We love classic peppermint bark around the holidays (and any time quite frankly). You can always find a delicious (but expensive) variety at gourmet food stores, but we had to try to make this ourselves. Keith and I love white chocolate, and combining it with good dark chocolate and peppermint candy is sure to please. However, we also love salt. For our peppermint bark, we decided to add a layer of thin pretzels to make this holiday treat a bit more complex.
If you are going to make a chocolate treat, you must start with good chocolate. We chose Ghiradelli baking chocolate bars. Keith showed me how to use a metal bowl on top of a sauce pan as a “make shift” double boiler. He explained that patience was key; you want to use the steam of the boiling water to melt the chocolate, and you do not want to rush this process. We melted the dark chocolate first, then poured it onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. We then topped the chocolate with a layer of thin Pretzel Crisps. We allowed it to set, and then followed this with a thin layer of melted white chocolate and some crushed candy canes.
We placed our beautiful bark into the fridge to expedite the setting of the chocolate. Once it all set up, it was really easy to break it into pieces. The simple addition of thin pretzels gave our peppermint bark a subtle lift that we had hoped for. There is something about salt and dark chocolate… and the crunch and flavor of the peppermint rounded this out magnificently. We packaged it up and gave it to some special people in our lives. But we had to make a fresh batch to enjoy for ourselves, as this stuff is good!!
- 2-4 oz. white chocolate baking bars
- 2-4 oz. dark chocolate baking bars
- Pretzel crisps (about a handful, enough to cover a layer of chocolate)
- 2-3 candy canes, crushed into small pieces
- ½ tsp. peppermint extract
- Place a layer of parchment paper on a baking sheet.
- Melt dark chocolate in double boiler (or in metal bowl over sauce pan of boiling water).
- Pour melted chocolate to form a ⅛" layer on the parchment paper.
- Add a layer of pretzels on top of the layer of dark chocolate.
- Place in cool place (or refrigerator) until chocolate sets.
- Melt white chocolate in double boiler (or in metal bowl over sauce pan of boiling water).
- Add peppermint extract to white chocolate.
- Pour melted white chocolate in an even ⅛" layer over pretzels (you may have to use an offset spatula to help spread the white chocolate).
- Sprinkle chopped peppermint candy on top of white chocolate layer.
- Break into rough 3" by 3" squares.
Danna says
December 5, 2018 at 3:37 pmI about how many 3×3 pieces does the recipe yield? Thinking about making about 150, but not sure how much of each ingredient to get. This recipe sounds wonderful! Thank you!
Keith says
December 7, 2018 at 7:34 pmSorry for the delay, my guess is it would make about 8 pieces 3×3 I don’t remember how big it was in the way of length. We hope we try it and enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by.