PEANUT CLUSTERS

Ingredients:

16 oz. dry roasted peanuts, lightly salted
12 oz. Bark Coating, chocolate flavored (I really like the Kroger brand)
2 sheets of 14 inch long wax paper
Makes forty clusters

Directions

You will need a double boiler or a thick bottomed pot that distributes heat well. The object is to spread out the heat so you don't scorch the chocolate bark.

Measure out 16 ounces of peanuts in a container, and have them standing by. Place the two pieces of wax paper on a section of the counter for later. Get out the 12 ounces of chocolate bark. You find this stuff in the baking section of the grocery store. The package may have some claim like, "Perfect for Candy Making!"

Turn your stove (gas or electric) on the lowest setting you can manage.

Add the 12 ounces of bark to the bottom of the pan and stir constantly with a spatula. You want it to melt slowly.

Once the bark is all melted, add 1/3 of the peanuts and stir them in. Be sure all are coated thoroughly. Add another 1/3 and stir them in. Add the last 1/3 and stir the whole mix until all the peanuts are covered in chocolate. Immediately remove from the heat.

Place the pot on a pot holder or trivet next to the wax paper. Using a teaspoon, spoon out a teaspoon's worth of the mix and drop it on the wax paper. It will spread out some, so don't get the globs too close together.

Within ten minutes of setting out all the mix, the clusters should be cool enough to hold together and pop off the wax paper. It is even easier if you can wait an extra 10 minutes or so before packing them up. If you put more than one layer in the container, separate the layers with a small piece of wax paper.

I have tried several kinds of Bark Coating, and I really like the Kroger brand. This is a quick and impressive candy.

Editor's Note: Easy