This Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cranberry Buttercrunch has a buttery, rich, hazelnut crumble bottom topped with decadent, indulgent, dark chocolate and tart cranberries.
Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate or White Chocolate?
You guys – today is something special! For the first time, I am participating in Mystery Dish.
If you’re not familiar with Mystery Dish, it’s a group of bloggers that take turns each month coming up with a list of ingredients that other participating bloggers must use to create a unique dish.
This month we had to choose at least 3 ingredients from the following list:
- Hazelnuts
- Pork Belly
- Dark Chocolate
- Cranberries
- Bourbon
- Red Potatoes
- Pimento Cheese
- Ginger
- Yogurt
- French Bread
- Buckwheat
- Rice Krispies
When I first saw ‘pork belly’ on the list, I panicked. No lie. I thought, “What in the world can I make with pork belly?” I was so nervous about coming up with something from a list of mystery ingredients, I nearly bowed out with a feeble “I’m sorry, but I just can’t do it!” Meh.
It never occurred to me until much later that the list wasn’t so intimidating at all, and at the very least, I could’ve made the Purple Gnocchi with Pork Belly that I tried at IFBC 2013! 🙂
Breathe Kristi, breathe.
When in doubt, make a rich, buttery, crunchy, irresistable candy. 🙂 Who doesn’t love that?
So…, no pork belly for my lovely readers today. Aren’t you the lucky ones?! 🙂
But, this recipe is one of our very favorites and I make it in various different forms, come the holidays, every single year. You can actually make this buttercrunch using any nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds), but I’m particularly fond of hazelnuts because of their rich, buttery and deep nutty flavor. So, you can imagine how excited I was to see them on the list!
What you’ll love about making this candy is, that it comes together fast and everyone will rave about how good it is!
The rich, dark chocolate pairs beautifully with the tart, tangy bite of the cranberries – on top of a hazelnut buttercrunch – it’s absolutely heaven in a candy.
Want to see what everyone else made? Visit these blogging friends!
- Turtle Krispies by I Dig Pinterest http://www.idigpinterest.com/2014/11/turtle-krispies-treats.html
- Dark Chocolate Greek Yogurt Cookies by The Pajama Chef http://wp.me/pZi0C-1C6
- Chewy Chocolate Hazelnut Granola Bars by I Want Crazy http://www.iwantcrazyblog.com/chewy-chocolate-hazelnut-granola-bars
- Dark Chocolate Hazelnut English Toffee by Flavor the Moments http://flavorthemoments.com/dark-chocolate-hazelnut-english-toffee
- Skinny Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Hazelnut Fudge by Joyful Healthy Eats http://www.joyfulhealthyeats.com/skinny-dark-chocolate-pomegranate-hazelnut-fudge/
- Cranberry Hazelnut Crepe Cake by Blahnik Baker http://blahnikbaker.com/cranberry-hazelnut-crepe-cake/
- Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Rice Krispie Treats by The Smart Cookie Cook http://wp.me/p3e0SZ-4nJ
- Mini Eggnog Cheesecakes with Hazelnut Cookie Crust by The Well Floured Kitchen http://thewellflouredkitchen.com/2014/11/28/mini-eggnog-cheesecake-with-hazelnut-cookie-crust/
- Salted Hazelnut Scotcheroos by Yummy Healthy Easy http://www.yummyhealthyeasy.com/?p=6182
Enjoy!
Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cranberry Buttercrunch
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped hazelnuts
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 and ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 10 ounce package bittersweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup skim milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup dried cranberries chopped fine
Instructions
- Butter the bottom of a 9"x13" baking dish. Evenly distribute hazelnuts on the bottom of the greased pan.
- Melt 1 cup butter and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan over medium high heat until browned, stirring constantly (roughly 10 minutes).
- In a separate saucepan, combine bittersweet chocolate chips, skim milk, 2 tablespoons butter, vanilla extract and heat over low heat until thoroughly melted and smooth.
- Pour melted browned butter/sugar mixture over the top of hazelnuts.
- Pour melted bittersweet chocolate over the browned butter mixture. Top with chopped cranberries.
- Cool and let chocolate set before breaking into edible chunks.*
Renee@Two in the Kitchen says
You did a great job here Kristi. I love your mantra: When in doubt…..make candy!!!!! That is why I love you!! 🙂
Hey, just FYI…..Your link is not working on other people’s sites. I tried your link on at least 4 separate sites and they all say “error” Coming directly to your site worked, just not the links.
Kristi says
Thank you Renee! I just went and checked the links – 3 of them are not working. It looks like those bloggers have not posted their recipes yet. 🙁 Sorry about that!
