Saturday, December 11, 2010

Peppermint Bark! The bark that's better when you bite!

The Williams Sonoma catalog
came the other day and peppermint
bark was on the cover. It was like
a worm in my brain, I wanted to
order some but it would take entirely
too long to get to me even if we
expedited shipping.
So, off to the store I went. I mean
why buy and wait for bark when you
can whip some up yourself?

Shopping List:


12 oz bag Ghirardelli
(60% cacao bittersweet
chocolate chips )
12 oz bag Hersey's vanilla chips
1 box Spangler's peppermint
candy canes, crushed
1/2 tsp McCormick's pure
peppermint extract


Directions:
Line a 13 X 9 inch baking
sheet with wax paper.
In a double boiler over medium
heat, melt the the chocolate chips
until smooth, sitrring frequently.
Stir in a 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract
and remove from heat. Let the melted
chocolate sit for 5 minutes to
cool a bit. Pour the melted chocolate
onto the wax paper and spread out
evenly with a rubber spatula.

Sprinkle the crushed candy canes across
the chocolate. Put in the frig to cool
and solidify. Now repeat the same
process with the Hersey's vanilla chips,
although don't add the extract
to the melted vanilla. Sprinkle
with more crushed candy canes and
put in frig to cool. Now trian your dog
to sit in front of the frig and
growl at any of the peppermint bark
nibblers that live in your house.
I neglected this last step and found my
bark half eaten when I went
back to check on it. I think they
have a pact because no one is talking.


Happy Holidays to nibblers big and small!

Jenn
Available in just 24 days!!!

Don't forget to enter Krista's cookie contest! To celebrate the release of
The Diva Cooks a Goose, she's holding a Christmas cookie recipe contest!
















It ends on December 13th, so be sure to get your winning cookie recipe to her in time to win some fabulous cookie cutters! Submit your recipe to Krista at KristaDavis dot com!


10 comments:

  1. Jenn, this sounds so easy! It's probably a good bit less expensive to make it at home, too, especially when you add the cost of shipping. Thanks for such a creative idea!

    I love your nibblers, too. My aunt always said there was no point in baking Christmas cookies ahead of time because no matter where she hid them, the nibblers found them.

    ~ Krista

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jenn, these look so pretty in your pictures! Very festive. The nibbler problem appears to be widespread; I swear the pile of goodies I baked and stored in my freezer before surgery was much higher than it is now--and they're all blaming the cat.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jenn - Love the cheerful colors in your photos. Puts me in the holiday mood!! Krista's right, making your own bark is a huge cost savings and a lovely idea for a homemade gift. Have a great weekend and keep that adorable nibbler-guard dog of yours in front of that fridge. (We have a guard cat. Isn't quite the same, I'm afraid.)

    ~ Cleo
    Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

    ReplyDelete
  4. These are gorgeous. I just love peppermint bark! Genius to make it yourself! Just the perfect holiday treat to nibble on. I think you've just put a worm in my brain!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a pretty treat! I absolutely love peppermint bark--one of my favorites! Good luck keeping your kiddos away from the goodies!

    ReplyDelete
  6. So yummy and so easy. Great share today! Getting the ingredients this afternoon. :)

    ~Avery
    AveryAames.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. These look awesome. Good for you for not waiting!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I bought a package of the new Nestle's dark chocolate mint chips on sale. Might try bark with them.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Someone just mentioned on facebook about bark
    with toffee...hmmm. I see more bark variations in the offing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jenn,
    Thanks so much for this lovely recipe and for giving me the perfect gift idea for our newspaper delivery person (I have no idea of this dear person's name...all I know is that the paper is ALWAYS at the end of the driveway waiting for me!!), the mail lady, and the trash guys!! Your photos are gorgeous as well!
    Nanc

    ReplyDelete