I would be thrilled if you would head over to Love Grown Food’s Facebook and/or Pinterest page and vote for my holiday recipe creation (by “liking” or pinning) – {Slow Cooker} Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Crunch! This scrumptious salty-sweet snack couldn’t be easier to make in the slow cooker . . . . yes, Crock Pot power! Just dump in everything but the chocolate and let it mingle and caramelize together while you tend to other holiday tasks like wrapping gifts, addressing cards and hauling out the holly. Chocolate chips are melted in at the end and then it just cools for a bit on parchment paper. By using Power O’s, a crunchy cereal made from a blend of beans that adds protein, I’m able to bring a little balance to this sweet snack mix.
If you don’t gobble up the entire recipe at once, this Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Crunch makes a nice addition to any holiday party snack lineup or can be packaged up in jars with pretty ribbon for gift-giving. Remember to go vote through the Facebook or Pinterest links, it’s really easy. Thank you.
Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Crunch Recipe
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 cups “O’s” cereal like Cheerios or Love Grown Power O’s
- 2 cups mini pretzels
- 2 cups oyster crackers
- 2 cups toasted almonds
- 2 cups dark chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
1. Melt butter in a saucepan.
2. Stir in sugar and vanilla until well blended.
3. In a large slow cooker, combine cereal, pretzels, almonds and crackers. Pour in melted butter mixture and stir to coat.
4. Cook on high for 2-3 hours with the LID OFF, stirring occasionally. Mixture will be done when sugar caramelizes to create a glaze over ingredients. Please keep an eye on ingredients, as slow cooker temperatures can vary from model to model or with age of the appliance.
5. Turn heat to low and stir in chocolate chips. Put lid on slow cooker and let chocolate soften for about 5 minutes.
6. Remove lid and stir mixture to distribute melted chocolate. Do not continue to slow cook after chocolate has melted.
7. Spread mixture on parchment paper and immediately sprinkle with coarse sea salt. After mixture has cooled and hardened, store in an airtight container.
Makes about 10 to 12 cups.
this sounds so good!
Thanks Brittany!
This looks amazing! Something I definitely might make for the holiday season. My only concern is I might eat the entire batch in the process 🙂 You should join my Tried it Tuesday linkup today with this post, it would be a great addition!
oh darn, I missed the link up — I’ll try to remember for next week!
Looks great!
Thanks Leanne!
Made it and calls for way too much salt I would decrease to maybe just a teaspoon
I thought the salt amount was perfect! But that’s the great thing about recipes – we all tweak them to suit our owns tastes. 🙂
I am glad you enjoyed!
Oh what a fantastic gift idea (and for yourself too of course!)
yes, you must GIFT yourself!
YUMM! Do you think you could use coconut oil instead of butter? I have to skip out on dairy 🙁 Looks delicious though! I love my slow cooker and use it almost every week to prepare meals! All my love xo C
yup, I think coconut oil would work
That looks so good! I love anything you can do in the slow cooker.
Agree! The slow cooker has saved my life 🙂
this sounds AMAZING!
thanks Lindsay!
Ooo I want to make this! What could I use instead of Power Os??
any crunchy cereal — cheerios, chex, etc 🙂
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Could you use something else instead of oyster crackers?
Has anyone made this what are the reviews. I’m going to make this for my clients for christmas
Just swap in another snacky kind of cracker (or even more nuts) in the same quantity — could do teddy grahams, pretzel goldfish, mini peanut butter ritz bits . . . etc, you get the idea
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How much does this make? Want to make it for our Sunday School Couples Class and package individually as Christmas gifts.
It makes about 12 cups, give or take. Mainly depending on how “hunked up” it is when spread out to cool.
Does the mixture take awhile to cool and harden? I’ve had mine sitting for awhile and it’s not hard enough to store. I’m wondering if I did something wrong?
sorry, just now seeing this . . . I’ve never had any trouble with it setting up or heard others having that prob. . .you could try putting in the fridge for 10 minutes. Good luck and happy holidays!
This looks AH-mazing – do you know if you could make this quickly using the microwave? I can’t wait to try it but don’t want to wait the time the slow cooker will take! Great recipe!
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When do you add in the almonds?
thanks for catching that omission! I just fixed recipe, you add with with along with the pretzels, cereal, etc
What can you use instead of oyster crackers to make it gluten free?
any sort of gluten free cracker or cereal
How long does this last in the jar? I hoping to make it a month in advance.
I am so sorry, somehow your message just now showed up! I think it would last for a month if airtight — you could also make and stick in freezer until you are ready to gift it!
this looks great! Do you have any suggestions on what to substitute for nut allergies?
Seeds or dried fruit?!
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This was so easy and so good! I used corn and rice chex in place of the “O” cereal and it was great! I am making a big batch to give out this Christmas. Thanks so much for this delicious and simple recipe!
I made this today and loved it! It only took about 1 hour and 45 minutes in my crock pot. I didn’t need to cover after adding the chocolate. As I stirred, the chocolate melted pretty readily. By the time I had stirred thoroughly, all the chocolate was melted. My only tweaks were to add equal amounts of rice and corn Chex instead of Cheerios. And I didn’t have oyster crackers so I broke up some graham crackers I had in the pantry into pieces a bit bigger than the Chex cereal. Turned out great and delicious! I love that with this recipe, you can really make it your own depending on what you decide to add. Next time I think I might throw in some raisins. 🙂 Thanks so much for this recipe!! I plan on giving it in holiday tins as gifts this Christmas.
Great idea with the Chex cereal and graham crackers — that’s the great think about recipes like this is that they accommodate what’s on hand!
Couldn’t find dark chocolate chips so got Simply Organic brand dark chocolate CHUNKS. Help! It’s spread on parchment but chocolate has not hardened after two hours. Will have to toss it out! Did I do something wrong?
That is weird, I’ve never had a problem with the chocolate hardening, and you are the first with this feedback. My guess is that it was either the chocolate product (they do vary), the humidity on that day (better when under 50% humidity) , or that the chocolate got too hot (it should have only melted for about 5 minutes, not “cooked’). If it never set, I would suggest sticking the batch in the fridge and enjoying it that way.
May not want to use mini oreos. Mine just melted and fell apart. Still delicious recipe!
Thanks for the tip on that! I don’t remember that being a problem when I made it . . . but DEFINITELY could see it happening now that I think about it.
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It’s looks delicious but can you use milk chocolate instead dark chocolate
I haven’t tried that, but think it would work!