Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Peppermint Bark

Last Friday night my friend Danielle hosted the 2nd Annual Cooking Party. We get together and each make a different recipe and drink lots of wine. I made peppermint bark, which I know isn't a cookie but I figured it fit into the mix, seemed easy enough and didn't require the oven. (Unfortunately my choice disqualified me from "winning"... it always turns into a friendly competition.)

I based my peppermint bark recipe off this one from Joy of Baking and just doubled all the ingredients.

What you'll need
Ghiradelli Classic White Chocolate Baking Chips (1 bag/11 oz)
Ghiardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips  (1 bag/11 oz)
candy canes (at least 6)
4 tsp vegetable oil
Microwave safe bowl (or double boiler to melt the chocolate if you're fancy)
Meat tenderizer or another tool to crush candy canes
Spatula
Ziploc Bag
Cookie pan lined with non-stick aluminum foil

Line a cookie sheet with non-stick aluminum foil. Melt semi-sweet chocolate and 2 tsp vegetable oil - I did this in the microwave on 50% power, stirring the chocolate every 30 seconds until it was smooth and "drippy". (I think it was around 4 minutes total.) Spread onto cookie sheet in even layer. Place into refrigerator for 30 minutes or until hard.

While the chocolate is cooling place at least 6 unwrapped candy canes into Ziploc bag and hammer until broken into small pieces. 1/2 cup crushed should be all you need. (I actually used a wrench because that was all that was available and hammered on the concrete balcony. That's why the bag comes in handy.)


The next step is to melt the white chocolate with the remaining vegetable oil and spread on top of the first layer evenly. I opted to stir in the crushed candy canes into the melted white chocolate and reserved some of the larger pieces of candy to sprinkle on top. Let cool in the refrigerator once again. Allow the sheet to come to room temperature, peel back aluminum foil and break into small pieces. Voila, bark! If I can do it, so can you. Store in the fridge.

Sadly some of my layers separated. Based on a little research, I think next time I will allow the first layer to come to room temperature before adding the next. I also shouldn't have had such large pieces of candy cane stirred in. Have any tips?


Clockwise from top left: No shortage of wine, Hostess Danielle making her snickerdoodles, Corinne and Sara mixing their vegan pumpkin chocolate cookie mix (forgot to get non-dairy milk... whoops not so vegan!), Amanda sifting flour and being fashionable while doing so. Not pictured: Danielle #2 with her Oreo balls.
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18 comments

  1. love peppermint bark! i am going to a cookie exchange party on sunday and still trying to decide what to make!

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  2. Love those naughty and nice
    ghty/nice dish towels out right now!

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  3. YUM love peppermint bark- I'm going to attempt this :)

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  4. I love peppermint bark!! I may need to give this a try.

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  5. I've never tried peppermint bark, but it sounds delicious! Have a great day!

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  6. Peppermiint bark is always a good holiday staple :)

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  7. Yum! I have been looking for a recipe for this... looks delicious!

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  8. THANK YOU for posting this! Stephen, my fiance, was just talking last night about he would like me to perfect this recipe and I told him I had to find the recipe first! :) I'm having a giveaway, go check it out and enter to win lots of goodies! :)

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  9. ooooooooo yummy! looks amazing!!

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  10. I LOVE peppermint bark! Will definitely be trying out this recipe!

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  11. Yum yum yum! I love this stuff! I might try making it on my own this year

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  12. Oooo maybe I'll try this for my party!! Thanks!!

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  13. Your naughty/nice spatulas are so adorable! I just had the same type of get-together with my best friends. Love those nights. :)

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  14. I used your recipe last night! It's de-lish!

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  15. Oh yum! You must check in on Tuesday...I did a spin of recipe for our holiday party! :) Peppermint Bark is one of my faves!!

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  16. Lindsay I love peppermint bark!! Yum!

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    Karena

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