Why these candies are called Amish Zebra Cashew Clusters is probably based on their appearance. Simple answer. Why are they Amish? Well, it’s hard to say, but the closer you get to Pennsylvania, the more you see these clusters. A mound of cashews mixed with white chocolate is garnished with stripes of chocolate, making for a palatable balance of sweet and chocolatey richness. Salted roasted cashews add the well-needed balance to the chocolate, meaning the salty-sweet combination is at peak perfection here. These clusters are perfect candies to not just eat, but also give. Amish Zebra Cashew Clusters would be great additions to a holiday cookie tin or a gift for the host or hostess of a party.
This recipe is the simplest recipe you’ll find for a dessert. There are cashews, white-coating chocolate, and milk chocolate chips.
Start by melting the white chocolate. If you’re afraid of the white chocolate seizing up in the microwave, use coating chocolate or almond bark, which is a super forgiving ingredient to work with. Either way, you should melt your white chocolate or almond bark in 25 to 30-second intervals, stirring each time. The heat from the bowl and the stirring will evenly melt the chocolate.
Next, fold in the cashews. I opted to use salted roasted peanuts as they have a more strong, nutty flavor, and the bit of salt counters the sweetness of the chocolate.
No fancy equipment here, simply use a large soup spoon to portion out the clusters onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. If the shape looks lumpy, it’s perfectly fine, after you scoop out the cluster you can adjust the shape afterward. Here, this recipe made sixteen large clusters, but if you wanted a smaller bite, you could easily reduce the size.
