Friday, December 14, 2012

Peppermint Bark

Peppermint Bark is a must have Christmas treat. Who can resist chocolate, white chocolate, and peppermint all in one?! It is super easy to make and is a great gift for your neighbor, friends, or even family!
Ingredients-
2 cups chocolate (I used dark chocolate chips, but you can use almond bark or milk chocolate or chocolate melting discs)
2 cups white chocolate (I used white chocolate chips, but you can use almond bark or white chocolate melting discs.)
8 Peppermint candy canes
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
2 tsp canola oil- divided

Directions-
     Line a cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper and set aside. Unwrap the candy canes and place them in a food processor. Pulse on/off several times until the candy canes have been crushed into small pieces. If you don't have a food processor place candy canes into a large Ziploc bag and seal tightly. Use a rolling pin to smash the candy canes until the are the size desired. 
     In a double boiler melt chocolate and 1 tsp of the canola oil . Be sure to stir frequently and scrap down the sides of the pot with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching the chocolate. Once the chocolate is melted, stir in 1/4 tsp peppermint extract. Pour the melted chocolate onto your cookie sheet and use an off set spatula or knife to spread it to an even thickness. The chocolate does not need to reach all sides of the sheet since it will all be broken up later. Sprinkle half of the crushed candy canes over the chocolate layer. Refrigerate until completely hardened, about 1 hour.  
    Repeat the first process with the white chocolate. Pour the white chocolate directly on top of the dark chocolate and sprinkle the remaining pieces of candy cane on top gently pressing in. Refrigerate until completely hardened. Once completely set, break bark into small, uneven pieces by hand.

To achieve the look in the picture above you will need to purchase a snowflake silicone mold like below. You can purchase one here.

You will follow all of the same steps with melting the chocolate but instead of pouring it onto your baking sheet you will spoon 1 Tbsp (or a cookie scoop full) of dark chocolate into each mold and sprinkle with crushed candy cane. Allow chocolate to set and repeat the same process spooning 1 Tbsp of white chocolate into cavity and sprinkling with remaining crushed candy cane. Once chocolate is hardened it will pop out of the mold smoothly. Wrap up in cellophane, tie with some cute ribbon or bakers twine and a cute printable tag. Here are links to some cute printable tags! click here or here

recipe by allrecipes 

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