The past couple of weeks have just been crazy. You know, the kind where you feel like you took two steps forward and then 5 steps back? First, my site totally crashed for almost an entire day and I’ve been looking for another hosting company…grrr. I’ve been helping put together a huge holiday blog event and giveaway with over 16 other fabulous bloggers, so stay tuned for that! Plus, I had to finish up my daughter’s lighted jellyfish Halloween costume and I made my first video review for the blog!
So this week, I needed a quick and easy treat to pack in the kid’s lunch boxes & something to post for our Fall Cookie and Dessert Share-fest. This Dried Fruit & Nut Clusters was the perfect recipe. This treat requires no baking, can be made in less than 20 minutes, and tastes great!
Gather up the yummy ingredients: dried fruit, nuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, cinnamon, raisins, and some white chocolate.
I made two batches. My youngest daughter insisted on a berry blend with pecans and I wanted an apricot and almond blend. That’s the great thing about this recipe, you can use your favorite blend of dried fruits and nuts. What fruits and nuts would you use?
Note: If you’re using larger sized dried fruits (like apricots), chop into raisin sized pieces. I also take a mallet to the almonds and pecans because I prefer the larger sized pieces over store-bought chopped nuts.
Now this is the hardest part of the recipe – melt the white chocolate in a glass bowl over boiling water. Make sure you’re constantly mixing it. I know, it’s so hard. But on the plus side,you may just get a free facial out of it too :-). Of course, you could melt it in the microwave, but I ALWAYS end up over cooking it.
Once the chocolate is melted and your facial is done, pour it into the bowl of fruits and nuts. Mix it well and scoop into mini cupcake cups.
To speed up the process, I put the cups onto a tray and into the freezer for 5 minutes.
And that’s it folks! It’s ready to serve straight from the freezer or keep in sealed container for a few days.
What other fruit and nut combos should I try?
Dried Fruit & Nut Clusters
Ingredients
- 2/3 cups dried fruit (I used a mixed bag of blueberries, cherries, and cranberries)
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds (optional)
- 1/3 cup lightly salted sunflower seeds
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds or pecans
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 8oz white chocolate (measure 8 ounces of white candy melts or use 1 1/2 cups or white chocolate chips)
Instructions
Put all the ingredients, except the chocolate, into a bowl and mix. Set aside.
Melt white chocolate in a glass bowl over boiling water or use a double boiler on medium low heat. Pour melted chocolate into the fruit mix and stir until everything is well coated.
Use a cookie scoop or spoon and scoop the mixture into mini baking cups.
Allow mixture to cool and serve.
Notes
Use whatever type of dried fruit and nut mixture you prefer. The recipe is very forgiving and easily adaptable to variations of dried fruits and nuts. Experiment and have fun with it. You can even change the spices too!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 26 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 113Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 317mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 1gSugar: 9gProtein: 2g
This looks so delicious and attractive. I am sure it will taste great too.
Oh my all the goodness and yumculicious recipes in one place!!! Thanks for sharing the Dried Fruit Clusters on Oh My Heartsie Girl, so glad you did. Always enjoy your visits!!!
Have a great weekend, Karren
I know…so many great recipes on the link-up. Thank you for stopping by 🙂
Boy you made those look really good and just in time for the holidays! Thanks for sharing.
These are great for the holidays and so easy to prepare too.
This sounds amazing! My mouth is watering just thinking about how delicious it is! Thanks so much for linking up at Come Along Ponds!
Thanks for the fun party Megan.
Looks like a great thing to make as a take-along snack!
It’s a great on-the-go snack. Just make sure you don’t leave it in a warm place or it will melt.
This looks so good! Pinned. Lou Lou Girls
Thank you for pinning Lou Lou Girls!
These look great and I am sure they taste good, too. Funny, I made a fruit and but bark last week to share on the blog, too. Still in draft mode. Guess we are thinking alike!
Oh, I’ll have to come over to see your recipe. Please share it on one of the Merry Monday Link parties when you post.
These look so beautiful! I love your little cake cases and your food photography is spectacular!
Katie <3
Thanks Katie. PicMonkey definitely helps to make my pictures a lot nicer.
These look SO good and easy to make! It would be a fun recipe to try with the kiddos…doing it this week!
Glad you’re making them. I hope they like them as much as my kids do.
These are such wonderful treats Erlene
The only “problem” is that It’s kind of hard to stop eating them once you start 🙂
Thanks Winnie. Yes, it can be hard to stop eating it, but they aren’t too big and eating two – three isn’t too bad…lol.
I pinned these on my Pinterest board. They look so good!
Thanks so much for pinning Sharon.
This looks like an easy and fun recipe, perfect for the kiddos!
Super easy recipe and so easy to customize to each for each of my kids.
I’m thinking I’m definitely going to try this and probably use cranberries, almonds, and apricots and/or dates!
I haven’t tried dates yet, but I’m sure it would add a lot of sweetness. I’d probably add more nuts to the mix to balance it out?
