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Peppermint Bark – Favorite Holiday Recipes

Peppermint Bark is the perfect holiday gift. It’s super easy to make and looks very impressive and holiday-ish for gift giving and eating yourself! Kids will love to help sprinkle the peppermint pieces on top! These recipes will rival the expensive little bags you get at Williams Sonoma! Try them both and give little mini celephane bags of each tied with red and green ribbons as gifts. Or mix the two different kinds of chocolate bark in one bag.

The two Peppermint Bark recipes below use Sephra Chocolate Melts. It can be melted right in the bag, needs no tempering and is just delicious! Use different varieties of the Sephra Melts. Make all dark peppermint bark – or combine it with the white chocolate melts. Try a little drizzle of the milk chocolate melts on top. Any chocolate bark option you can think up will be fun and delicious! We promise!

If you plan to make a lot of the chocolate bark for holiday gift giving you might want to try the Sephra Chocolate Melts Variety Pack. You can use this chocolate for so many candy making recipes, as well as fondue recipes! It will not go to waste! For more great Christmas recipes and holiday recipes of all kinds, visit our Recipes section.

White Chocolate Peppermint Bark

1. One two pound bag white Sephra Melts
2. ¼ teaspoon oil-based peppermint extract
3. 1 cup Starlight Mints (red and white striped peppermint candy)
4. Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil and spray very lightly with pan spray. A silpat on a rimmed cookie sheet works well too. Set aside.

Unwrap the peppermints if they are individually wrapped. Chop the candies in a food processor until the pieces are the size of small peas. The candies can also be crushed in a plastic freezer bag; expel the air and hit with a kitchen mallet or hammer. Set the peppermint bits aside.

Following the directions on the bag, melt the Sephra Melts right in its own bag in the microwave. Working quickly, transfer the melted product to a bowl and stir in the peppermint extract and 2/3 C of the crushed peppermint candy. Spread the mixture onto the prepared sheet pan with a rubber spatula to a thickness of a bit less than ¼”. While the mixture is liquid, sprinkle the remaining crushed peppermint candy on top. Let sit for about an hour and peel away the parchment and break the bark into chunks. No need to refrigeratorate. This stores fine at room temp until ready to serve or package for gifts.

Layered Peppermint Bark

This comination of dark chocolate melts and white chocolate melts with the peppermint is spectacular – which is your favorite?

1. One two pound bag dark chocolate Sephra Melts
2. One two pound bag white Sephra Melts
3. ¼ teaspoon (or to taste) oil-based peppermint extract
4. 2 cups Starlight Mints (red and white striped peppermints)

Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil and spray very lightly with pan spray. A silpat on a rimmed cookie sheet works well too. Set aside.

Unwrap the mints if they are individually wrapped. Coarsely chop the mints in a food processor until the bits are the size of small peas. The candies can also be crushed by putting them in a plastic freezer bag, expelling the air, and hitting the candies with a kitchen mallet or hammer. Set the peppermint bits aside.

Follow the package directions to melt the dark chocolate Sephra melts right in the bag in the microwave. Working quickly, transfer the melted product to a bowl and mix in the peppermint extract. Immediately pour the melted chocolate onto the prepared pan and spread with a rubber scraper to less than ¼” depth. You can let sit at room temp for about an hour or place the whole pan in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until solid.

Take the pan out of the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature while you make the topping. Follow the package directions to melt the white choclate melts in the microwave. Working quickly, transfer the melted product to a bowl and stir in one cup of the peppermint candy bits. Quickly spread the mixture over the hardened dark chocolate. While the white chocolate is still liquid, sprinkle some of the remaining crushed peppermint candies over the white chocolate, to taste. Let sit at room temp til hardened – about 45 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes until completely solid. Remove from parchment and break into chunks. This stores well at room temperature until ready to serve or package for gift giving.

*** Important to note: Make sure you spread the chocolate thin enough to make it breakable and more flavorful. If the bark is too thick, its not only hard to break, but not nearly as yummy as if its thin. I would say keep it to less that a 1/4″; maybe about 3/16″.