Raisin-Nut Clusters

Two coincidental events led to this recipe- first, I rediscovered the simple joy of eating raisins and nuts together in the same mouthful, and secondly, I had a terrible craving for chocolate-covered peanut clusters. Something had to be done, and fast... I made a batch of the coconut candy from the Holiday Candy post and added in raisins and nuts, let it chill, and it came out wonderfully! The recipe for the coconut candy comes from Julie Matthews' book "Cooking to Heal", and which she calls white fudge.


Ingredients:

1 c. coconut butter
1 tsp coconut oil
1-2 T honey (or to taste)
1 tsp vanilla
splash of almond extract
pinch of salt

1 handfull of raisins
1 handfull of nuts

Method:

Put the coconut butter into a food processor (it will be chunky), and pulse briefly to break the chunks into smaller pieces. Heat the coconut oil just enough to melt and add it to the food processor while on. Add the honey, salt and extract.

Put mixture into a medium bowl, add in the raisins and nuts, and mix together by hand. Form balls about 1.5 inches across, squish somewhat, and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator and chill for at least 15 minutes. Store in the fridge.

NOTE- any combination of nuts and dried fruits would work, or of course all nuts or all fruit would be good too. Also, other flavor extracts can be used to provide some variety.