Peppermint Bark

"This is a copycat of the William Sonoma Bark that costs $22 a lb. I have never tried their version, but when my mom told me she liked it, I went on a search to find the recipe. Make sure to buy white chocolate chips that contain cocoa butter to get a smooth melt- otherwise, you will end up with clumpy chocolate. Use good quality chocolate chips (belgian, semi-sweet, or bittersweet) for the best results.This recipe is so simple and delicious my only hope is that I'm able to save a piece for my mom. Recipe by Rita Nader Heikenfeld."
 
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photo by Ashley Cuoco photo by Ashley Cuoco
photo by Ashley Cuoco
photo by Ashley Cuoco photo by Ashley Cuoco
photo by MissMochaJava photo by MissMochaJava
photo by MissMochaJava photo by MissMochaJava
photo by MissMochaJava photo by MissMochaJava
Ready In:
25mins
Ingredients:
4
Yields:
2 pounds
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ingredients

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directions

  • Preheat oven to 250. Line a 9x13 pan with foil, letting it hang over the sides. Spray foil. Pour the chocolate chips in an even layer on the foil. Place in oven for 5 minutes or until almost melted. Remove from oven, smooth with an offset spatula or knife. Place in refrigerator until cold and firm, about 20 minutes.
  • Melt white chocolate chips in a double boiler or in a metal bowl over simmering water (don’t let bottom of bowl touch water), until chocolate is almost melted. If you are daring, you can use your microwave. Remove bowl from water and stir until completely melted, stirring in extract. Let cool a little bit so it doesn’t melt the chocolate layer when you pour it on top. Pour this over chocolate layer, and, working quickly, spread to cover. Sprinkle with crushed candy (I pressed the candy in just a bit).
  • Chill until both layers are firm. Lift foil out of pan and shake off excess candy. Trim edges. Cut into 2” wide strips. Peel bark from foil and cut each strip as desired. Chill in covered container. Makes about 2 pounds.

Questions & Replies

  1. I don't have a double boiler. How can I do this without that?
     
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Reviews

  1. This is the second year I've made this, so here's what I've learned. I had trouble with the layers not sticking together last year, and found mixed advice on the internet about how to fix that problem. Some said room temp is the best for the bottom layer before pouring the white, some said ice cold. I split the difference and refrigerated my bottom layer for about an hour, then let it sit on the counter while I melted the white. Everything stuck, no problems at all with layers separating. I also experimented with chocolate to see which I liked best. The smoothest melt with the best flavor was regular old Kroger brand "private selection" white chocolate chips--I'd read someone else mention those, but was skeptical. They were by far the best of the bunch. Also tried Tollhouse white chips, which were second best, and the worst was Ghiradelli. They did not melt smoothly, and their flavor was nowhere near as nice as the cheaper chocolates, surprisingly enough. I'll put it this way, I thought the difference in the Ghiradelli quality and flavor was enough that I didn't mix the different batches when bundling these up for gifts. I thought the recipients would taste the difference as they ate their way through the bag. It's not that the Ghiradelli pieces taste bad, they're just not as nice as the others. I did use the chips and not the baking squares, so that could make a difference. I used Kroger's private selection semi sweet chips for the bottom on all layers, and regular old candy canes for the tops. I took some more internet advice and tried mixing in the dusty over-crushed bits of candy cane into the white chocolate of one batch, in lieu of using the peppermint extract, and the results were good. I don't have a preference for using that method over using the extract; both batches were good. I would like to try using peppermint oil instead of extract to see if that makes a difference, but the extract worked just fine. Oh, I will also say that last year I used foil to line my pan and had trouble with it sticking to the chocolate. This time I used parchment, cut to fit the bottom of the pan, no overhang. I sprayed the edges with a tiny bit of cooking spray, which I then rubbed all over the parchment with a paper towel. So it was just barely there, and not enough to show up on the candy, but I had no sticking whatsoever. I made three batches using 12 oz of semi sweet chips and 24 oz of white in each batch, and about 8-10 candy canes on each (depending on how much you crush them), and that made enough to make 30 little candy bags with 10-12 pieces each, with the pieces being cut all crazy shapes, however I can get it to break! Overall, I had big improvements over last year's methods, and everyone loves getting this stuff for Christmas. It's delicious! Hope my trial and error helps you make some of your own!
     
