My Favorite Peppermint Bark Recipe

Peppermint bark is a Christmas staple, and a kid favorite at our house! We have to make a big batch at least once during the holidays. It makes a great addition to a holiday cookie tray, or candy display.

You can also bag it up and tie a Christmas ribbon around it for an edible gift idea, if you can get it to last that long. At our house the peppermint bark is usually gobbled up within a few days!

Peppermint Chocolate Bark

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces (about 2 cups) semi sweet melting chocolate, or chocolate chips
• 12 ounces (about 2 cups) white chocolate, chopped, or white chocolate chips
• 1/4 tsp peppermint extract (just a couple drops will do)
• 8-10 peppermint candy canes or about 20 pieces of mint Christmas candies

Preparation:

1. Unwrap the candy canes or mint candy pieces and crush them by adding them to a food processor and pulsing it on and off until they’re crushed, or place them in a large plastic bag and roll over them with a rolling pin until they’re crushed into small pieces (this is a great job for the kids).
2. Have the kids help you cover a cookie sheet with wax paper.
3. An adult or older child can melt the semi sweet chocolate according to the package directions. Pour the chocolate onto the wax paper.
4. Let the kids help you use a spatula or knife spread to it evenly to about 1/8″ thick. Don’t worry about getting all the way to the edges or making it neat, the chocolate will be broken into pieces later.
5. Place the tray in the refrigerator to cool while you’re preparing the white chocolate.
6. Have a grown up or older child melt the white chocolate according to the package directions.
7. Stir the candy cane bits (or mint candy bits) and the mint extract into the melted white chocolate. You can reserve some of the candy cane pieces to sprinkle on top later.
8. Remove the cookie sheet from the refrigerator and use a spatula or knife to spread the white chocolate in an even layer over the semi sweet chocolate. Again don’t worry about it being perfectly neat around the edges, you’ll be breaking it into pieces.
9. Before the white chocolate cools and hardens, sprinkle the remaining candy cane pieces over the top and press them in. Place the tray back in the refrigerator to cool for at least another 30 minutes.
10. Once bark is completely set, use your hands to break it into small, uneven pieces.

Enjoy!