Easy Milk Chocolate Peppermint Bark Recipe
This 3-ingredient milk chocolate peppermint bark recipe is as easy as it is delicious! It’s the perfect treat for the holiday season, whether you’re hosting a Christmas party or looking to share a tasty gift with friends and neighbors. It’s made without peppermint extract, so all you need is chocolate and candy canes.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 10 ounces milk chocolate chips
- 10 ounces white chocolate chips
- 8 ounces crushed candy canes
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave for about 60 to 90 seconds, stirring every 15 to 20 seconds. Stir about one-third of the crushed candy canes into the chocolate, then spread it onto the baking sheet into a roughly 8 by 13 inch rectangle, about a quarter inch thick.
- Melt the white chocolate in the microwave for about 60 to 90 seconds, stirring every 15 to 20 seconds. Stir about one-third of the crushed candy canes into the chocolate, then spoon the mixture into thick lines on top of the milk chocolate, parallel to the short side of the rectangle. Try to make them an even thickness so that it’s easier to spread evenly in the next step.
- Drag the tines of a fork lengthwise across the peppermint bark, so that the white chocolate gets spread across the whole layer of milk chocolate. We find that this is the easiest way to spread out the white chocolate without disturbing the layer of milk chocolate underneath, since you can use fairly light pressure with a fork.
- Sprinkle the remaining crushed candy canes on top of the white chocolate layer, then allow the peppermint bark to set at room temperature for at least 2 hours.
- To slice, use a warm butter knife (run it under hot water for 10 to 15 seconds, then dry it off) and cut into roughly 2 by 2 inch squares. Optionally continue to set the bark in the fridge if it’s too sticky and warm; how well it sets will depend on the ambient temperature of your kitchen.
Notes
Chocolate chips: We recommend using chocolate chips instead of chocolate melting wafers, because they have stabilizers in them that help them hold their shape. This means they’ll actually be slightly resistant to melting - which is great for this recipe! The chocolate will be thick and not too runny when it’s melted, so that you can easily spread it into a thin rectangle no matter the size of your baking sheet. It also helps prevent the two layers of chocolate from melting into one another, so you can easily add the white chocolate layer without having to wait for the milk chocolate to fully set.
Crushed candy canes: If you can't find these at the store, you can crush them yourself. You can break up full size candy canes into pieces with your hands, then pulse them in a food processor to get smaller crushed up bits.
Melt the chocolate slowly: Chocolate can easily burn if you overheat it, so melt the chocolate in 15 to 20 second intervals with lots of stirring. As it’s getting closer to fully melted, you can go as short as 5 to 10 second intervals to make sure you don’t overheat it.
Nutrition
Serving: 1square | Calories: 123kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 11mg | Potassium: 68mg | Fiber: 0.02g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 4IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 0.03mg
