Chocolate Peppermint Bark
I can’t think of much that is easier or more festive than Chocolate Peppermint Bark for the holiday season. If you can restrain yourself from eating the whole pan, it’s perfect for gifting to co-workers, friends, and neighbors.
The recipe makes a standard half-sheet baking pan. While it’s very easy and quick to make, I would suggest a couple of special tools to ensure your bark turns out perfect every time. 1) A silicone baking mat is very helpful here. If you don’t have one you can use parchment paper but you may experience some sticking. 2) An mini offset spatula for spreading the chocolate is also very helpful. Chocolate sets up rapidly and getting it spread quickly into an even layer is important. A mini offset is the best way to do that.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and share the bounty with those you love. Happy Holidays!
Chocolate Peppermint Bark
Makes 1 (12x16”) sheet pan
Ingredients:
12-oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
12-oz white chocolate, chopped
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
8 candy canes, crushed
1- Melt the semisweet chocolate (see notes below). Once the chocolate is completely melted spread it out onto your prepared baking sheet in an even, single layer, reaching all the way to the sides of the liner.
2- Set aside and allow the chocolate to set, about 10 minutes. You can speed this process up by placing it in the fridge. You want the chocolate to set just to a point that when you spread the white chocolate on top it doesn’t swirl into the dark chocolate below . However you don’t want it set so much that it’s completely hard and does not allow the white chocolate layer to stick to the top. I look for ‘some give’ when touched but no longer shiny/ wet-looking.
3- Repeat Step 1 with the white chocolate. This time though, add the peppermint extract into the white chocolate while melting.
4- Sprinkle the crushed candy canes all over the top while the white chocolate is still liquid. Allow the bark to set completely at room temperature (@ 2o mins) or in the fridge (@ 10 mins). Once the bark is completely set, break it up into unevenly-sized shards. Store at cool room temp (to prevent melting) or in air-tight container in the fridge until ready for gifting/packaging.
Recipe Notes:
How to melt chocolate?
1- Microwave: Place the chocolate in the microwave on high in increments of 30 seconds. Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir between each increment. We're using a lot of chocolate here so you'll want to keep stirring to make sure the bottom gets melted, not burnt.
2- Stovetop: Use a double boiler on the stovetop. Double boiler sounds fancy, but it's not. It just means you place a glass bowl on top of some simmering water so that the steam melts the chocolate. You just want to avoid getting water in the bowl or the chocolate will seize!
Can I use chocolate chips?
Technically, yes you can use chocolate chips for this recipe. However, I prefer/suggest using a block of chocolate that you chop by hand before melting. Why? Chocolate chips generally use a binder (lecithin) to form their little round shape. That means it will seize faster when spreading it out and that it will set up less shiny than chopped chocolate. Also, you can better control the sweetness level by selecting a block of chocolate. Basically chocolate percentage refers to the amount of cocoa mass in the chocolate itself. Everything above the % indicated is sugar. So, 55% is sweeter than 70% etc…’Semisweet’ would be considered 60-70%, or thereabouts.