post!):
- Melt your chocolate in the microwave in 30-second increments until all melted.
- Stir in the dried cherries and sunflower seeds (and coconut if using).
- Scoop spoonfuls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Allow these to set up at room temperature or in the fridge (both work fine).
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Variations for this recipe
This recipe is so easy to tweak and make your own! Here are a few ways you can swap ingredients to change up the flavors:
- Sprinkle the top with flake salt before they completely set up.
- You can use Craisins instead of dried cherries. I love dried cherries, but if you can’t find any that fit your allergies (many are processed in facilities with nuts), Craisins or cherry flavored Craisins will also work great. Other dried fruits work great here, too, like dried blueberries. Although these won’t be as tart and flavorful as using dried cherries or cranberries.
- Add some crisp rice cereal for extra crunch (just be sure to get a gluten free variety if you have celiac).
- Swap some of the sunflower seeds for coconut flakes (we did this in our original recipe).
- Use rice milk chocolate or a swirled mix of semi-sweet and white chocolate (Enjoy Life makes great rice milk chocolate chips!). Some chocolate peanut cluster recipes use a mix of chocolate and white chocolate, so mixing chocolate might give you a closer flavor to regular peanut clusters.
Our original chocolate cluster recipe
We recently re-made this post and recipe, the original post was published in February 2014 when our website was a little under 3 years old.
I tweaked the recipe a bit, too, by removing the coconut. We originally had some coconut chips/flakes in this recipe and I decided to remove that since not everyone enjoys coconut. Plus I didn’t have those crispy coconut chips in my pantry, so we didn’t add them.
But you can definitely add them back to the recipe if you like!
Here is the original 2014 recipe:
- ⅓ cup allergy-friendly dark chocolate chips
- ¼ cup dried cherries
- ¼ cup roasted sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes crushed
The assembly and storage instructions are the same as this new recipe!
Check out some of my other healthier candy recipes:
Dairy Free Chocolate Cherry Clusters (Peanut Free)
Ingredients
- ½ cup allergy friendly semi-sweet chocolate chips (or rice milk chocolate chips)
- ⅓ cup (generous) dried cherries
- ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons roasted sunflower seeds
Instructions
- In a medium microwaveable bowl, melt the chocolate chips by heating for 30 seconds at a time until all the chocolate is melted and smooth.
- Stir into the melted chocolate the dried cherries and sunflower seeds (and crushed coconut flakes if using). Mix well until everything is thoroughly coated.
- Drop by Tablespoonfuls onto a parchment or wax paper-lined baking sheet and chill until set up.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and healthy living blogger based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist