Peppermint Bark is an easy Christmas candy and the perfect homemade food gift, but be sure to save some for yourself, it’s irresistible!
peppermint bark is an easy classic Christmas candy
Although one of the things I love about food blogging is coming up with unexpected combinations, making twists and tweaks on basic recipes, and sometimes going off in completely uncharted territory, I have two daughters coming home this week who I know are hoping to find some of their old favorites around the house. This is one of them. Just like those Classic Chocolate Truffles, you can’t improve on this one.
what you’ll need to make peppermint bark
If you’ve got a bag of dark chocolate chips, a bag of white chocolate chips, and a few broken candy canes, you can make the most incredible Christmas treat. This stuff grows on you. Even people who say they don’t like peppermint come around once they try this.
- dark or semi sweet chocolate or dark chocolate melting wafers
- white chocolate, white melting wafers, or white almond bark
- crushed peppermint candy
what type of crushed peppermint to use
Crushed candy canes seem like the obvious choice for decorating, but once they’re crushed they start to dissolve almost immediately. The sugar pulls in moisture from the air, turns sticky, and then melts back into a hard, tooth-grabbing candy ~ not ideal on cookies or bark.
A better choice: crushed peppermint used for baking (often sold as “peppermint crunch baking chips”) is specially treated to be more stable, so it stays crisp, dry, and pleasantly crunchy instead of sticky.
You can cut your bark into squares or just let them break into random shards, my choice. It makes a wonderful after dinner snack and packages well for gifting.
If you love chocolate bark, I’ve got lots more on the blog. They range from dead easy, like my 2-Ingredient Cocoa Crunch Bark, to a little more challenging, like my super artistic Marbleized Chocolate Bark.
it’s the ultimate food gift
Plate it up, or bag it for gifts. Everyone’s going to love you.
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Peppermint Bark
Ingredients
- 10 ounces dark or semi sweet chocolate, cut into pieces (chips are fine)
- 10 ounces white melting wafers or white almond bark
- crushed peppermint candy, I like Andes Peppermint Crunch Chips
Instructions
- Put the dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Take it out and stir. Put it back in for 15 seconds, take it out again and stir. If the chocolate is not completely melted and pourable, put it back in for 15 second intervals until it is. I use a silicone spatula for the stirring. Be careful not to overheat your chocolate or it can burn and seize up.
- Pour the chocolate out onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Spread it evenly into approximately an 11×8 rectangle.
- Melt the white chocolate the same way. Be careful, white chocolate is temperamental and reacts badly to too much heat. Stir a little of the crushed peppermint into the white chocolate.
- Pour the white chocolate over the warm dark layer, and, working quickly, spread it out evenly over the top.
- Sprinkle the crushed candy canes evenly over the hot white chocolate, pushing down slightly so they will adhere once the chocolate is cooled and cut.
- Set aside to firm up at room temperature. When it is firm, cut or break into pieces. Some of the pieces may fall apart a little bit, don't worry, no one will care. If you want more even cuts, cut it while at room temperature, and use a sharp knife dipped in very hot water (and then dried) for each cut. Otherwise, hack away at it. The taste will be the same either way!
Nutrition
more homemade holiday candy
- Grandma Kathy’s Homemade Turtle Candy Recipe
- Sugar Plum Fairy Bark
- Jewel Box Truffles
- Easy Butter Brickle Bark
- English Walnut Toffee
mmmmm. A classic! It’s simple, but also delicious and cute! great for gifting.
Your peppermint bark is beautiful! I bet your gift boxes are just gorgeous. (I would also be willing to bet that your girls are beside themselves excited to get home and taste all of it!)
I do think it must be hard to be away from home and have a mom who food blogs 😉
I’ve never made peppermint bark but it is so popular I may have to see what I’ve been missing! Your photos and treats look wonderful. Merry Christmas Sue!
Oh Tricia, you have been missing out!
Oh my! I see this in my future – haven’t done any sweets yet! Love how pretty this is!
Thanks Claudia! I’m in the opposite situation, I have to stop already with the sweets and get to some ‘real’ food.
this has everything, sue! chocolate on top of chocolate with a hint of mint will always win. 🙂
You’re right, you can’t really go wrong with chocolate on top of chocolate!
totally and utterly lush! I have to make this this week!
It’s really great to have the fridge, it keeps forever, and you can pull it out for guests. Hope you try it, Dom, and have a happy holiday!
I have to say, that finally oh finally my peppermint craving is winding down.
I think I’ve eaten my fair share of white chocolate and peppermint for 3 winters!
It’s a good thing it only comes around once a year, peppermint is definitely a unique flavor, but I do start craving this bark right about mid-November.
Ah, we don’t have peppermint bark hee, it looks sinfully good.
Ah, but you can make it, Tabs!
Ahhh, my mom used to make this and although there are so many ways to do it, yours looks as close to her version as I’ve seen!
I used to do a more complicated version with a ganache inside, but I came to realize that the simplest way is just as good. After many years of cooking, I really do think that this is just about the easiest thing there is. No stress involved and lots of fun.