Slow Cooker Christmas Crack is a big batch of chocolate peanut clusters: salted and unsalted peanuts coated in melted semi-sweet and milk chocolate, peanut butter chips and white almond bark, dropped into small piles and left to set. The coating turns smooth and creamy, there are whole peanuts in every bite, and it tastes of chocolate, peanut butter and salted peanuts all at once. It’s also called crockpot candy, and it’s the one to make when you need a lot of candy for a holiday dessert table, cookie plates or gift tins. One batch makes about 60 pieces.
How to make it: Layer the peanuts, chips and almond bark in a large slow cooker, cook covered on LOW for 1 hour, stir, then cook 30 minutes more and stir until smooth. Spoon it into small piles and let them harden for at least 1 hour.
Why You’ll Love It
- Almost hands-off: you layer everything, put the lid on and stir twice. No candy thermometer, no double boiler.
- A huge batch: about 60 pieces, enough for a party tray and a stack of gift tins.
- Sweet and salty: salted peanuts in a smooth mix of chocolate and peanut butter.
- Six ingredients: plus sprinkles if you want them, and nothing to chop.
Ingredient Notes
Peanuts: One pound salted and one pound unsalted, poured straight from the jar or can.
Semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips: A 12-ounce bag of each. Keep the semi-sweet chips even if you love milk chocolate. The peanut butter chips and white almond bark are very sweet, and the semi-sweet chips balance them.
Peanut butter chips: 20 ounces. They carry the peanut butter flavor; leave them out and you have chocolate-covered peanuts.
White almond bark: Two pounds, or the same weight of vanilla candy coating. White melting wafers work too and help keep the chocolate and peanut butter chips from turning chunky. If you use white chocolate chips instead, use the same weight and buy good ones: low-quality white chips leave chunks.
Sprinkles: Christmas sprinkles are optional, but they make the clusters look festive on a tray.
Ingredients
- 1 pound unsalted peanuts
- 1 pound salted peanuts
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 12 ounces milk chocolate chips
- 20 ounces peanut butter chips
- 2 pounds white almond bark, or vanilla candy coating, broken into chunks
- Christmas sprinkles, optional, for topping
How to Make Slow Cooker Christmas Crack
1. Layer the peanuts and chips. Put the unsalted and salted peanuts in the bottom of a large slow cooker. Layer the semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips on top.
2. Add the almond bark. Break the almond bark into chunks and place it on top as the last layer.
3. Melt on low. Cover and cook on LOW for 1 hour without stirring.
4. Stir. Remove the lid and stir to combine.
5. Finish melting. Cover again and cook on LOW for another 30 minutes, keeping an eye on it so it does not burn.
6. Scoop the clusters. Stir again until everything is melted together and smooth. Spoon the mixture in small piles onto wax paper or non-stick aluminum foil. Add sprinkles right away, if using, before the candy starts to set.
7. Let it harden. Let the candy harden for at least 1 hour before serving.
How to Melt It Smooth Without Scorching
The whole trick to this candy is gentle, even melting. A slow cooker on LOW melts chocolate slowly and evenly, which lowers the risk of burning it. Your job is to layer it right, leave it alone at first, and then stop the moment it’s smooth.
Layer it in order. Peanuts go on the bottom, the chocolate and peanut butter chips in the middle, and the almond bark on top, broken into chunks. If you use white melting wafers instead of bark, keep them on top too: they melt the fastest, so the layers underneath get a chance to melt first. Use a large slow cooker, because this is a big batch.
Don’t stir too early. Keep the lid on for the first hour, then give it one good stir to bring everything together.
Then stir again after 30 minutes. Cover it, give it 30 more minutes on LOW and stir again. If you still see whole chips, cook it 15 to 20 minutes more on LOW, stir, and repeat until the coating is smooth with no whole chips left in the peanuts. Then turn the slow cooker off.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| After 1 hour on LOW | Lift the lid and stir to combine |
| 30 minutes later | Stir again; if it’s smooth, start scooping |
| Chips still whole | Cook 15 to 20 minutes more on LOW, stir, and repeat as needed |
Watch the end. Don’t overcook it or let it scorch, or the batch is ruined. Stay nearby while it finishes, and never leave it cooking unattended.
