Chocolate Pomegranate Clusters
Simplify your holiday treat making with this easy two-ingredient recipe for Chocolate Pomegranate Clusters.Welcome to Day 10 of Home for the Holidays ... Gluten-Free Style. I have had a blast following this event and being a virtual guest in the homes of 25 food bloggers. Yesterday, over at Cook IT Allergy Free, Kim treated us to a Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Cinnamon Roll Cake and tomorrow the talented Brittany over at Real Sustenance will share one of her favorites—which I am sure will be divine. It has been a pretty tasty event!
If you have just joined us, here are the must-know details:
WHO: 25 gluten-free bloggers and host, Shirley of gluten free easily.
WHAT: Each sharing one recipe that means "home" and "holidays" to them.
WHEN: November 28 – December 23, 2011
WIN: Nearly 100 prizes are being given away—books, apps, magazine subscriptions, a shopping spree and the grand prize ... a Vitamix blender!!
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My mom, me, the best stepdad and dad anyone could ask for, my sister.When I reflect on Christmases of my childhood, "simplicity" comes to mind. There was nothing excessive about them—simple gifts, simple food. In retrospect, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. "Simple" meant we could be out the door by 10 and spending the rest of the day at Hapuna Beach! And yes, Santa does travel to Hawaii by canoe.
This year I thought I would follow in the footsteps of my parents. I have scaled back on the demands I would usually place on myself. The wrapping of gifts, the cooking, the baking, the getting ready for company. This year, we are going back to "simple"—and I can't wait!
Today I am sharing a two-ingredient recipe for chocolate pomegranate clusters. It's one I make with my boys—a tradition we have started and one that now means "home" and "holiday" to me.
If you love pomegranates like my boys do, you'll love this recipe. You take a bite ... sweet, decadent chocolate melts in your mouth ... and then, that burst of bright and tangy pomegranate juice. They are quite the delight and oh-so pretty! The husband calls them chocolate covered bugs. Boys!
Oh and read Shirley's post here. She's actually toured a pomegranate orchard and has quite a few pomegranate recipes on her blog.
Chocolate Pomegranate Clusters
Gluten-Free | Casein-Free | Citrus-Free | Corn-Free | Dairy-Free | Egg-Free | Fish-Free | Nightshade-Free | Peanut-Free | Potato-Free | Rice-Free | Shellfish-Free | Soy-Free | Tree Nut-Free | Wheat-Free | Grain-Free | Sesame-Free | Yeast-free | GFCF | Vegetarian | Vegan
Makes: 20
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup CHOCOLATE CHIPS (Enjoy Life® are gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free)
1 POMEGRANATE (I used POM Wonderful®)
Directions:
1. Slice pomegranate in half and then into quarters. Place in large bowl of water and soak 5 minutes. Begin to break pomegranate apart under water, allowing arils to fall to bottom of bowl. Remove rind and membranes. Remove seeds from bowl, picking out any debris. Place on a paper towel-lined plate and blot gently with more paper towels. Arils must be completely dry. Let me stress that again, completely dry. To ensure this, I leave them out to air dry further for a couple hours or place them on a plate in a barely heated oven (that has been turned off). Any residual moisture will prevent the chocolate from binding to the arils and the clusters will fall apart.
2. Line a mini muffin pan with 20 mini muffin cups/liners.
3. Pour chocolate chips into a heavy-duty zip top bag, shake down into one corner. Place in microwave and heat in 15-20 second intervals, removing each time to knead. Continue until chocolate is smooth and viscous. Squeeze chocolate down into one corner. Snip off a tiny corner to make a makeshift piping bag.
4. Drizzle chocolate into bottom of cups. Add a layer of pomegranate arils to each cup. Drizzle with more chocolate. Repeat so that you have four layers of chocolate and three layers of arils.
5. Allow to harden in a cool, dry place.
How to Remove Seeds (Arils) From a Pomegranate
Slice pomegranate in half (or quarters) and place in large bowl of water to soak for 5 minutes. Begin to break pomegranate apart under the water, allowing arils to fall to bottom of bowl. Remove rind and membranes. Remove seeds from bowl, picking out any bits of membrane. Place on a paper-towel lined plate and blot gently with more paper towels until arils are completely dry.
Gluten-Free Holiday Recipes
Check back daily for updates to list of Home for the Holidays ... Gluten-Free Style blog posts and the daily giveaways being hosted.
