Peppermint Bark

Peppermint Bark is easy to make and delicious!  It was one of the treats we included in my daughter's teachers' gift tote.  You can alter the recipe by using any kind of chocolate chips you'd like.  We prefer teh semisweet.  You can layer with white chocolate too.  My girls don't like white chocolate so we made it just with the dark chocolate.  You can substitute Heath bits for peppermint.  Get creative!

What you'll need:

A Jellyroll pan or cookie sheet

Freezer Paper or Parchment Paper

Cooking Spray

A double boiler or two pots that fit together to create one

A spatula

A stove

Peppermints or candy canes

A bag of semisweet chocolate chips

A hammer

A Ziploc bag

I stacked these pans to make a double boiler.  I added a couple inches of water to the bottom pot and brought it to a boil.

This is my 23 month old, Mariella.  She's adding the chips to the pot that will be on top. Check out her cute apron Grandmommy made her for Christmas.

Hey!  I say you sneak that chip, little girl!

Mariella, don't eat them all!

There goes another one!  Lucky for us, this recipe doesn't need exact measurements!

In walks my four year old, GraciAnn armed with the hammer, ready to attack the peppermints.  We put four candy canes in a Ziploc bag and sealed it. Grandmommy made her cute apron too.  Matchy matchy!

Mariella's keeping her distance as GraciAnn makes powder out of the candy canes.

We've lined the jelly roll pan with Freezer Paper. We sprayed the freezer paper with cooking spray.

Here's the chocolate chips.  They've started melting.

GraciAnn's carefully stirring the chocolate chips.  Mariella's saying, "Chocolate!"

The chocolate chips are melted. It's time to add the peppermint.

GraciAnn's stirring the peppermint in.

...and stirring....

It's well mixed now.

We put the chocolate on the freezer paper.

Smooth out the chocolate mixture to a thin layer.  You could swirl in white chocolate, sprinkle peppermint pieces on top, whatever you want to jazz it up.  My girls are just happy eating it pretty plain. When it's spread out, put it in the refrigerator to harden.

They love liking the spatulas.

Waiting patiently for the peppermint bark to harden.

Oh my! After she's cleaned up, the bark may be ready.  Really, let it chill for about two hours. Take it out of the refrigerator and break it into pieces. Yum!