These bite-size candies take almost no time to make and have only three ingredients: chocolate, dried cranberries, and pecans. They're perfect as hostess gifts or for guests who drop by on short notice. The cranberries make them a holiday treat, but they make great snacks all year round. You can substitute other
dried fruit like raisins and any type of nuts.
Ingredients 8 ounces (1 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (milk chocolate also works)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and set it aside
Put the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Heat the chocolate at half power for 30 seconds and stir it.
Heat the chocolate again at half power for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until the chocolate is smooth. If it's close to being totally melted, heat it for only 15 seconds before stirring.
Chocolate beginning to melt |
Final melted stage |
Combine the nut pieces and cranberries in a bowl. Stir
them into the melted chocolate, coating them well.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the paper-lined baking
sheet.
Fruit and nuts mixed with chocolate |
Chocolate dropped by spoonfuls on paper |
Chill in the refrigerator until the chocolate hardens before serving.
You can store the mounds in an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer until you're ready to serve them.
Makes approximately 24 chocolates.
This recipe appears in Gingerdead Man, the 7th Five-Ingredient Mystery.
Though I make these treats for emergency use as gifts or for guests, I love reaching into the fridge or freezer to snack on them.
What kind of snacks do you keep around during the holidays?
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Just in time for the holidays the Gingerdead Man e-book is 99 cents at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Google play, Apple Books.
"A wonderfully seasonal cozy mystery" -- Criminal Element
"If you are looking to settle in with a well plotted cozy this Christmas, Gingerdead Man is for you. Grab a gingerbread man and some hot chocolate and enjoy." -- Mark Baker, Carstairs Considers
"Plenty of red herrings, mixed motives, and recipes for foodies make for a spirited holiday cozy." -- Kirkus Review
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Maya Corrigan writes the Five-Ingredient Mysteries featuring café manger Val and her live-wire grandfather solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town. Maya lives in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. Before writing crime fiction, she taught American literature, writing, and detective fiction at Northern Virginia Community College and Georgetown University. When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords. Visit her website for book news, easy recipes, mystery trivia, and a free culinary mystery story.
Another fabulous five! Love it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary Jane. Enjoy the holidays.
DeleteI am making this TOMORROW! Thanks so much, Maya.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Edith. Next time I make this, I'm going to try putting a pecan half on top of each of the chocolate drops before chilling. Have a happy, healthy holiday.
DeleteYum, and so easy! In normal times we had lots of goodies,including me making Mom's "Cheese Wafers" topped with a pecan half! Thanks, and Happy Holidays, Maya!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant! Quick and delicious.
ReplyDelete