Peppermint Bark: A Success!!

Seriously, not that hard!

The recipe is sort of a combination of others that I found on the internet of ingredients and steps that I thought would work for me.  I never realized how many variations are out there!  Here is what I came up with:

8 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate (I used all Ghirardelli products)

12 oz. White Chocolate

1 tsp. Canola Oil, divided (Really, no idea why, but I saw it in another recipe, so why not?)

1 tsp. Peppermint Extract, or more if you prefer

4 Candy Canes, crushed

I started by first crushing my candy canes.  *Please unwrap your candy canes.  Then I took a small strainer and sifted out the powdery bits from the chunky pieces.  Not necessary, but I like the flavor it adds to the white chocolate portion.  Feel free to skip this step and just dump more Peppermint Extract into the chocolate.

You might also want to prepare your cookie sheet at this point too.  I lined mine with aluminum foil for easy clean up and then with a piece of parchment paper, cut to fit my pan.

In a double boiler, melt the Bittersweet Chocolate with 1/2 teaspoon of Canola Oil.  When everything is almost smooth, add in 1 teaspoon of Peppermint Extract.  Stir until everything is smooth and combined.  Then spread into the prepared cookie sheet.  Throw it into the freezer for 10 minutes while you melt the White Chocolate.

Do the same double boiler routine with the White Chocolate, but this time when it's melted, add the peppermint powder instead of the extract.  

Take the pan out of the freezer, work a little faster this time spreading the White Chocolate onto the Bittersweet (it starts to harden!) and then you can sprinkle the crushed Candy Canes right on top!  Press down with your hand just a bit so they don't all fall off when you break it later.  Let it hang out in the fridge until you're ready to smash it to bits!

The easiest way I found to break it was to try to break the whole thing in half, put one 1/2 at a time in a large freezer bag and snap small into pieces over the edge of a counter top.  Your thumbs will thank you if you do it this way!  Candy Cane shards are sharp as hell!

I packaged them in candy dishes that I found in Home Goods for less than $4-$5/pair!  I love that place!

SO there you go!  I know I can bake things without many issues, but I've always found Chocolate to be kind of tricky.  This recipe is super easy.  I even know it tasted good when my husband asked if he could have another piece of "that candy cane stuff."  And he's not much of a chocolate eater.  Go me!