Those look and sound amazing! Perfect little snack.
I am definitely making a version for my kids. These are a perfect healthy snack for their lunches.
I’d love to know how you make yours.
Mmm all of it looks so good. Great job
Erlene, these look wonderful!
I guess the steam would give you a free facial, wouldn’t it? One time my allergies gave me a stuffy nose and I made bagels, which you boil and then bake. My allergies were so much better after standing above a steaming pot of water for 20 minutes!
Thanks for linking up with us at the Retro Re-Pin Party!
Lol…yes you can get a facial if you stand too close to the pot. Although, I guess if it clears up your nose, it’s a good thing.
These sound really delicious, but I’m not sure if I could eat all of the sugar that holds them together, haha.
I’ve actually used less white chocolate before and it’s fine too 🙂 You can probably cut down the white chocolate by 1-2 oz. and it should still be fine. The mix will be dry, but it will stick together once the chocolate sets. My kids like it with this amount of chocolate and I like it with less, so I’ve made it both ways.
Yum! These look so delicious. I love freezing fruit/date bars and then eating them on the go. Such a good burst of energy for me 🙂
Mines never lasts long enough to freeze…4 kids and a hungry hubby = no leftovers
Your treats always look so delicious!
Thank you.
oh! i love white chocolate so i’ll have to try out this recipe!
It’s good with regular chocolate too 🙂 If you try it, let me know what mix of dried fruits/nuts you used.
It’s 7am I am hungry and this feels like a bag idea because I want yo reach in and eat those delicious treats
On the plus side, these treats aren’t totally full of sugars and are pretty small 🙂
What a great recipe and I love the name of your blog! 🙂
Thanks Erica. I figured since Pinterest inspires me a lot that I would name my blog after it 🙂
I LOVE this!!! I am having thanksgiving at my place so I will do something similar to this 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks Lindsay. I bet you could do something with pumpkin spice. Would love to know how you make yours.
Ooooh I love stuff like this! These look so good! Definitely sharing this recipe and saving it for later too! 🙂
Thanks for sharing Heather and I hope you get to try it.
note to self… do not read your blog while hungry. yummmm. i wish i could reach though the screen and eat these
You’re too funny Amy. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Oh my goodness those look SO SO yummy! What a fun recipe, I might have to try if I can make it to the store for the ingredients!
You know, I was thinking that you could probably just make it from a bag of good trail mix too. My two youngest LOVE trail mix and I could use their favorite trail mix as a base for this too.
I don’t think I would have the guts to try these. I have a texture phobia. Dried fruits and nuts are not a combo that I can do! But it sounds amazing.
My son oldest son has a texture issue with onions, so I can sort of relate. Can you not eat the fruits or the nuts?
These look healthy and easy to make. I should try these.
It’s not as healthy as eating just the dried fruit and nuts, but sometimes you just need a little something extra as a treat.
G’day Don’t these look great! Wish I could try one now Erlene!
Cheers! Joanne
#ibabloggers
pinned
If you like eating dried fruits and nuts and want a little extra treat, the added white chocolate is a nice addition.
This looks delicious and quite easy, right up my alley. I will give this a try.
Thank you for sharing.
#ibabloggers
Super easy to make, which is why I love it too 🙂
Looks really tasty, and quick to make. I eat a lot of raw nuts and fruit. I usually make myself a “snack plate” from it all. 🙂
I usually have snack bags of dried fruit and nuts too…so yummy. I make this as a special treat with the white chocolate 🙂
These look really yummy!
They are yummy! Hope you try it.
Yummmm! I’d love these, though I’d take out the raisins cause I’m definitely on team no raisins haha. So good otherwise though! I want to try them out 🙂
Funny, I’m not a raisin lover either, but I don’t mind them mixed in with the fruits, nuts, and chocolate.
So sorry to hear about your site crashing, I think about that, too and need to make preparations in case that happens. I always forget to back up my site. This recipe sounds so good, what a great idea for parties and just as a snack. I need to remember to boil white chocolate over water instead of microwaving it. I did that recently and ended up burning it, too. I love how forgiving this recipe is, can’t wait to try this soon. Pinning, thanks! #ibabloggers
Hi Bernadyn. Most host sites will backup your site, it’s just that I don’t think the package I have can handle my blog anymore. I have to look for another host company so my site will stop crashing. I’m glad I’m not the only one that burns chocolate in the microwave…I was beginning to think I was the only one that had this problem.
Hi Erlene!
So sorry to hear about your site, that’s never fun.
Love this easy recipe for clusters. White chocolate is my favorite. Will definitely give this a try. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Good luck with your holiday event!
I like white chocolate too, but I like the regular chocolate as well. It’s a toss up…lol. Let me know if you try it.
These look great, Erlene, and I love that they’re quick and easy! Hope you have a great new week! 🙂
Hi Dee. These are super easy and yes I’m having a better week 🙂