Healthy Chocolate Fruit And Seed Clusters

These healthy chocolate clusters are stacked with dried fruit, pumpkin seeds, and drizzled with antioxidant-rich dark chocolate. These chocolate clusters make for a healthy, guilt-free snacking experience. (Jump to Recipe)

Ingredients Needed To Make These Chocolate Clusters

We’re talking 5 ingredients here.

Good quality dark chocolate – When looking for good quality dark chocolate that’s rich in antioxidants and sustainably sourced, I turn to Ritter Sport. In particular, I went with their 61% fine dark chocolate to make these chocolate clusters. But their 74% Intense and 81% Strong Dark Chocolate would work just as wonderfully for this recipe.

Dried apricots – Dried apricots have a naturally sweet flavor and orange color. They are a rich source of vitamin A, E, potassium and iron. They are the size of a quarter so I dice them into smaller chunks for this recipe. This way the apricot flavor gets more evenly distributed all throughout the whole chocolate cluster.

Dried blueberries – Not only is dark chocolate known as being a source of antioxidants, but blueberries too! The antioxidants responsible for giving blueberries their dark blue color is also responsible for protect cells from the damaging effects of oxidation, lowering cholesterol levels, heart health, bone health, and improving memory. Try to pick up a bag with no added sugar, dried blueberries are already naturally sweet.

Dried coconut chips – Dried coconut is more mild in flavor but has sweet notes. It’s rich in healthy saturated fat that contains no cholesterol and contains selenium, fiber, copper and manganese. I use dried coconut chips for this recipe, but feel free to use shredded coconut. Preferably, the unsweetened, only because the apricots and blueberries will naturally sweeten these chocolate clusters.

Pumpkin seeds – Pumpkin seeds are packed with healthy fats, iron, magnesium, zinc, and copper. They are also known as pepitas. You may use raw pumpkin seeds or roasted pumpkin seeds. The raw ones have more of a chew texture and the toasted ones have more of a crunchy texture.

To Make These Healthy Chocolate Fruit And Seed Clusters

1. Melt the chocolate.

You can use a double boiler method or the microwave to melt the chocolate.

To use a double boiler method, simply fill the bottom of a small pot or medium saucepan with 2 inches of water. Next, add a smaller heat proof bowl or pot inside the larger one. Place the chopped chocolate inside the smaller one and turn the heat on to medium/low.

To melt the chocolate in the microwave, add the chopped chocolate to a medium sized microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring as you go until chocolate is almost fully melted. Remove from the microwave and continue to mix until the last of the chocolate pieces completely melt.

2. Arrange the clusters.

In a medium bowl, mix together the dried apricots, dried blueberries, dried coconut chips, and the pumpkin seeds.

Using the melted chocolate, drizzle 16 small circles on a parchment lined baking sheet the size of dollar coins. Evenly distribute the dried fruit and seed combo onto the chocolate circles. Drizzle remaining chocolate right on top of the fruit and seed clusters.

Carefully place the baking sheet into the refrigerator for the clusters to harden up (about 30 to 60 minutes).

Remove the clusters from the baking sheet and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Disclosure: This post is a sponsored post on behalf of Ritter Sport and Raley’s.