I love making gifts for people – especially for the holidays when buying tons of gifts can be such a budget buster.
My top gift of choice: cookie tins! I make a variety of cookies for the tins and love to include this delicious and easy peppermint bark recipe!
It's a fabulous friend/neighbor/teacher/mailman/other person gift idea!
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Other ideas to include in the tins along with the peppermint bark and cookies would be:
- Fudge
- Spice Packets or Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
- A small ornament (I usually include one in our tins)
- A small gift card
Our Easy Peppermint Bark Recipe
This delicious and classic recipe tastes oh-so-good and combines two of my favorite flavors: chocolate and peppermint. No wonder I love it so much!
Holiday peppermint bark looks incredibly festive. The colors are such a perfect match for the season, that peppermint bark makes a gorgeous gift (even if you just wrap it up all by itself).
Make this with dark chocolate and peppermint candy-infused white chocolate, then top it off with crushed candy cane pieces. You’ll never want to buy store-bought peppermint bark again!
The Simple Process for Making Easy Peppermint Bark
You’ll make the dark chocolate bottom layer first by heating it in a double broiler. and spreading it into a (wax paper lined) 8×8 pan.
The dark chocolate will begin to firm up a bit while you prepare your white chocolate.
I have found that it works best to add the white chocolate layer before the dark chocolate layer as fully hardened.
If the dark chocolate fully sets before I add the top layer, then the layers tend to break apart from each other when I’m trying to pull apart the bark.
Instead, if the dark chocolate is still setting, then the layers fuse together much better.
Quickly fold the candy pieces into your white chocolate and then stop mixing, as the heat from the chocolate can start to melt your candy canes and you want to keep them intact.
Then, top everything off with crushed candy cane pieces for a finishing touch. You're done!
Tips to Make the Process Even More Quick & Easy
If you know me, you know that my life is crazy busy (like any mom's)! Because of that, I am always looking for ways to streamline and simplify recipes.
These tips from my own experience will help make this recipe even easier for you (especially if you have never made peppermint bark).
- Not surprisingly, the trick to incredible peppermint bark is to use high-quality chocolate. If you prefer, you can use all dark or all white chocolate for this recipe.
- The overall process is simple: work your way up from the bottom.
Pro Tip: you could also use the microwave, but you do have to cook in short spurts and stir thoroughly to prevent scorching the chocolate.
Holiday Peppermint Bark Pairs Well With Homemade Hot Chocolate For The Ultimate Holiday Comfort Food!
Holiday peppermint bark is one of those seasonal favorites that everyone seems to enjoy.
If you’ve never made it before, you are in for a very pleasant surprise. This super easy recipe assembles quickly with minimal fuss.
Tell us in the comments below: have you had holiday peppermint bark before? Have you made it before? What other flavors of bark would you like to see from us?
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| Servings | Prep Time |
| 2 pounds | 10-15 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 30-40 minutes | 1 hour |
|
|
| | Peppermint bark is one of those seasonal favorites that everyone seems to enjoy. This super easy peppermint bark recipe assembles quickly with minimal fuss and looks gorgeous and festive.
|
- 16 oz. high-quality dark chocolate chopped into small pieces
- 16 oz. high-quality white chocolate chopped into small pieces
- 1 cup crushed peppermint candy
- Place peppermint candy in a heavy-duty freezer bag and cover with a towel. Pound bag with a meat mallet or rolling pin until finely crushed. Set aside. (This can be done in a food processor, if preferred).
- Line a small, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. If necessary, dampen the bottom of the outer edges of the parchment paper to hold it in place.
- In a double broiler, melt the dark chocolate until smooth. Transfer while warm and melted to parchment paper and spread with a plastic spatula until uniformly thick.
- Thoroughly clean double broiler before melting the white chocolate. Once smooth, stir in the crushed peppermint pieces until evenly distributed.
- Pour the white chocolate mixture on top of the dark chocolate layer. Spread until evenly distributed over the dark chocolate layer. Top with extra peppermint pieces, if desired.
- Place baking sheet in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Once harden, break peppermint bark into pieces before serving or storing.
- The “secret” to outstanding peppermint bark is to use high-quality chocolate.
- If you prefer, you can use all dark or all white chocolate for this recipe.
- You can just as easily use the microwave for this recipes as the double broiler. When using the microwave, be sure microwave for no more than 1 minute at a time and stir well each time to prevent scorching the chocolate.
Just printed this recipe at work to make it at home, and when I went to pick it up from printer room 2 people at the printer asked me if they could photocopy it! Great recipe. Thanks ladies!
Hi Mira! What a fun story to read! That made my morning – thank you so much for sharing! I hope you love the peppermint bark – ours already disappeared! I think I need to make more…