Renee@Two in the Kitchen says
Kristi, I meant that if I am on “Flavor the Moment’s” site and try and click the link that goes to your recipe, it does not work. It comes up as “Error 404”. I tried to get to your site from several different blogs that have your link and none of them work. Not sure if it could be fixed but I just wanted you to know.
Kristi says
Oh no! Thank you Renee! I’ll look into it right now!
Lynn @ Order in the Kitchen says
Ummm these are amazing and I wish I could participate in something like that it sounds SO fun! If you think I would be able to be included please let me know because this is awesome! It’s basically like Chopped but for food bloggers 🙂 These sweet treats look so delicious. Very inspired! Thank you!
Kristi says
It’s totally fun Lynn! I just sent the Admin of the group email saying you wanted to join – so she may be reaching out to you. I’d love to have you participate too!
Ginny McMeans says
Great choice of ingredients. These look so good!
Kristi says
Thanks Ginny! They are really rich and delicious! 🙂
marcie says
I’m glad you took a breath, Kristi! Mystery Dish can seem intimidating at first, but it’s not — especially for a great cook like you! It’s so funny when you told me what you were making I didn’t know that butter crunch was toffee, so I look like a HUGE copycat don’t I? lol At least I didn’t use cranberries like I almost did. haha This looks amazing, I can see why you make it every year. So easy and so GOOD! These bad boys are pinned!
Kristi says
You absolutely do *NOT* look like a copycat at all! 🙂 Your recipe was much harder – I really wanted to try using the Bourbon, but I couldn’t figure out how to incorporate it in there! I picked the 3 safest ingredients out of the whole list, so I could ease into this Mystery Dish thing! 🙂
Marissa | Pinch and Swirl says
This looks like my perfect candy, Kristi! I so prefer sweets with texture and crunch – yum!!
Kristi says
Thanks Marissa! I love this crunchy candy! 🙂
Amy (Savory Moments) says
This looks so yummy – when in doubt, candy is a great idea! 🙂 It’s very festive as well.
Kristi says
Thanks Amy! I really love this candy! 🙂
Cookin Canuck says
You are definitely forgiven for not posting a pork belly sandwich. 🙂 This butter crunch looks too good for words!
Kristi says
Hahahaha! You made me laugh out loud, Dara! 🙂 xoxo
Judit + Corina @ Glamorous Bite says
You got us with dark chocolate! Love the little bright bursts of cranberry that add a touch of tartness. Regarding the pork belly, well maybe that can be chocolate covered too…. 🙂
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Kristi!
Kristi says
Hahahaha! I LOL’d at the chocolate covered pork belly! Thank you for making me laugh. I hope you two beautiful ladies had a great Thanksgiving! I adore you two girls! 🙂
Julie @ Willow Bird Baking says
Gorgeous!!
Kristi says
Thank you Julie! Have a great weekend!
ATasteOfMadness says
Oh my goodness, this looks amazing! I have been really into the cranberry chocolate combo recently This is perfect for me!
Kristi says
Thanks Cathleen! These were addictive for sure! 🙂
Mariana @The Candid Kitchen says
I love this idea of mystery dish!!! This looks like a very successful attempt, Kristi!
Kristi says
The Mystery Dish of the month is really fun Mariana! Let me know if you want to become part of the contributors and I’ll add you!
Manali @ CookWithManali says
this looks so delicious Kristi! 🙂 I love hazelnuts , wish I could eat one right now! Pinned of course.
Kristi says
Thank you for the pin Manali! You would absolutely love this candy – it’s so addictive! 🙂
Josefine {The Smoothie Lover} says
Mystery Dish sounds like so much fun! I really want to participate in something like it. Wonderful recipe you made 🙂
And I am definitely on the dark-chocolate-side here – the darker the better. I’ve found a bar of chocolate which is 92% cocoa and sweetened with coconut sugar – SO GOOD!
Kristi says
Josefine, if you want to participate, I can send you an invite to Mystery Dish! 🙂 It’s ssssoooo fun! That chocolate bar you found sounds delish!
Rachel @ the dessert chronicles says
I loved my time as a part of Mystery Dish! Looks like you’re enjoying it and came up with the perfect combo of ingredients. These look delicious!
Kristi says
I really enjoy it Rachel! I was nervous at first, but then it got the creative juices going! 🙂 Let me know if you want to rejoin!
Ella-HomeCookingAdventure says
I have a bag of cranberries and didn’t use it by now.. I love anything with chocolate and these look wonderful.. I can imagine the taste…mmmmmm
Kristi says
So glad you like it Ella – they are really, really good!
Lindsey @ American Heritage Cooking says
Fun!!! I don’t even know what to say about the crunchy, sweet, nutty awesomeness that you created from those ingredient! It looks heavenly!
Kristi says
It is some tasty for sure! You should totally join the Mystery Dish Gals Lindsey! It’s sssooo much fun – you’d love it!