Chocolate Compost Clusters

The name doesn't sound too appetizing, does it?  I'm not sure why these are called compost clusters, but I don't really want to think about it too hard, if you know what I mean.  Anyways, I made these a few days ago as a way to use up the handful of candy canes we still had left from Christmas.  The sweet/salty, soft/crunchy combination of pretzel bits, mini marshmallows, peppermint candy, almond pieces, and dark chocolate was really good, and I enjoyed them more than I expected I would.  The clusters were really simple to make, and everyone but my dad liked them.  Daddy does not like anything minty (except for Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies--go figure!), so I do not take his negative response personally.

Chocolate Compost Clusters
Adapted from One Bite More: http://www.onebitemore.com/2011/12/chocolate-compost-clusters/

Ingredients:
350 g dark chocolate chips
1 cup pretzels, broken into bite-sized pieces
1 cup mini marshmallows
3/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped
5 or 6 candy canes, crushed

Instructions:
Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave in 15- to 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth.  Combine all the remaining ingredients in a large bowl.  Pour the melted chocolate over the other ingredients and stir to coat everything in chocolate.  Spoon the mixture by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper.  Let the clusters set overnight, and store them in an airtight container between layers of wax paper.

*Note: I attempted to pulverize a candy cane in our coffee grinder to sprinkle over the tops of the clusters before they set (as the original recipe suggests), but my candy cane was a bit stale, so all I succeeded in making was sticky pink peppermint powder/foam.  While this was delicious, it was impossible to sprinkle on the clusters.  Luckily, Daddy came to the rescue!  He tried pulverizing a couple of those soft, melt-in-your-mouth type peppermint balls, and this worked much better.  I liberally sprinkled all of the clusters with the peppermint dust, and I think it made them extra pretty.