Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Cashew Clusters
This minimalist no bake dessert only requires 3 ingredients! My Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Cashew Clusters use dark chocolate, roasted and salted cashews, and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt for a naturally vegan, gluten free, and incredibly delicious dessert.
If you’re looking for more simple candy recipes with minimal ingredients, try some of my other favorites like Peanut Turtle Candy, Puppy Chow Candy Clusters, Healthy Almond Joy Bars, Honey Sesame Dark Chocolate Bark, or Homemade Crunch Bars.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Cashew Clusters
- Ready In: 15 minutes
- Makes: 12 servings
- Main Ingredients: dark chocolate, cashews, sea salt
- Flavor Profile: rich dark chocolate with crunchy salty cashews
- Dietary Info: vegan, gluten free, no seed oils, eggless
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: indulgent and wholesome, these clusters deliver the perfect sweet-and-salty balance
Summarize & Save This Content On
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 3 Ingredients: This recipe for Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Cashew Clusters only requires 3 ingredients! Organic chocolate, roasted and salted cashews, and flaky sea salt are all you need for this homemade candy recipe!
- Sweet & Salty: This cashew candy is both sweet and salty — which is my favorite combo! The flaky sea salt is optional, so if you want to omit that, you totally can and you’ll just have a simple organic chocolate snack.
- Conscious Indulgence: I used to buy the Organic Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Cashews from Nuts.com all the time. But they contain soy lecithin, which I now avoid. So, this recipe is just like these favorite candies of mine, but with conscious ingredients! Soy lecithin is used a lot in commercial candy making as a stabilizer for chocolate. It allows the chocolate to mold easier and become tempered, so you’ll see it in many chocolate candies, even organic ones as there is an organic soy lecithin. But, if you make your own candy, then you can avoid this potentially harmful ingredient!
- Organic: I love using organic chocolate and cashews in this homemade candy. Organic ingredients are less processed and have better flavor because of it!
Ingredients
- Dark Chocolate: I use organic mini dark chocolate chips, which is my secret ingredient whenever I'm making homemade candy as I don't have to chop chocolate! These also are free of stabilizers so they are perfect for melting. If using another kind of chocolate chip, be sure to check for stabilizers such as soy lecithin or sunflower lecithin. You need to avoid these as these will hinder chocolate from melting. You can also use a dark chocolate bar and chop it up. You can also use milk or white chocolate if you prefer.
- Cashews: You can use organic roasted and salted cashews or raw cashers, either will work. The roasted and salted have more flavor, obviously, but if you don't want the added salt, feel free to use raw.
- Flaky Sea Salt: I top this with flaky sea salt, which is optional. But, I think it makes the best lightly sweet and perfectly salty snack!
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips
- Use a high quality organic dark chocolate for this recipe. With only a few ingredients, they really matter!
- In addition, the same goes for cashews, use high quality organic cashews that you like the flavor of when eaten alone. As those will make the best cashews for covering in chocolate.
- I use a flaky sea salt for topping as I love the sweet and salty combo. But if you don’t have flaky sea salt, you can use fine sea salt as well and it will still be delicious!
- If you want to temper the chocolate in this recipe, if you are gifting this candy or making for a party, then follow my instructions for tempering chocolate in my post How to Temper Chocolate for Candy Making.
How to Make Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Cashew Clusters
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I actually used a quarter sheet pan as you don’t actually need a full half). Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Alternatively, you can use a heatproof bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring between each one to prevent burning.
- Temper the chocolate if you want (optional).
- Add the cashews into the bowl with the melted chocolate and stir to combine completely.
- Transfer onto the prepared baking sheet and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Allow to set completely.
- You can place into the fridge or freezer to speed up the setting.
- Break into clusters once the chocolate has set.
Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Cashew Clusters FAQ's
You can use any kind of nuts you like or even a mixture of a few different kinds. This recipe would be really good with almonds, pecans, walnuts, or pistachios, even brazil nuts.
If you don't have flaky sea salt, you can just use regular fine sea salt too. It just won't have the same look but you'll still get that sweet and salty vibe. You can also omit the salt completely if you don't like sweet and salty chocolate.
That's okay, you can just use a traditional half sheet pan. This is just a smaller recipe, so it fits on a smaller one.
This should be stored in an airtight container. If you didn't temper the chocolate, the you will most likely want to store this in the fridge. If you did temper the chocolate you can store this in your pantry.
Gifting Supplies
These Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Cashew Clusters make the best holiday gift! I use a 17-ounce glass jar but a mason jar also works. You can also use a tin tie bag as well and just tie either one with a holiday ribbon!
If you're looking for more homemade gift ideas, check out some of my other favorite recipes that also make great gifts! Homemade True Caramel Sauce is one I make all the time for gifts as it's such a treat to have to use for coffee, hot cocoa, ice cream and more. Chocolate Cream Drops, Brown Butter Butterscotch Sauce, Easy Vegan Peanut Brittle Without Corn Syrup, Homemade Caramel Sauce with Bone Broth, and Pink Peppermint Ice are also great holiday options too!
More Chocolate Recipes to Try
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Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Cashew Clusters
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Heatproof Mixing Bowl
- Spatula
- Half Sheet Pan
Ingredients
- 226 grams mini dark chocolate chips
- 340 grams roasted salted cashews
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I actually used a quarter sheet pan as you don’t actually need a full half).
- Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Alternatively, you can use a heatproof bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring between each one to prevent burning.
- Add the cashews into the bowl with the melted chocolate and stir to combine completely. Transfer onto the prepared baking sheet and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Allow to set completely. You can place into the fridge or freezer to speed up the setting.
- Break into clusters once the chocolate has set.
- If you want to temper the chocolate you can definitely do that! If you don’t temper the chocolate, you may have to store in the fridge.
Video
Notes
- Use a high quality organic dark chocolate for this recipe. With only a few ingredients, they really matter!
- In addition, the same goes for cashews, use high quality organic cashews that you like the flavor of when eaten alone. As those will make the best cashews for covering in chocolate.
- I use a flaky sea salt for topping as I love the sweet and salty combo. But if you don’t have flaky sea salt, you can use fine sea salt as well and it will still be delicious!
- If you want to temper the chocolate in this recipe, if you are gifting this candy or making for a party, then follow my instructions for tempering chocolate in my post How to Temper Chocolate for Candy Making.
Nutrition
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