Peppermint Bark.
Incredibly simple white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate layered bark flavored with peppermint and crushed candy canes.
I know, I know. It’s not even Thanksgiving yet. But with only 5 days left until the foodie holiday of the year, it’s absolutely time to share this peppermint bark recipe with you.
Back in high school, thanksgiving breaks were time for swim team potlucks. I swam all four years (I do NOT miss the early practices) and I loved being apart of the team. One night during the long thanksgiving break, we’d all get together for a potluck and bring some kind of dish. Someone from the team always, and I mean ALWAYS brought a tin of peppermint bark. I’d have a few pieces before grabbing my dinner. I’ve had a major crush on peppermint bark for years and it’s about time I make it at home.
Sooo just in case you’re looking to make something peppermint-y next weekend…
I feel sort of silly sharing this recipe with you. It’s hardly a recipe at all.
This is one of the easiest desserts I’ve ever thrown together. Which is incredibly dangerous because not much work is between me, you, and this extremely festive peppermint bark. Just warning you now.
You’ll need a few ingredients including white chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, candy canes or peppermint hard candies, and peppermint extract. Since there are so few ingredients, it’s important use quality ingredients. Chocolate chips and white chocolate baking morsels do not live up to the real thing! Each contain stabilizers, preventing them from melting completely silky smooth. That’s why chocolate chips don’t melt into a pool of chocolate in your chocolate chip cookies. Not only that, you’ll taste the difference between high quality chocolate and a $3 bag of chocolate chips. I recommend Ghirardelli, Lindt, or Baker’s brand chocolate when making bark of any variety.
Chop up the chocolate separately, melt them separately, and layer them on top of one another. Make sure you let the layers cool in between layering or else you’ll wind up swirling the two chocolates together. There are three layers of chocolate; a top and bottom layer of white chocolate and a middle layer of semi-sweet. Feel free to switch them around and sandwich the white chocolate in between two semi-sweet layers.
Top with crushed candy canes. A lot of recipes for peppermint bark that I stumbled upon call for sifting the crushed candy canes to rid any of the candy cane powder. I don’t do that; I really didn’t want to dirty my sifter with candy cane bits.
After it sets, break the peppermint bark into pieces, make a complete mess, taste test, taste test again. DONE. I no longer have a hungry swim team to share this stuff with, so I passed our leftovers to my friend Molly and her fiancé the other night. She said her family gobbled it up! Not surprised.
It’s not that tricky, I promise. I am just extremely thorough chatty in explaining how to melt chocolate properly.
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Peppermint Bark
Incredibly simple white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate layered bark flavored with peppermint and crushed candy canes.
Ingredients:
- 12 ounces (339g) high quality white chocolate, broken into pieces and divided1
- 6 ounces (170g) high quality semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces1
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vegetable, coconut, or canola oil
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided
- 3 regular size candy canes, crushed
Directions:
- Line the bottom and sides of a 9-inch or 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, smoothing out any wrinkles. Set aside.
- You can temper the chocolate or melt the chocolate without tempering. That is up to you. I melt the chocolate for this bark recipe. If tempering the chocolate, make sure the layers are never refrigerated. Allow them to set at room temperature. There are two ways you can melt the chocolate. You can use a double boiler over just barely simmering water or you can use the microwave. The double boiler is easier, but the microwave is a little more convenient for most people, so my directions are for a microwave. If you have a double boiler, you probably know how to use it! So, the KEY to melting chocolate in the microwave is to do it in small bursts and stir frequently. Chocolate overheats so fast, so easily. Melt 1/2 teaspoon of oil with 6 ounces of the white chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. Melt in 15 second increments, stirring vigorously with a rubber spatula or spoon after each increment, until completely melted and smooth. Make sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl to avoid scorching. Once melted, stir in 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract. Pour melted white chocolate into the prepared baking pan, spreading with an offset spatula into a thin smooth layer. Place the baking pan in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes or the freezer for about 8 minutes; or until almost completely set. If it sets completely, the bark layers could separate.
- Place the semi-sweet chocolate and 1/2 teaspoon of oil into a small heatproof bowl (or the double boiler) and microwave/stir in the same manner you did in step 2. Once melted, stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract. Pour all of the semi-sweet chocolate over the white chocolate layer. Spread into a smooth layer. Place the baking pan back in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes or the freezer for about 8 minutes; or until almost completely set.
- Place the remaining white chocolate and 1/2 teaspoon oil in a small heatproof bowl and microwave/stir in the same manner you did in step 2. Pour over the bark layers and spread into a smooth layer. (This layer will not have peppermint extract.) Sprinkle with crushed candy canes-- to crush, I usually do it in a food processor or stick the candy canes in a sealed ziplock bag and roll with a rolling pin until crushed.
- Refrigerate the bark until completely hardened. Once hardened, remove from the pan and peel off the foil or parchment. Break into pieces as large or as small as you want. Alternatively, you can cut squares. To do so, remove from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature to slightly soften for 10-15 minutes. Use a very sharp knife and cut.
- Make ahead tip: Store bark in the refrigerator. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. The bark can be left at room temperature for a few days in colder months, but it gets a little soft.
Recipe Notes:
- See my notes in the post about which brands I prefer and why subbing chocolate chips isn't a good idea. High quality chocolate is best.
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Just in case you’re doing some holiday baking over Thanksgiving…
See more peppermint / mint chocolate recipes.
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