A mixture of dried cherries, almonds, and potato chips – all enrobed in velvety dark chocolate – makes up this sweet and savory chocolate snack mix. You could also try adding in a set of candies!
Do you ever feel like you want a snack, but you simply can’t decide whether you want it to be sweet or salty? Well if that’s the case, this chocolate snack mix is for you. Sweet dried cherries, salty almonds, and salty crunchy potato chips all get a bath in sweet and rich dark chocolate, making for the most perfectly balanced snack mix. I actually made this chocolate snack mix for my boyfriend Gabe for Valentine’s day, and he loved it. Probably because I used three of his favorite snacks – cherries, almonds and potato chips. But beyond just containing some of his favorite things, this mix really does strike the perfect balance between salty and sweet, and is the perfect choice for anyone who can’t decide between the two.
My favorite type of Valentine’s day gift is the homemade food kind. A few years ago I made these rainbow cookies for Gabe for Valentine’s day. They’re his favorite, but I’m not gonna lie, they take a lot of work to make. So while I love him to death and he’s 100% worth all that time and effort, this year I wanted to make something that would be equally delicious, but somewhat easier to make. Enter this sweet and salty chocolate snack mix. It may look fancy and complicated, but it’s deceptively simple. Simply melt and temper some chocolate (see my notes on that below), and use it to cover dried cherries, almonds and potato chips, and you’ll have the perfect snack mix for you or someone you love.
TEMPERING CHOCOLATE MADE EASY
Homemade chocolate covered foods may seem daunting, but they’re actually incredibly easy to make. The one trick is to temper the chocolate that you’ll be using. Tempering chocolate is the process of slowly heating and then cooling the chocolate, allowing the molecules to crystalize evenly and resulting in a chocolate that is smooth, shiny, and will stay hard at room temperature. You may have seen chefs tempering chocolate on baking shows (I know I have), and seen them spreading the chocolate out on a large surface and smoothing it back and forth. This is definitely one way to do it, but it can actually be done much more easily using the microwave.
All you have to do is cut your chocolate into small pieces and separate out 1/3 of it. Microwave 2/3 of the chocolate in 30 second intervals mixing between each interval to be sure it doesn’t burn. Once it’s melted, stir in the other 1/3 of the chocolate are stir until completely melted. This will cool the chocolate down, effectively tempering it.
A CUSTOMIZABLE CHOCOLATE SNACK MIX
The best part about this chocolate snack mix is that it’s completely customizable. I think the chocolate covered potato chips are my favorite part, and they really drive home the sweet and salty vibe, so I wouldn’t skip out on those. But other than that, you can use whatever nuts and fruits you want. Walnuts and chopped up dried dates (one of my favorite combinations) would be great, or you could make some chocolate covered pretzels or peanut butter chips to throw in as well. Use your favorite sweet and salty snacks – or the favorite snacks of someone you love – and you’ll have an addictively good chocolate snack mix.
Sweet and Salty Chocolate Snack Mix
Ingredients
- 12 oz dark chocolate, chopped into fine pieces
- 1/4 cup dried cherries (or dried fruit of choice, cut into bite sized pieces)
- 1/4 cup almonds (or nut of choice)
- 12-15 ruffle potato chips
Instructions
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Place 2/3 of the chopped chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, mixing well between each interval, until all the chocolate is completely melted.
- Once melted, add the remaining 1/3 of the chocolate into the melted chocolate and stir well until completely melted and smooth.
- Start with the potato chips. Dip about 1/2 to 1/3 of each chip in the chocolate, then set aside on the lined baking sheet. Then dip the almonds and cherries. I do this using about five cherries or almonds at a time, putting them into the bowl of melted chocolate and using a fork to turn them and coat them completely. Then use the fork to remove them one by one, shaking off the excess chocolate, and set on the lined baking sheet.
- Allow the chocolate snacks to set until the chocolate is firm, 20-30 minutes at room temperature or 10-20 minutes in the fridge. Once set, gently mix the components together. Store in an air tight container in a cool dark place.
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