I can’t bake treats well at all. This is why I thought that making some peppermint bark treats would be kind of fun and easy. It was certainly all of those things. If you’re looking for a treat to make for the holidays, this is certainly a crowd favorite. Let’s get to it.
Stuff you will need:
- Nonstick Cookie Sheet – I used 17.25″ x 11.25″ x .75″
- Dark Chocolate – I got the Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa Bittersweet 3.5 lbs bag.
- White Chocolate – I originally bought the Nestle Tollhouse brand, but was told to splurge a little and get some quality stuff. Apparently, the Nestle Tollhouse white chocolate chips are great on cookies, but not so great on peppermint bark. I ended up getting the Ghirardelli White Chocolate Chunk at Trader Joe’s. You should try to get the same amount of the white chocolate as the dark chocolate.
- Peppermint Candy – You can get the canes or just the round candies.
- Peppermint Extract
So now you have to melt the dark chocolate. Some places will tell you to microwave it. I say, just make your own double boiler and don’t risk frying your very expensive dark chocolate. Just take a large saucepan, fill it with 1-2 inches of water, bring it to a boil, reduce heat to low, and put a Pyrex bowl over it. Then you simply add the dark chocolate to it and stir it until it is evenly melted. I used around 3/4 of the 3.5 lbs bag. In retrospect, I would recommend using 2 lbs or around half the bag.
After that, you can spray the cookie sheet with oil (don’t worry about it too much if you don’t have any) and just pour the melted dark chocolate over the pan and make it as even as possible. Put it in the fridge (make sure it’s flat in there) and let it cool and harden.
Next, is the fun and violent part. Take your peppermint candy and put it in a FREEZER bag. Now, beat the crap out of it so that there is a decent mix of powder, small bits, medium bits, and larger chunks in there. Make sure there aren’t any HUGE chunks in there, though. If it’s a lot bigger than your pinky nail, you might need to break it up again.
Next, do the exact thing with the white chocolate and the double boiler. When it’s evenly melted, add 1-2 teaspoons of peppermint extract, depending on how “minty” you like your stuff. I used one teaspoon and it was mildly minty. Use two if you like the mintiness to be more prominent. Next, take the peppermint powder, small chunk, and medium chunks and throw them in there. Mix it up well and layer it on your now cool dark chocolate tray (yes, make sure it’s COLD).
When you have it evenly layered on, take the larger chunks of peppermint candy and sprinkle it all over the top. Then put it back into the fridge and let it cool. When that’s all done and you take it out of the fridge again, it should pop right out of the cookie sheet. Simply break it up into randomly sized pieces and they’re ready to be served or wrapped up as gift treats!
Here is the final product. Looks cool and it was really easy to make! Here are some things to consider:
- If you like it sweeter there are two things you can do:
- Use milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate
- Make the white chocolate layer thicker
- Be creative and try different colored candies.
- If you don’t like mint chocolate flavors (my roommate hates mint/chocolate combos – he says it’s like eating chocolate toothpaste), try substituting the mint extract with hazelnut extract and using crushed hazelnuts instead of peppermint candy.
Good luck! I want to try using peppermint schnapps next time. =D
1. Weirdest thing you have had for breakfast?
* Porridge with Thousand Year Old Egg.
2. Most desperate meal you've ever had?
* Mac and Cheese, except there was no milk in the fridge. Made it with soy milk instead. Not quite the same.
3. When you eat too much, you...
* Resist the temptation to fall asleep. 
