🔑 Quick Answer: Chocolate cornflake clusters are a no-bake French treat made by folding cornflakes into melted milk and dark chocolate, then letting small spoonfuls set. This version uses four ingredients, skips tempering, and makes about 24 clusters in 30 minutes, topped with a pinch of flaky sea salt.
Why Trust Us
I’m Aida Mollenkamp. I wrote the cookbook Keys to the Kitchen and ran the professional test kitchen as Food Editor at CHOW magazine. We test every recipe three to five times before publishing.
I first heard of these clusters from Jacques Pépin, who got the idea from French chocolate master Jacques Torres. My version skips the tempering their classic calls for, so anyone can make them.
On the travel side, we’ve spent more than ten years planning food and wine trips across France.
Best for: anyone who needs a holiday gift or a last-minute dinner party dessert and has 30 minutes to make it.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
First, this almond clusters recipe will help you learn how to properly melt chocolate and, second, it proves that more is not necessarily better when it comes to dessert. Yes, it is as simple as stirring together toasted almonds, prunes, and chocolate then dropping them by the spoonful into clusters.
So, if you remember how to make those dribble sandcastles from hanging at the beach as a kid, you can make this recipe. Oh, and did we mention they’re topped with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt and coarse sugar for a sweet-salty mix?
Recipe Ingredients
Four ingredients make these clusters, so each one counts.
- Milk chocolate is the base, and the recipe uses more of it than dark chocolate, so the clusters stay sweet.
- Dark chocolate adds depth to all that milk chocolate. Pick a high-quality one, and use discs (couverture) if you can, because they melt evenly.
- Cornflake cereal is the crunch. You can try other cereals once you’ve made the classic, but start with plain cornflakes.
- Flaky sea salt is optional and not traditional, but it’s a nice finishing touch. Use Maldon, or mix salt with a chile like Piment d’Ville from Boonville Barn Collective.
How To Make This Recipe
These chocolate cornflake clusters come together in four steps and take about 30 minutes.
- Prepare A Baking Sheet: Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Melt the Chocolate: Melt the milk and dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring until smooth, about 5 minutes. The microwave works too.
- Add the Cornflakes: Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the cornflakes right away until evenly coated. It’s totally okay if some get crushed. (If you have leftover cornflakes, use them in our Rosemary Cornflake Oven Fried Chicken.)
- Form the Clusters: Drop tablespoon-sized scoops onto the baking sheet about 1 inch apart, which gives you about 24 clusters. Sprinkle them with salt, if using, then let them set at room temperature, in the refrigerator, or in the freezer until firm.
Focus On Healthy-ish Recipes
Hang around here long enough, and you’ll notice all our recipes are whole foods and healthy-ish, which means that even when we make something like a sweet treat, we still opt for real ingredients that bring real nutrition.
This recipe was crafted as part of a partnership with California Prunes. They challenged us to share how to use prunes for a healthy swap, and we immediately went to dessert! We like to have something with chocolate daily, and whenever we can double down and not only tame our sweet tooth but also get real nutrition, we’re all about it.
A Word About California Prunes
You know that prunes are dried plums, but you may not know that most California prunes hail from the Petit d’Agen plum that was brought to California from France during the Gold Rush.
Fast forward, and today California grows 99% of the U.S production of prunes and 40% of the worldwide production! We like to use the D’Noir Prunes in recipes because they’re preservative-free, and they tend to be plump and flavorful.
Prunes aren’t just tasty but are also nutritional powerhouses as they don’t have fat or cholesterol but do have vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants. A serving of just four prunes has 11% of your recommended daily fiber, 6% potassium, 20% of vitamin K, so they’re a great addition to a healthy immune system.
TLDR: prunes contribute to bone health, bring tons of antioxidants, and support digestive health.
If you’ve had chocolate-covered dried fruit of any kind, then you know it’s a delicious combo. While we often opt for dark chocolate-covered dried fruit, this recipe uses a mix of both milk and dark chocolate for a balance of rich and intense flavor.
But this recipe is a case of less is more in that simply mixing toasted almonds into chocolate-coated prunes and topping it with flaky salt is perfection!
Variations On This Recipe
You could make this recipe fancy as heck and mix in as many or as few things as you’d like. Maybe a mix of nuts, additional dried fruit, or even adding a pinch of spice (say, cinnamon, cayenne, or cardamom). But trust us when we say it’s pretty perfect as is.
More Prunes Recipes
Here are a few other recipes using prunes:
Wine Pairing
Banyuls, the fortified red from France’s Roussillon coast, has dried-fruit sweetness that meets milk chocolate without tasting thin. A tawny port does the same job if Banyuls is hard to find.
Frequently Asked Questions
You don't. The classic version uses tempered chocolate, but this recipe skips that step to keep it easy. Store the clusters in the fridge to keep them firm.
They keep for up to five days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. That makes them easy to make ahead for a holiday cookie box or a dinner party.
Haystacks are close cousins, and many versions mix in extras like shredded coconut or oats. This recipe keeps chocolate cornflakes simple, with just chocolate, cereal, and a pinch of salt. You can still add coconut, slivered almonds, or oats if you like.
Chocolate Covered Prune And Almond Clusters Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole raw almonds
- 1 cup dried prunes sliced into thin strips
- 5 ounces dark chocolate
- 5 ounces milk chocolate
- Pinch Maldon sea salt or other flaky sea salt, for garnish
- Pinch Turbinado or sanding sugar for garnish
Instructions
- Toast The Nuts: Turn the oven to 350°F and place a rack in the middle. Spread the nuts out on a rimmed baking sheet then toast them until they’re fragrant and just starting to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool until they’re cool enough to handle.
- Melt The Chocolate: Before you melt the chocolate, line a baking sheet with wax paper, parchment, or a baking mat and set it aside.Set up a bain-marie by placing an inch or two of water in a small saucepan and heating it to a simmer. Place a heatproof bowl (stainless steel or glass work well) over the water and add the chocolate and stir until it’s evenly melted.
- Make The Clusters: Once the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat and add the nuts and prunes. Stir to make sure all the ingredients are evenly coated in the chocolate. Using a soup spoon, drop the mixture into mounds on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them at least 1-inch apart. (You should have about 15 clusters.)Top each cluster with a pinch of salt and sugar, then place in the refrigerator until they’re set up. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
