Christmas Candy: Part 1

 

 

Not only did I get the Christmas baking spirit this year, but I got the Christmas candy making spirit this year too.

Peppermint bark is pretty much a yearly tradition for me. My husband loves it--it is his favorite Christmas treat--and nothing beats the homemade variety. I decided to try a couple of different ways of doing it this year though.

Classic Peppermint Bark

Ingredients:

1 (12 oz) bag semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (about 2 cups), or chocolate candy coating
1 (12 oz) bag white chocolate chips (about 2 cups), or vanilla candy coating
1-2 cups crushed peppermint (to your taste)

Directions:

Line a jelly roll pan with heavy duty aluminum foil.

Melt semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips. I prefer to do this in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave at 30 second intervals (stirring between each interval). It takes about a minute to a minute and a half to melt the chocolate.

Spread melted semi-sweet chocolate onto the jelly roll pan covered in foil. Spread chocolate over the pan to create an even layer. Place pan into a refrigerator or freezer to allow the chocolate to set.

Melt white chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Remove hardened semi-sweet chocolate and spread the melted white chocolate chips over the first layer. Be careful when you spread the white chocolate. The warm white chocolate can melt the semi-sweet chocolate and can create swirls (instead of a pristine white layer). Once the white chocolate has been spread in an even layer over the semi-sweet chocolate, sprinkle immediately with crushed peppermint. Press the peppermint into the white chocolate layer (this just helps make sure that the peppermint sticks to the bark once it is set).

Put the pan back into the refrigerator or freezer until the bark is completely set.

Once the bark is set, use a sharp knife to crack the bark. Using the point of the knife, apply pressure to the bark. The knife creates pressure points and the bark will crack on its own. Continue to crack the bark by using a knife. You can make the pieces as big or as small as you like.

If you make this with chocolate chips, you will need to store this in the refrigerator (otherwise, it will become soft and melty).

Source: You can find recipes for peppermint bark just about everywhere. But I really like the step-by-step instructions found on About.com. You can find it here. She also includes instructions for how to temper your chocolate, which you can find here.

Notes: The process of tempering chocolate is a pretty lengthy one (one which I don't currently have time for). If you don't have time to temper your chocolate, here are your two options: first, melt chocolate chips in the microwave and store the finished candy product in the refrigerator to avoid melting or; second, use candy coating instead. Candy coating is formulated to stay hard at room temperature after being melted, so you don't have to temper it and you don't have to keep it in the refrigerator either.

I originally posted this recipe here.

Red, White, and Green Peppermint Bark

Ingredients:

2 packages vanilla candy coating, divided
1-2 cups crushed peppermint candies (to your taste)

Directions:

Line a jelly roll pan with foil.

Melt first package of vanilla candy coating according to package instructions.

Spread vanilla candy coating on the foil-lined pan (the thickness of your candy depends on how you spread your candy coating). Place in a refrigerator or freezer to set up.

Meanwhile, melt second package of vanilla candy coating according to package instructions. When melted and smooth, stir in green food coloring to achieve your desired shade of green.

Remove set up layer of candy coating from the freezer and spread green layer of candy coating on top. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint and gently press peppermint candies into the green layer of candy coating.

Return to refrigerator or freezer until set.

Once the bark has set up, remove from the freezer and break into pieces using your hands or the sharp point of a knife.

Source: I got the inspiration for this from Taste of Home. You can find that recipe here.

Notes: I thought this looked really pretty and festive. You could skip the green food dye and use red instead and do this recipe with a white layer, a red layer, and then the red and white crushed peppermint on top. That would look really pretty too.

 

 

White Chocolate Peppermint Bark

Ingredients:

1 package vanilla candy coating or white chocolate chips
1-2 cups crushed peppermint candies (to your taste)

Directions:

Line a jelly roll pan with foil.

Melt vanilla candy coating according to package instructions (or melt white chocolate chips in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl).

Once melted and smooth, stir in desired amount of crushed peppermint candies.

Spread vanilla candy coating or melted white chocolate and peppermint mixture onto foil-lined pan.

Sprinkle generously with additional crushed peppermint candies.

Place in refrigerator or freezer until set.

Once the bark is set, break into pieces with your hands, or with the sharp point of a knife.

Source: I didn't really have a source for this version of peppermint bark. It simply sounded like a good idea, so I tried it.

Notes: Oh, and it was a good idea. A very good idea. Yum!