Drop what you're doing and make this. No really, if you don't have the ingredients, stop and make a quick trip to the store (be sure to buy enough for a double batch, trust me). There is a reason this is known as 'Chocolate Candy Crack' around here. This stuff is super simple to make and it's addicting. You won't even realize how addicting until the entire batch has ended up on your thighs. Should you send bags of the stuff to work with your husband, be aware his co-workers will clamor for more. Don't even bother trying to hide some from your loved ones because they will hunt it down no matter where you hide it in the house and they will not share it with you when they find it. This actually got messed up and it was still incredibly edible. Meet Crockpot Chocolate Candy from Trisha Yearwoods Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood cookbook. Or like I said, around here it's known as Chocolate Candy Crack.
Did I mention simple? You throw some peanuts in your crockpot, add some chocolate, turn the thing on low and several hours later you have salty, peanuty chocolate goodness. The only thing to watch for is how hot your crockpot gets. I kept this on low for the required three hours and the chocolate either got too hot or was over cooked. When I stirred the mixture at the end of the cook time all I got was a thick blob. I was still able to put some in cupcake liners as required but most of the mix I plopped out on a piece of wax paper, leveled it out (to about a half inch) and made sort of a chocolate peanut brittle. Doing some research turned up that some crock-pots are hotter than others. If you know your crockpot runs a bit hot, you might want to check this at two hours. It didn't seem to matter that the chocolate didn't turn out smooth. Everyone was too busy devouring this to notice.
CROCKPOT CHOCOLATE CANDY2 pounds (36 ounces) salted dry-roasted peanuts
4 ounces (4 squares) German's sweet Chocolate
1 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips (about 2 cups)
2 1/2 pounds white almond bark (I used white chocolate chips)
Put the peanuts in the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker. Layer the chocolate over the peanuts, beginning with the sweet chocolate, followed by the chocolate chips, and then the almond bark (or white chocolate chips). Set the temperature on low and cook for 3 hours. Do not stir the mixture.
After 3 hours, stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until smooth. Drop the candy into cupcake liners using about 2 tablespoons per liner. Allow the candy to cool completely before removing the cupcake liners. Makes 30 to 40 pieces.
Note: Trisha states that you can substitute white chocolate chips if you can't find white almond bark so that's what I did. Wondering how this would taste should I use the peppermint almond bark I have in the pantry?
Note: German's Sweet Chocolate can be found in the baking section of supermarkets where you find all the other chocolate chips and baking bars. The one I found was from Bakers and was in a green box.
Note: I bought my dry roasted peanuts (shelled) in bags from Trader Joes. Buying the jarred or canned versions at the grocery stores was too expensive.
Note: If you do a search there are many different versions of this to be found. Some have you adding the peanuts after the chocolate melts, (I think putting the peanuts on the bottom of the crockpot and cooking them under the chocolate must add some sort of wonderful roasted goodness, that's my story and I'm sticking to it), some recipes have you stirring halfway through the cooking time. I just went with Trisha's recipe.
Note: Spreading this out and making more of a chocolate peanut brittle made the process even faster. Didn't have to worry about cupcake liners and folks could just grab a handful of the stuff from the bowl when they went to eat it. I lined a baking pan with wax paper, dumped the batch of chocolate candy crack on to it and spread the mixture out with a spatula. (See photo below). I'm sure you could just drop spoonfulls onto waxed paper if you wanted to make individual servings without the cupcake liners.
Really, really liked this. It has that salty chocolate taste that I love. Mr. L thought the taste reminded him a bit of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. And though my batch didn't exactly look great, no one seemed to mind.
