Cherry Hazelnut Bark and Peppermint Bark ~ two fabulous and easy homemade chocolate bark recipes for the holidays and beyond.
The Cherry Hazelnut Bark uses dark chocolate, roasted hazelnuts, and plump dried cherries. It will have a nice crunch from the nuts and a sweet chewiness from the cherries. What can I say about dark chocolate that you don’t already know? It’s the best.
Next is the classic Peppermint Bark, it wouldn’t be the holidays without it. Something magic happens when you mix the white chocolate with the candy cane bits…the result is far far better than the sum of its parts.
Cherry Hazelnut Bark and Peppermint Bark
Cherry Hazelnut Bark and Peppermint Bark ~ two fabulous and easy homemade chocolate bark recipes for the holidays and beyond.
Servings: 20 people
Ingredients
Cherry Hazelnut Bark
- 1 cup whole raw hazelnuts
- 20 ounces dark chocolate chips, or semi-sweet or bittersweet
- 1 cup dried cherries
Peppermint Bark
- 10 ounces dark chocolate chips, or semi-sweet or bittersweet
- 10 ounces white chocolate chips
- 6 candy canes, crushed
Instructions
Cherry Hazelnut Bark
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Put raw whole hazelnuts on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Give the pan a shake from time to time. Cool the nuts and then chop them.
- Put both bags of chocolate in a glass bowl (a quart sized glass measuring cup works great) and microwave for 60 seconds. Continue microwaving and checking every 30 seconds until the chips are melted, stirring each time. The two bags will take longer and more stirring than just one.
- Quickly mix in the nuts and cherries and spread out on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Don't worry about making it an even rectangle because you're going to be breaking it up into irregular shapes anyway, just try to get the bark to a relatively even thickness.
- Refrigerate until completely set, at least an hour or more.
- Break the bark into whatever sized pieces you want.
Peppermint Bark
- Melt the dark chocolate as above, and spread out on a lined baking sheet. Put in the fridge to cool completely, about an hour.
- Melt the white chocolate and stir in the peppermint bits.
- Spread out on top of the hardened dark chocolate.
- Put back in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Break into pieces. Sometimes the white layer breaks off from the dark layer in spots, don't worry about it. This stuff is so good it doesn't matter how it gets in your mouth, just that it gets there.
Nutrition
Serving: 2 ounces · Calories: 363 kcal · Carbohydrates: 38 g · Protein: 6 g · Fat: 22 g · Saturated Fat: 15 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 4 g · Cholesterol: 3 mg · Sodium: 59 mg · Potassium: 351 mg · Fiber: 3 g · Sugar: 26 g · Vitamin A: 225 IU · Vitamin C: 1 mg · Calcium: 169 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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I love the hazelnut/cherries. Making it now for the third time, with half the chocolate but one cup each of nuts and cherries. Also, I make individual sweets with the smallest scoop because it is too hard to break it small enough for me without getting my meathooks all over every surface. Fantastic! Better than Sport bars!
Thanks for the feedback Karen — I love that you upped the fruit and nuts and made it healthier, I’m going to have to try that.