Chocolate Covered Cashews
Posted Dec 14, 2017, Updated Jun 22, 2024
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Chocolate cashew clusters are easy to make with only 3 ingredients. Chocolate covered cashews are delicious, sweet & salty no-bake treat!
When it comes to candy, I am about as plane-Jane as they come. You’ll usually find me reaching for pure dark chocolate, or some sort of nut covered in dark chocolate – like these chocolate covered cashews.
One of my all-time favorites are sea salt dark chocolate covered cashews from a store in Chicago. Since we no longer live in Illinois, I created a homemade version of my favorite treats.
Made with only three ingredients, they’re the perfect combination of sweet and salty. They’re a delicious holiday treat for anyone on your guest list because they’re easily made to comply with almost every dietary need.
Chocolate Covered Cashews: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Semisweet Chocolate. Choose your favorite chocolate, semisweet, milk, and dark all work great. Even white chocolate is delicious. You can use chips, bars, discs, etc. because they are being melted it doesn’t matter.
- Cashews. Any nut can be used in this recipe. The two I recommend most highly are cashews and almonds. I prefer roasted and salted nuts, but raw or unsalted nuts work well too.
- Sea salt. I really don’t think this ingredient is optional. I use this flaky sea salt and love it. You can also add crushed cashews or festive sprinkles to the top.
How to Make Chocolate Covered Cashews
This recipe only has three ingredients, so it’s fairly simple, but here are a few tips to get them just right! I like to make chocolate cashew clusters instead of individually covered each nut for the sake of time and sanity.
Begin by tempering the chocolate. Here is a simple method for tempering chocolate in the microwave:
- Warm the chocolate in the microwave (in a glass, microwave safe bowl) for 1 minute.
- Then, stir and warm the chocolate for an additional 1 minute until almost all of it is melted.
- Then stir the chocolate until it’s completely smooth.
- Next, let the chocolate cool until it reaches 90 degrees Fahrenheit before using it in the recipe. This method has resulted in the most beautifully shiny chocolate with the best texture. If shiny chocolate isn’t important to you, simply melt the chocolate and proceed with the recipe.
Next, add the cashews to the tempered chocolate and stir until they are all coated.
Next, drop the cashew/chocolate mixture by in ½ Tablespoon portions (about 3-4 cashews per scoop) on to the prepared baking sheet
Then, sprinkles the cashew clusters with sea salt and let stand at room temperature until hardened. Or, you can put them in the fridge or freezer to speed up the hardening process.
Serve
Serve the chocolate covered cashews slightly chilled or at room temperature. We love to make them to include on our holiday cookie trays.
Store/Freeze
Once the chocolate covered cashews are hardened, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Serve room temperature or slightly chilled.
Chocolate Covered Cashews Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can double it to give away to friends and neighbors as a special holiday treat.
No, not necessarily. They’ll still taste great if you don’t, but the chocolate coating won’t be as shiny.
I like to use roasted & salted cashews. However, you can use raw, unsalted, etc.
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Chocolate Covered Cashews (Cashew Clusters)
Ingredients
- 1 cup dark chocolate (chopped (8 oz))
- 1 cup cashews (roasted & salted)
- flaked sea salt (for sprinkling)
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Set aside.
- Microwave chocolate for 1 minute.
- Stir and microwave for 60 more seconds until most of the chocolate is melted (but not all of it).
- Stir until all the chocolate is melted.
- Let the melted chocolate cool to 90 degrees F, stirring occasionally to speed up the process.
- Once chocolate reaches 90 degrees F, stir in the cashews
- Drop mixture by in ½ Tablespoon portions (about 3-4 cashews per scoop) on to the prepared baking sheet
- Sprinkle with sea salt and let stand at room temperature until hardened.
Video
Notes
- Semisweet Chocolate. Choose your favorite chocolate, semisweet, milk, and dark all work great. Even white chocolate is delicious. You can use chips, bars, discs, etc. because they are being melted it doesn’t matter.
- Cashews. Any nut can be used in this recipe. The two I recommend most highly are cashews and almonds. I prefer roasted & salted nuts, but raw or unsalted nuts work well too.
- Sea salt. I really don’t think this ingredient is optional. I use this flaky sea salt and love it. You can also add crushed cashews or festive sprinkles to the top.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
this was such an easy tasty recipe, making for gifts,Love them
Thank you, Laura!
These look divine!! Can I add 1/2 cup rice crispy cereal? Thank you
I don’t see why you couldn’t.
can this recipe be used for commercial purposes?
Very easy! I made these for my son-in-law. He loved them. Making them again for Christmas to give as gifts.
Thank you so much Cat! I’m so glad you both enjoyed them – what a great gift idea too!
SO EASY‼️ Be careful when tasting……you might find yourself eating half a dozen…..like I did. Absolutely delicious. (I skipped the sea salt)
Awesome and easy!!!! Added pecans peanuts and walnuts…. a traditional holiday must now… the sea salt on top is awesome !!!! Thanks👍🏼❣️
I’m all about Christmas candy over cookies this year! These sound amazing, especially since cashews are my all time fave. I’ve got a dark chocolate bark with gingerbread and toffee you should check out too (www.behindtheplates.com). Happy Holidays!
I can’t express how YUM these are! WOW! They look, sound, and I KNOW they will be GREAT!
We love to make buckeyes and toffee and sometimes peanut brittle for Christmas, but my new favorite is your cookie dough cups; I made them yesterday and they’re so delicious. I have to tell you that I LOVE chocolate too, and I love that you’re doing so many chocolate Christmas candy recipes.