Tips for Success
Why won’t the sprinkles stick?
The candy was already setting. Sprinkles only stick while the clusters are still warm and soft, so work quickly. Scoop a few piles, sprinkle them, then scoop the next few.
How do you make the clusters the same size?
Use a cookie scoop and fill it the same way each time. The 60 pieces on the card work out to about 1.8 ounces each, so these are large clusters. Smaller scoops give you more pieces, and each one is then less than one serving on the card. For a neater look, drop the candy into cupcake liners; once they set, they look like peanut butter cups. Mini liners work too, but they make smaller pieces, so you’ll get more than 60.
How can you get it to set faster?
Put the trays in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour once the clusters are scooped.
Packing It as a Gift
This candy packs well as a holiday gift. Once it’s fully set, pack it in Christmas tins, cookie boxes with windows, cellophane bags or mason jars. Line tins and bags with festive tissue paper or parchment paper, and finish with a ribbon and a tag.
Variations
- Other nuts: use cashews, chopped pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts, or a mix, in place of the peanuts. For a batch without whole nuts, use pretzels broken into small pieces. It still isn’t nut-free, because peanut butter chips are made with peanuts.
- Different chips: swap butterscotch chips for the peanut butter chips. For an all-white batch, skip both kinds of chocolate chips and use white chocolate chips. Any mix of chips that melt works as long as the total amount stays the same.
- Add-ins: try peppermint chips, toffee bits or crispy rice cereal in the mix. For chunks of peanut butter, stir candy-coated peanut butter candies or peanut butter cups in at the end.
Storage & Make-Ahead
Keep the clusters in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Freezing isn’t recommended unless you plan to eat them frozen, because thawed pieces turn messy. Frozen, in an airtight container or freezer bag, they keep up to three months; eat them straight from the freezer. The candy keeps well for that week, so you can make it ahead of a party or a round of gift tins.
What to Serve With It
Put the clusters on a holiday candy tray with chocolate pecan turtle clusters and a few pieces of pecan pie bark. For another candy made in the slow cooker, try slow cooker Irish whiskey fudge, or keep it classic with old fashioned fudge. Round out a cookie plate with Christmas cherry bars and chocolate peanut butter balls.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Christmas crack have in it?
The slow cooker kind is peanuts, two kinds of chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and white almond bark, melted together and scooped into clusters. It’s called crack because it’s so hard to stop eating. The saltine cracker candy that shares the name is a different treat.
What can you put on Christmas crack?
Christmas sprinkles are the classic. Small cinnamon candies (cinnamon imperials) add a pop of cinnamon, and a drizzle of caramel or melted white candy, crushed peppermint or a pinch of sea salt all work. Change the sprinkle colors for other holidays: red, pink and white for Valentine’s Day, or other colors for Halloween, Thanksgiving or New Year’s Eve.
Can you make it without a slow cooker?
Yes, on the stove. Melt everything except the peanuts over low heat, stirring constantly so it doesn’t scorch. As soon as it’s melted, take it off the heat, stir in the peanuts and scoop.
Can you make a smaller batch?
Yes. Cut every ingredient in half if you don’t need 60 pieces.
Final Notes
Line two baking sheets with wax paper before you start, so you can scoop the moment the candy is smooth. If you make it, tell me in the comments what you put on top.
Slow Cooker Christmas Crack
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Ingredients
- 1 pound unsalted peanuts
- 1 pound salted peanuts
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 12 ounces milk chocolate chips
- 20 ounces peanut butter chips
- 2 pounds white almond bark or vanilla candy coating, broken into chunks
- Christmas sprinkles optional, for topping
Instructions
- Put the unsalted and salted peanuts in the bottom of a large slow cooker. Layer the semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips on top.
- Break the almond bark into chunks and place it on top as the last layer.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 1 hour without stirring.
- Remove the lid and stir to combine.
- Cover again and cook on LOW for another 30 minutes, keeping an eye on it so it does not burn.
- Stir again until everything is melted together and smooth. Spoon the mixture in small piles onto wax paper or non-stick aluminum foil. Add sprinkles right away, if using, before the candy starts to set.
- Let the candy harden for at least 1 hour before serving.
