National Peanut Cluster Day

Who doesn’t love a sweet treat to make the day seem special? National Peanut Cluster Day brings the sweet and salty combination right to perfection! Peanuts added to the chocolate really create a candy that has be pleasing people for generations. There are many different combinations of clusters but this culinary holiday is all about the sinfully simple peanut cluster.

History of National Peanut Cluster Day

Chocolate has been in recorded culinary history dating as far back as 1900 BC. It was usually used to make a drink that took the world by storm when Christopher Columbus brought it back to Spain with him in the 15th Century. The drink was all that was known until 1847 when Joseph Fry learned to make it moldable with the addition of cacao butter. It took just a matter of a few decades for chocolate to emerge into what we know it today. Chocolate lovers around the world can thank Mr. Fry for all the goodies that are consumed daily as he truly started the process!

Once the process to make chocolate into a solid was discovered, the addition of different ingredients wasn’t far behind. Knowing that the blend of sweet and salty was a desired taste profile adding peanuts into the mix was a no brainer. Peanuts at this time were being grown and brought to market using steam power around the turn of the century. This lead to a greater number of people that could try this salty nut. It wasn’t long before confectioners made the combination that is still sought after today.

How to celebrate National Peanut Cluster Day

Typical of culinary holidays, the best way to celebrate is to partake of the special item. For National Peanut Cluster Day, look around your local area for a chocolate shop that still makes their candy by hand. Stop on by and try their version of the peanut cluster. Perhaps make a trek of it and stop at more than one shop. You’ll be helping the local businesses at the same time! This way, you’ll be able to find your favorite shop for future chocolate emergencies.

Feeling brave? There are several easy to follow recipes for making your own peanut clusters. It is surprising that the process isn’t as difficult as one would think. Making your own and passing them out to friends and family could raise you to super star status with them. First you need to look over the recipe option by doing a quick internet search. Then choose the process you want to use. This would be either the stove, or crockpot (I kid you not!).

No matter the way you choose to melt your chocolate and mix in the peanuts, the outcome will be similar in taste. It’s easy to find cute packaging options at the craft store, or even the dollar type stores. Find what you need and you can make packages for all the people you want to share with and they may just think you splurged and bought them from the chocolate shop!