Peppermint Bark

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Merry Christmas Eve to all Pancakes & Biscotti readers! If you're anything like me today you are all probably quite busy cooking, cleaning, and shopping in preparation for tomorrow, so we wanted to keep the post for today short and sweet. Here is the recipe for Peppermint Bark, a ridiculously fast and easy recipe that would be great if you're looking for a last minute dessert or gift for tomorrow. The recipe comes from my sister, Alexandra, who makes this every year. It consists of two layers of chocolate, white and semi sweet or milk (depends on how sweet you want the finished product) topped with crushed peppermints. It's festive, delicious, and requires no baking, just a little melting and time in the refrigerator. 

Happy Holidays everyone! I’ll be back in he next few days with more recipes for you!

Looking for more holiday treats? Check out this post here.

PEPPERMINT BARK

Makes about 1 1/4 pounds (680 grams) bark.

Ingredients:
8 ounces (224 grams) high quality semisweet or milk chocolate, broken in to pieces
8 ounces (224 grams) high quality white chocolate, broken in to pieces
25 crushed peppermint candies

Directions:
Lightly grease a 9x9 inch pan and line with waxed paper, smoothing out the wrinkles. Set aside. Place the semisweet or milk chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water and let it melt, stirring frequently. When the chocolate is melted, pour it into the prepared pan and spread it evenly to make a layer of chocolate. Refrigerate the chocolate until it is completely hardened, about 1 hour. 

Next, melt the white chocolate using the same process as the milk or semisweet chocolate. Pour the white chocolate over the hardened chocolate already in the pan and sprinkle the peppermint candies on top. Put the pan back in the fridge and let the white chocolate harden. When you are ready to eat the bark, take it out of the refrigerator and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes to make cutting easier. Remove the wax paper from the pan and use a knife to break the bark in to pieces.