These Chocolate Cockroaches are the perfect treat for any Halloween party or celebration. Scatter them along the tabletop, package them as party favors, or bury them in bowls of candy to give your guests an unexpected scare. After they get over their fright, they’ll love munching these chocolate-covered treats!
Chocolate Cockroaches are really fast to make, and can be customized with your favorite nuts or dried fruit. I made mine with pecans and dates, but you could also use walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, or dried figs. Here’s what you’ll need to make these spooky sweets.
Ingredients
1/2 cup pecan halves (or other nuts)
1/2 cup dates halved (or other large similarly shaped dried fruit)
1 cup chocolate “jimmies” sprinkles
Small round sprinkles
12 ounces chocolate *
*A note about the chocolate coating: you can use chopped chocolate or chocolate chips instead of the coating, but the cockroaches might get soft and sticky at room temperature.
First, prep the ingredients. If your pecan halves are raw, you’ll want to start by toasting them to give them a better flavor and texture. Preheat your oven to 350 F and place the pecans on a baking sheet, Toast them for about 10 minutes, stirring halfway through, until they’re fragrant and a bit darker. Let them cool completely. If your nuts are already toasted, skip this step.
Temper your chocolate or melt the chocolate candy coating in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. Once it’s melted and smooth, use a dipping tool or a fork to dip a pecan half in the coating. Take it out of the bowl and let the extra coating drip back down into the bowl.
Set the pecan down in a shallow bowl of chocolate sprinkles, and move the fork out from under it so that the sprinkles can adhere to the wet coating. You want to make sure you get a nice layer of cockroach legs, don’t you?
Scoop the pecan back up out of the sprinkles, and gently set it on a layer of wax paper or parchment paper.
Repeat the process with a few more pecans or dates. As you can see, the dates are much larger than the pecans, so if you use both fruit and nuts you’ll have a nice variety of chocolate cockroaches.
While the coating is still wet, press two sprinkles on each cockroach for the eyes. Repeat with the remaining pecans and dates, doing them in small batches, until all of your cockroaches are decorated. Let them set at room temperature (or in the refrigerator, if you used chocolate chips instead of coating.)
Once the coating is dry, your cockroaches are ready to scurry–I mean scatter–around! Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.
READ MORE HERE (AND MORE AMAZING PHOTOS): http://www.ohnuts.com/blog/diy-chocolate-cockroaches-halloween-candy-recipe/
