Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Green & Black's Pistachio Coconut Clusters

For dinner this evening, we had the pot roast leftover from last night.  That gave me time to make some easy peasy "Green & Black's Pistachio Coconut Clusters" for Valentines Day tomorrow.  I've made similar chocolate nut clusters in the past using roasted almonds, dried cherries and coconut with 70% cacao chocolate.  Tonight I wanted to try using roasted pistachios, coconut and 85% chocolate instead.  I broke up a bar of Green & Black's 85% organic chocolate and melted it in a bowl in the microwave (in 30 second increments so it wouldn't burn or scorch) -- it only took about 1-1/2 minutes to melt until smooth.  I sweetened it a little more by adding some drops of NuNaturals liquid stevia to the melted chocolate.  I stirred in a few small scoops of dry roasted, lightly salted pistachios and a few pinches of unsweetened coconut until I had the consistency I wanted.  I then dropped it by tablespoonfuls onto some parchment paper and popped it into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to set.  They turned out delicious...with the deep, dark, rich flavor of the Green & Black's 85% chocolate, the slight saltiness and crunch from the pistachios and the hint of coconut flavor and chewiness.  They were so simple, quick and easy and took only 5 minutes to make.  I snapped a few photos below for you to see.  Enjoy!

BOOM!


6 comments:

Unknown said...

YUM!! Will have to make this soon :)

Blessings!
Gail

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Thanks, Gail -- hope you enjoy! It's good with either the 70% or 85% chocolate (and you can use any brand...I just prefer the Green & Black's). It's really good with roasted almonds too! :-)

Unknown said...

If you use Wonderful Pistachios, is it best to remove the worms or leave them in?

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Scott -- hmmm, first of all these were pistachios I purchased from a bin at Whole Foods (not Wonderful brand). But, to answer your question about whether or not to leave the worms (that you've obviously found before in pistachios)-- I guess my answer to you would be...when drinking tequila -- do you remove the worm when you get to the bottom of your bottle or leave it in? :-)

Becky said...

Yum! I'm going to make these for Christmas time when all those other super sugary treats are tempting me. I love the sweet and salty combo. Could also add homemade, sugar free dried cranberries for the "red and green factor" for Christmas time. Thanks for getting my wheels turning! I love all your recipes, thanks for all you do!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Becky! Thanks -- I hope you enjoy them -- I had actually forgotten all about these...LOL. I may re-post them for others to see that may have missed or forgotten them, too! :-)