I love peppermint bark for so many reasons. It is one of my favorite Christmas recipes because of how simple it is. In fact, my daughters made this last batch with my supervision and I must say… they did a fabulous job! In fact I think their bark looks better than Harry and David’s, Williams-Sonoma, and Neiman Marcus’ because it is homemade and made with 100% love.
Some peppermint bark recipes only use white chocolate but I prefer the combination of both brown and white. If you are looking for an easy to make Holiday treat to make as gifts or to have on hand when guests come over this is a great recipe for you – freezes well too. Happy Holidays! Enjoy!
Peppermint Bark Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
1 bag of chocolate chips (any kind you like)
1 bag of white chocolate chips
24 mini candy canes, crushed *do not crush using a food processor – place candy canes in a zip lock bag and use a hammer to crush into small pieces
DIRECTIONS:
Line the bottom of a 9×13 pan with parchment paper. Pour (brown) chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave chocolate chips in increments of 30 seconds stirring the chips each time until chocolate chips have completed melted and mixture is smooth. Spread melted chocolate as evenly as possibly into lined pan. Place pan into freezer for 20 minutes. Repeat the same melting process with the white chips. While chocolate is still smooth, stir in half of the crushed candy cane mixture. Allow the white chocolate to slightly cool for a minute. Remove pan from freezer and spread white chocolate/crushed candy canes mixture on top of the chocolate layer. Spread white chocolate as quickly as possible. Top off with remaining crushed candy cane and gently pat down with the back of a spatula. Return pan to freezer for 20 minutes. Remove from freezer and gently lift the whole mixture from the pan with a butter knife. You should now have a solid sheet of peppermint bark. Remove parchment paper and break into pieces. Store any left over bark in a ziplock bag and place in the freezer. Enjoy!
*if white chocolate chips do not melt smooth, stir in 2 tablespoons of shortening.
This recipe is great. I made it for all my kid’s teachers and for my family. Everyone loved it. Thank you.
how big of a gallon bag should be full of candy canes :)?
What size bags of chocolate chips did you use? The regular 12 oz size or bigger?
Hi Angie: I typically put mine in the freezer to make sure both chocolates are set. From there, I grab the bark firmly with both hands and quickly start snapping pieces off. I wish I could offer you a solution but I haven’t had issues with it separating. Maybe others who’ve made this recipe can share their tips.
I have made these twice and while they are so easy and super yummy, my brown and whites keep separting. Kind of hard to give as a gift. Any suggestions anyone has would be great. HELP!!
@David-Thank you so much for this idea!! My layers separated and I do not want to waste this batch as they were supposed to be Christmas gifts. I’m going to try melting my chocolate layer now and drizzle over my white chocolate and peppermint bits! Wish me luck! 🙂
Made this tonight…..so yummy!!
Fantastic recipe, I love peppermint bark. Thanks for sharing this with us, I’ll give it a try asap 🙂
Happy New Year from Belgium!
HI Devan,
Glad you liked the peppermint bark. As for as melting the white chips down, you could always try melting them using a double broiler. When microwaving, it’s important to only microwave it in 30 second increments always stirring between them. If your chocolate is still burning, I would check the back of your bag and use the instructions on “melting”. Hope this helps!
Alice this has been a HUGE hit with my family and friends. However I did add my own touch because for the life of me, I could not (and can NEVER) get the white chocolate to melt. I’m not sure if my microwave isn’t hot enough or what, but my white chocolate whether it is chips or melting bark always burns. Any tips?? So since I already had the pan in the freezer with the chocolate cooling I went ahead and melted some peppermint baking chips that I had and added that on top of my chocolate layer. I added candy cane pieces to that afterward. That turned out perfect and broke amazing for my goodie bags. Thanks Again, your website and recipes are perfect! Happy Holidays!
can you tell me what size bag there are 12 oz and bigger?
thanks
Hi Alice, and readers.
I recently tried making this usine a similar recipe but without the freezer steps. Like a few others here say they experienced, though, the white and dark chocolate separated completely when I broke or cut the candy. FYI, I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chips for the bottom, and Nestle’s Tollhouse white chips for the top. I’d be interested in seeing what happens if I try again but do the freezer steps, as Alice’s recipe calls for. As for the peppermints falling off, I’ve made peppermint bark MANY times and I know that if I don’t get those peppermints onto the melted chocolate while it is still wet and warm they’re just not gonna stick, so you gotta work fast! But here’s something that I do that gives results I really like: after crushing the candies in a plastic bag, as Alice suggest, I then pour them into a handled wire mesh strainer, about 6″ across. Then, I shake the strainer while passing it evenly over the melted white chocolate in order to add all those teensy little peppermint crystals to ALL of the chocolate. Looks all sparkly and beautiful, too! Once that’s done, then I make another pass shaking the larger pieces out. Now, even if some of the bigger pieces of candy fall off, you still get lovely pepperminty flavor with each bite of chocolate!
Is there a better way to snap off the pieces so the edges look more clean and each piece is about the same size? 🙂
Hi David,
Way to be creative! Sorry the 2 halves split on you but glad to hear you came up with a great solution. Happy Holidays!
I just layered the pan with white chocolate and peppermint pieces and remelted the dark chocolate-drizzling it over the top. Now I have peppermint sandwiches dark on top-white on bottom.
Same problem-when I go to break it up white and dark chocolate come apart. I am left with sheets of dark chocolate and sheets of white chocolate with peppermint.
I tried to make this peppermint bark tonight and found it indeed very easy and it tasted good! I used dark chocolate because I like the bittersweet taste. I think the tricky part is to break it… Lots of peppermint bits fell off. Maybe it’s because I didn’t press them into the white chocolate layer enough?
Hi Eva,
Peppermint will fall off.. After you sprinkle it on.. gently press down on it and this should help with retaining as much crushed candy cane on it as possible. Glad you liked it.
This looks easy, beautiful and tasty. Great recipe!
Great recipie. Ive been making this for years and tastes much better than any you can buy in a store! I add peppermint extract ( a few drops) to the white chocolate mixture before adding the crushed candy. Gives it an extra pepperminty flavor, which I love!
Hi Sara,
I don’t know why they separated. How long did you have them in the refrigerator or freezer before trying to break them apart? Also what method did you use to break them?
I made it last night. Tasted great, however, the milk chocolate and white chocolate layers separated when I broke it apart. Any suggestions?
Thank-you!!
Sara,
I don’t really have any suggestions since I just use what I have on hand. I made these using Ghiradelli Bittersweet chips. I would use your favorite type of chocolate because it comes down to preference. Hope this helps.
Alice
Any suggestions on the best chocolate to use?
We tried this one tonight too! So fun & easy to make w.my kids and they LOVED it! Will be making more for gift treats.