White Chocolate Fruit and Nut Clusters

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on Last updated

10 Comments

5 from 3 votes
20 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cooling Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
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White Chocolate Fruit and Nut Clusters are an easy dessert perfect for parties or as gifts. Dried fruits, nuts, and chocolate candy ready in 30 minutes.

If you are looking for more Candy Recipes like my Mixed Nut Clusters that are sweet, simple, and look beautiful for holiday parties or as quick gifts, you will love this White Chocolate Bark inspired treat.

White Chocolate Fruit and Nut Clusters bite

The holiday season is coming to a close and if you are looking for a last minute gift idea or bite-sized dessert for your party, these White Chocolate Clusters are just what you need.

What I love about these clusters is that they turn those leftover baking ingredients, like half bags of dried cranberries, apricot pieces, and almonds into a beautiful dessert or snack that looked planned all along. They are so simple to make and are easily adjusted to what you have on hand.

If you’ve been baking a lot of fresh pies or fruit tarts, you may have some fresh fruit or berries leftover that would go great in these White Chocolate Fruit clusters. If you don’t have a dehydrator, I’ve included easy instructions on how to dry out your fruit to use in this recipe and store for later.

Unlike a traditional White Chocolate Bark, these sweets were made by shaping them into clusters, so they come out looking as great as they taste. They make perfect party favors stacked up neatly and wrapped with cellophane that’s tied off with decorative ribbon.

Make these treats all year round, substituting seasonal dried fruits and different nuts for the occasion. Try adding pastel food coloring for Easter candies and swap out the cranberries for dried cherries. For Fourth of July, use dried blueberries and strawberries with macadamia nuts.
MORE WHITE CHOCOLATE CANDY RECIPES 

White Chocolate Fruit and Nut Clusters on baking sheet with chocolate drizzle

VARIATIONS ON WHITE CHOCOLATE FRUIT AND NUT CLUSTERS

  • Fruit: Sweet and tangy fruit or berries pair well with creamy white chocolate. Try dried mango or pineapple for a more tropical flavor. If you can find them (or make them), dried raspberries would also taste delicious.
  • Toasted Nuts: Toasting nuts in the oven before using in candies and bark is a great way to add an extra layer of flavor. Toss them in a spicy seasoning to add zing that balances out the sweetness.
  • Chocolate: While white chocolate is delicious and rich, these would taste just as good substituting Dark Chocolate. You can also decorate by dipping your clusters halfway into melted chocolate.
  • Candy Bars: Make these into White Chocolate Fruit and Nut Bars. Make a Graham Cracker Crust and press into an 8×8 pan as one even layer. Bake as usual and allow to cool completely. Assemble your cluster mixture on top and chill for 1 hour. Slice into even bars.

HOW TO DRY FRUIT AND BERRIES IN OVEN

Don’t dry berries and fruit in the same pan, as they will take different times to dry out.

  • Pre-heat oven to 225 degrees.
  • Halve or quarter the whole fruit you want to dehydrate.
  • Pat berries down or allow to air dry.
  • Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
  • Place fruit cut sides up about 1 inch apart on pan.
  • Sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar over fruit. No need to sugar the berries.
  • Place pan in oven and dry until fruit has shriveled, edges have dried, but is still chewy, about 1 ½ to 4 hours depending on fruit.
  • Transfer pan to a cooling rack and remove fruit from pan while still warm.
  • Cool completely before storing so no moisture collects in the bag or container.
  • Store your dried fruit and berries in freezer for up to 6 weeks in airtight container.

MORE DELICIOUS HOLIDAY CANDY!

HOW TO STORE WHITE CHOCOLATE FRUIT AND NUT CLUSTERS

  • Serve: White Chocolate Clusters can be kept in a cool, dry place for up to 1 week.
  • Store: To keep your Clusters fresh longer, store in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks in a sealed container.
  • Freeze: You can freeze these candies for up to 3 months in an air-tight container.
White Chocolate Nut and Fruit Clusters ingredients in bowl

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Dinner, then Dessert

White Chocolate Fruit and Nut Clusters

White Chocolate Fruit and Nut Clusters are an easy dessert perfect for parties or as gifts. Dried fruits, nuts, and chocolate candy ready in 30 minutes.
Yield 20 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
White Chocolate Fruit and Nut Clusters bite
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 12 ounces white chocolate melting discs
  • 1/2 cup almonds
  • 1/2 cup dried apricots , coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup dried blueberries
  • 1/2 cup golden raisins
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 2 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.
  • Add the white chocolate discs to a large glass bowl and microwave in 30 second increments until smooth, stirring in between each 30 seconds.
  • Add the almonds and fruits into the chocolate and stir.
  • Place spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture onto the baking sheet in mounds.
  • Refrigerate until set, 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Melt the semi sweet chocolate chips in a small glass bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments until smooth, stirring in between each 30 seconds.
  • Drizzle the chocolate over the clusters and refrigerate again to set.

Nutrition

Calories: 181kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 18mg | Potassium: 215mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 122IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1mg

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White Chocolate Fruit Nut Clusters collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  5. I suppose this can be made with semi-sweet chocolate as well, yes? Not too big a fan of white chocolate, however, all these fruit and nuts will go with chocolate as well. Thank you.

    Reply