peppermint bark

Amys Gluten Free Pantry

I love this stuff. It’s totally addicting, so I’m glad candy canes are only available at Christmas, or I’d be in trouble. This is a fun thing to do with friends or with your kids. It’s a little tricky. Just make sure you have everything prepped and you should have no problem. There is an indispensable tool that you need for this recipe and there’s no substitute. It’s an offset spatula and you can buy one at Michael’s. (Sometimes they’re called “bent” or “angled” spatulas). It’s a must for frosting cupcakes too. Trust me, you’ll use it lots.

My husband’s co-workers have come to expect this at Christmas, so I always make two slabs at a time. I use the small cellophane bags from Michael’s to gift it. Do this one time and I promise, it will become a Christmas tradition.

A note of caution. You can use chocolate chips, but you’ll get a better result with chocolate from a block. Stabilizers are aded to the chocolate to get it to hold it’s “chip” form, and it’s not as smooth and velvety when it melts, nor does it taste as pure.

Prep time: 25 minutes
Total time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Yield: 15 small gift bags

6 oz. dark chocolate from a block (or chips)
(can be bittersweet which is about 54% cocoa, or dark chocolate which contains a higher percentage of cocoa). Trader Joe’s sells a 1 lb. plus block for less than $5! Cut it on the diagonal with a sharp chef’s knife (8″ knife) or even a sturdy serrated bread knife.
6 oz. white chocolate from a block, cut in the same manner as the dark chocolate, on the diagonal, chopped into flakes
5 candy canes, well smashed (almost pulverized) in a plastic bag with the flat side of a meat tenderizer or rolling pin.

Okay, here’s where I cheat, but I have years of experience doing it this way…that’s my official disclaimer in case you burn your chocolate! Every recipe will tell you to melt chocolate over a double-boiler. If you don’t have one, you can place a tempered (resistant to high heat) glass bowl over a medium saucepan of gently boiling water. Dump chopped chocolate inside and stir as it slowly melts. This is what you should do if you have an electric stovetop or if you are melting chocolate for the first time.

But because I am terminally lazy and hate cleaning up, I melt my chocolate directly in my saucepan. If you have an electric stove top, DO NOT attempt this – you will burn your chocolate. Okay, here we go.

  1. Line your casserole pan tightly with saran wrap.
  2. In a gallon plastic bag, smash candy canes with the flat side of a meat tenderizer or rolling pin until finely smashed.
  3. Melt chocolate over double boiler or very carefully over lowest heat on gas stovetop, stirring constantly with rubber scraper.
  4. Pour chocolate into prepared pan, smoothing over with off-set spatula.
  5. Clean saucepan and spatula and melt white chocolate, stirring constantly until just melted. This part can be tricky. Let white chocolate cool for 3-4 minutes. Gently pour thick strips of white chocolate atop the dark, GENTLY smoothing with offset spatula to completely cover dark chocolate layer. Try to work the chocolate as little as possible to minimize streaks of dark chocolate coming to the surface.
  6. Sprinkle smashed candy canes atop chocolate and refrigerate for 2 hours.
  7. Pull saran up from sides to dislodge. Break in to irregular pieces.

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