  2. Awesome! I used bakers white premium chocolate squares.and I microwaved my white chocolate versus using a double broiler..it worked wonderful. Microwave one minute ...stir..microwave 30 sec stir and its melted nice and creamy.
     
  3. Hi, I made this recipe as stated. It was excellent and so easy. The only advice I would add, is to work quickly when putting on the candies. The white chocolate sets up very fast. It was excellent and very pretty for the holiday. Linda
     
  4. I found another much easier recipe and the family liked it better....1 C. dark chocolate chips...2 C.white chocolate chips 6-8 candy canes. place parchment on sheet..spray lightly...crush canes..melt dark in microwave spread on parchment evenly..refrigerate 15 mins...melt white spread over choc. while still warm lightly press crushed candy canes on top refrigerate 15 mins. more or till harder...turned out good
     
  5. 12 normal candy canes crushed made about 1 cup. Had trouble with the layers wanting to separate when cutting. It worked out better when we started cutting larger pieces first, then cut those smaller pieces into the sizes we wanted. Using a hot knife seemed to help too. Don't over-do the peppermint extract or everytime you kiss your spouse they'll ask if you just brushed your teeth!
     
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Tweaks

  1. This is the second year I've made this, so here's what I've learned. I had trouble with the layers not sticking together last year, and found mixed advice on the internet about how to fix that problem. Some said room temp is the best for the bottom layer before pouring the white, some said ice cold. I split the difference and refrigerated my bottom layer for about an hour, then let it sit on the counter while I melted the white. Everything stuck, no problems at all with layers separating. I also experimented with chocolate to see which I liked best. The smoothest melt with the best flavor was regular old Kroger brand "private selection" white chocolate chips--I'd read someone else mention those, but was skeptical. They were by far the best of the bunch. Also tried Tollhouse white chips, which were second best, and the worst was Ghiradelli. They did not melt smoothly, and their flavor was nowhere near as nice as the cheaper chocolates, surprisingly enough. I'll put it this way, I thought the difference in the Ghiradelli quality and flavor was enough that I didn't mix the different batches when bundling these up for gifts. I thought the recipients would taste the difference as they ate their way through the bag. It's not that the Ghiradelli pieces taste bad, they're just not as nice as the others. I did use the chips and not the baking squares, so that could make a difference. I used Kroger's private selection semi sweet chips for the bottom on all layers, and regular old candy canes for the tops. I took some more internet advice and tried mixing in the dusty over-crushed bits of candy cane into the white chocolate of one batch, in lieu of using the peppermint extract, and the results were good. I don't have a preference for using that method over using the extract; both batches were good. I would like to try using peppermint oil instead of extract to see if that makes a difference, but the extract worked just fine. Oh, I will also say that last year I used foil to line my pan and had trouble with it sticking to the chocolate. This time I used parchment, cut to fit the bottom of the pan, no overhang. I sprayed the edges with a tiny bit of cooking spray, which I then rubbed all over the parchment with a paper towel. So it was just barely there, and not enough to show up on the candy, but I had no sticking whatsoever. I made three batches using 12 oz of semi sweet chips and 24 oz of white in each batch, and about 8-10 candy canes on each (depending on how much you crush them), and that made enough to make 30 little candy bags with 10-12 pieces each, with the pieces being cut all crazy shapes, however I can get it to break! Overall, I had big improvements over last year's methods, and everyone loves getting this stuff for Christmas. It's delicious! Hope my trial and error helps you make some of your own!
     

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