DAY 1 gfe–gluten free easily … Nutmeg Shortbread Flats
DAY 2 The WHOLE Gang … Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Toffee
DAY 3 Adventures of a Gluten-Free Mom … Gluten-Free Fritters
DAY 4 The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen
DAY 5 And Love it, Too!… GF, DF Chocolate Pecan “Toll House” Pie
DAY 6 Paleo Parents … Paleo Monkey Bread
DAY 7 She Let Them Eat Cake … GF, DF Candy Cane Ice Cream
DAY 8 Gluten Free For Good …Red Chile Enchilada Casserole
DAY 9 Cook IT Allergy Free … Cinnamon Bun Cake
DAY 10 Lexie at Lexie’s Kitchen ... the post you are reading
DAY 11 Real Sustenance ...Chocolate Cinnamon Babka Bread
DAY 12 Elana’s Pantry ... Gingerbread Apple Crisp
DAY 13 The Spunky Coconut ... Peanut Butter Pie
DAY 14 Diet, Dessert and Dogs ... Anti-Candida Mint Chocolate Truffles
DAY 15 The Daily Dietribe ... Cream Cheese Cookies
DAY 16 Gluten Free by Nature ... Pumpkin Chocolate Cookies
DAY 17 Jules Speaks Gluten Free ... Cinnamon Sticky Rolls (in the crockpot!)
DAY 18 Silvana’s Kitchen ... Pine Nut Cookies
DAY 19 Gluten-Free Cat ... Christmas Breakfast Casserole
DAY 20 Simply Gluten Free ... Eggs Florentine
DAY 21 Alisa Cooks ...Pumpkin Bread
DAY 22 The Gluten-Free Homemaker ... Cinnamon Rolls
DAY 23 Gluten Free Gigi ... Magical Seven-Layer Bars
DAY 24 Z’s Cup of Tea
DAY 25 Lillian’s Test Kitchen
DAY 26 gfe—gluten free easily
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If you have a blog and want to share your favorite gluten-free recipe that means “home” and “holidays” to you, please feel free to grab the badge for your post (kindly linking back to Home for the Holidays – Gluten free Style, of course)!
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Reader Comments (319)
Shared to facebook :)
We're simplifying by making homemade gifts instead of buying things.
These look wonderful! Now I know what to do with the pomegranates in my CSA box I got today! Thank you!
The pictures look incredible!
I love chocolate covered pomegranate seeds!
Hi Lexie! Just wanted to let you know I included your clusters in my post "Allergy Friendly Holiday Cocktail Party" today. They look delicious!
http://allergyfreecookery.blogspot.com/2011/12/allergy-friendly-virtual-holiday.html
Thanks!
Lisa @ Allergy Free Vintage Cookery
I will be making these for neighbors and teachers this year!
You have a new FB follower!
Chocolate and fruit is always a winning combination, but the red colour also makes it festive! A must-try for Christmas!
I have shared your post on Twitter.
I have also shared this post on my Facebook!
This looks like it would be a great addition to our already pretty simple holidays. This year we are going to focus less on presents and commercialism and more on family and good times!
Yes to this recipe! So festive looking, my three littles will love to help me with these this week. Thank you! I'm excited to explore your blog. :)
Thank you soo much for this recipe! My 7 year old daugther always looks forward to the time we can buy them at the store. She will love this and I just happen to buy 3 from the store the other day!
Anna1982
Anna, my kids LOVE them, too. I think this will be my winter food project at the kids school ... easy and top 8 allergen free!! : ) xoLexie
This is such a simple yet wonderful recipe! I'm going to enjoy making these for family at Christmas!
These look great and we are going to try them today with both semi-sweet and white chocolate. My questions is, given that these have fresh fruit in them, how long do they last and should they be kept in the fridge?
I always make baked good and treats for gifts every holiday. To me, it always means more to give something that you made with your heart. Would love to add these to our little gift boxes.
Deborah ... definitely store them refrigerated. But they can stand out at room temp for half a day with no problem : ) I would eat them up within 3-5 days. xoLexie
Love these! We don't use the microwave, so I melted the chocolate on the stovetop. After I ran out of cupcake liners, I stirred in the remaining pomegranate seeds in the pot with the chocolate and sampled. Delicious! Imagine you could do that for the whole batch too.
Thanks for the great recipe.
This looks absolutely wonderful but the best part of this recipe is this wonderful trick to peel the fruit under water. Yeah, this just made my day!