Peppermint Bark…the secret ingredient

Christmas time brings amazing treats for everyone to indulge in and peppermint bark is one of those desserts that I am more inclined to crave. I can’t get enough! The first time I ever had a Ghirardelli peppermint square I was instantly obsessed, it quickly become a goal of mine to figure out how to make the same peppermint bark, but at home and at a lesser cost because let me tell you I was going through so many packages! After many attempts and experimentation I finally figured out how to make the best peppermint bark ever! The secret ingredient….peppermint oil in the milk chocolate!!! Okay so let me tell you how to make perfect peppermint bark and it will be the perfect gift for those who crave sweets.

First things first you must have the ingredients:

• Ghirardelli milk chocolate
• Ghirardelli white chocolate
• Candy canes
• Peppermint oil

Note: use only 100% pure essential oils, I use Young Living and highly recommend being extremely careful using other oils. If you do not have essential oils you can get peppermint oil in the baking area, it isn’t as strong, so you will have to use more that I call for the recipe.

To get started you need to gather all your ingredients and use a double broiler to melt the milk chocolate, very slowly! Do not melt the chocolate directly under the flame. Make sure to stir continuously so nothing burns. Also, do not let the water boil, if it does boil turn the heat down immediately.

Next you need to start unwrapping all the candy canes and yes this is extremely annoying! After unwrapping all the candy canes place them inside a big baggie and start smashing them into the tiniest of pieces. This will be time consuming and takes patience. I usually use a rolling pin.

After the milk chocolate melts add 5-8 drops of peppermint oil into the melted chocolate and stir. Then, immediately pour onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper and spread out evenly and then get started melting the white chocolate.

 

Melt the white chocolate very slowly using a double broiler and low heat. After all the white chocolate add in the peppermint pieces using a mesh strainer to only allow the tiny pieces to make it into the chocolate. The pieces should be very fine. Use your hands to move around the peppermint pieces to allow more fine particles to pass.

After placing the peppermint pieces into the white chocolate, stir immediately and place on top of the milk chocolate and very carefully spread on top of the milk chocolate. After spreading evenly, add a few bigger peppermint pieces on top of the chocolate and place the trays in the refrigerator and wait about 20-30 minutes.

Finally, remove the peppermint bark from the fridge and start breaking the chocolate into pieces and enjoy!