Peppermint Bark Recipe

Answer 1

Making baked and other prepared goods to give away during the holiday season is as big a tradition as the roast feast itself. With more demands on your time, less discretionary income, and lots of people on your gift list, coming up with easy and inexpensive homemade gifts can be a tall order.

Peppermint bark is one of those dream recipes that can be a godsend for working folk who believe a homemade gift is the best type of present.

Peppermint bark is a cinch to make. It also lends itself to many fun and tasty variations. We'll take a look at a few of them below:

Basic Peppermint Bark Recipe

2 12-oz. packages of White Chocolate Chips (blocks of white chocolate work too)

8 Candy canes

Pepermint Bark Recipe Instructions

Break candy canes into small pieces. You can do by placing them in a plastic bag and hitting them with a mallet or hammer; you can pulse them in your food processor too. They should be the consistency of ground nuts.

Prepare a cookie sheet (12" X 15") by covering the bottom with a sheet of plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

Melt the chocolate using your preferred method. You can use your microwave or a double boiler.

Pour the peppermint bits into the melted chocolate and stir.

Place mixture in an even layer on the cookie sheet and cool for 30 minutes in the fridge.

Break into shards. (Note: If the layer of chocolate is a bit uneven, it'll add to the organic look of the candy.)

Peppermint Bark with a Chocolate Layer

12-oz. package of White Chocolate Chips (blocks of white chocolate work too)

12-oz. package of Dark Chocolate Chips (You can also use Milk Chocolate if you prefer.)

8 Candy canes

Melt dark chocolate and layer in a lined cookie sheet. Cool in your refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Melt white chocolate and mix in candy cane bits. Layer over dark chocolate and refrigerate until firm.

Butterscotch Bark with Nuts

12-oz. package of Butterscotch chips

1/3 cup ground butterscotch hard candies

Melt butterscotch and add candy. Layer as outlined above.

You can see that this this recipe has lots of flexibility. Try layering butterscotch or peanut butter chips over a layer of chocolate. You can add almost any type of hard candy or nuts to the mixture.

After the mixture has cooled, you can package it as you would any other chocolate candy. A tin filled with two or three types of bark makes a great gift -- and best of all you can do multiple batches in an hour or so. Just make sure you have a couple of baking sheets and plenty of room in your refrigerator.

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