Holiday Series: SUPER Easy Treat to Bring to Holiday Dinner's/Parties!

Although many company parties have passed, my family and a lot of others get together for Christmas Eve.  Whether it be for a more formal party or just spending quality time with one another and sharing a warm meal, I know I always feel obligated to bring something, even if I'm not asked to.  Below is something you have probably all eaten at one point or another and I know I am not the only one who has posted about this, but this was my journey so come along if you wish :)

Peppermint Bark requires NO baking and you can even do it with children, which is another thing I absolutely love.  It pleases a lot of different people because its not too overpowering and has something most (minus myself!) love, chocolate.

Here's the super simple "recipe" I used---way too easy for me to even think of this as a recipe haha:

Things you will need:

*Parchment Paper
*Small Baking Pan (or large if you're going for a larger amount)
*2 16 oz. packages of chocolate morsels--NEVER bake with chocolate you wouldn't eat alone (good quality chocolate)--it just comes out bad. For this you can mix white and milk chocolate or do all of one etc. Totally up to you! This amount makes enough for a small baking pan. Adjust accordingly
*Peppermint Candy Canes or Candies
*optional*--Cute Treat Tin

Directions:

1. Line your baking tin with parchment paper, this makes it so easy to get the chocolate out after it's done.

2. Melt your chocolate in the microwave. I did one minute, stirred it and then did one final minute and it was perfect! You want to melt them separately.

3. In the meantime, grab a food storage bag/plastic bag and put about two handfuls of the peppermint candy inside. Place this bag on top of a cutting board and begin banging away. I used my rolling pin and it worked wonders. WARNING: The bag can tear a little if you go "Incredible Hulk" on it so beware and if you feel like you want to be extra safe, double bag them :)

 

4. After the chocolate for the first layer is smoothly melted, spread it around the bottom of the pan with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.  Try to get as even a layer as possible and smooth it down really well. Place this in your refrigerator for about 20 mins or until nice and hardened. --While you are waiting for this, go ahead and melt your white chocolate morsels :)

5. Spread the white chocolate in the same exact manner, right on top of the hardened milk chocolate.  Do this quickly because the cold from the milk chocolate will make the white chocolate harden pretty quickly.  The reason we want to work quickly is because we want to sprinkle our peppermint crumbles on and have them stick and set in the mixture before it hardens! (As you can see some of the peppermint pieces are bigger than others and some just look like peppermint dust, this is because some people prefer a nice chunk of peppermint and some like just a hint--this way you please everyone!)

6. Grab your decorative holiday tin and line the bottom with tissue paper.  On top of the tissue paper (just on the bottom layer) line that with a rectangle of parchment paper.  (this makes sure you don't have tissue paper directly on your food product.)

7. When your Peppermint Bark has completely hardened in the refrigerator (about another 25 mins to be safe) remove them from the pan and cut into little rectangles or squares, whatever you want. Nicely place them in your tissue lined tin and place another piece of parchment paper over the top before folding the tissue paper over to close.

8. Tape two candy canes on top and slap a bow on and you're set to go! This makes a great gift, is SO inexpensive to make and literally can be done without ever turning on your oven, does it get any better than that? Not to mention that I am not even a chocolate lover, but this my dears is delicious! I will be making this for a holiday party I am attending this weekend, and I can't wait to see how everyone likes it!

To stress-free & yummy Holiday treats,

xox