Hey Garrett,
What would you classify as "quality chocolate"? I never know, when I read that on recipes, what they might consider as quality chocolate...just wondering, because I don't know if what I use would be quality or not. I usually use Guittard chocolate...
Thanks,
Corynne

P.S. Thanks for the recipe, I'm excited to try it out. Great gift idea!

Guittard, Valrhona, Callebaut, and Scharffen Berger are fine examples of quality chocolate (Nestle will work great if it's all you have). Plus most offer various cacao percentages so you can make the flavor as dark and bitter as you prefer it. ~Garrett

Always a fave. I don't know about anyone else, but it's been my experience that white chocolate (yes, even the good stuff) can be a pain to work with. It doesn't melt completely or well enough, seizes up easily, etc. Sometimes a little shortening melted along with it helps, or using white almond bark (no worries - there's no almonds in it) from a craft or candy store to sub for the white chocolate will work.

My druthers calls for using a nice dark chocolate (60 - 70%) to make this, however.

Will ya look at that...
I used the word "druthers" in a sentence. Excellent! :)

Where can you find high quality chocolate chips? What stores?

Most grocery stores carry them in the baking aisle. ~Garrett

Quality chocolate - that's easy to identify and find. Do you have suggestions for quality candy canes? Every year, I can only find one or two brands and they are pretty dreadful. Mrs. See's used to have good candy canes, but I don't think they sell them in boxes anymore.

I have a question -- when I buy the chocolate in the store, it is not refrigerated, nor are the candy canes. What is it about melting it, then adding extract & candy that makes it need to be refrigerated afterwards? The reason being that I plan on making cookie trays/boxes as gifts with at least 6 or 7 different types of cookies/candy in them, including this, and want to avoid things that need to be refrigerated for storage reasons, since it will be nearly impossible for me to make everything all at once.

It's more for just temperature control. Candy canes and chocolate can get a bit melty if it gets warm. Generally, try to keep at or below room temperature.

I made this yesterday, and it came out great. Has anyone ever tried making this with milk chocolate? I wonder if it would be too sweet...please give me your opinions.

Garrett, I made these last night and they turned out perfect. Thank you so much for the recipe and responding to everyones comments. I usually buy bark every year for 8-10 dollars which gets me the same amount that 2.50 worth of ingredients did this time. I'll be making this and giving it out as presents for sure.

I'm not sure where to find high-quality or corn-syrup free candycanes. The ones I used were the generic drug store brand. You can probably find a higher quality at high end food stores or candy shops, but you don't need too.

If you are in an area where they don't sell chocolate chips use whatever form of chocolate you know can be used for candy making. ~Garrett

To the question about peppermint extract, check your local Walmart, or large grocery store chain. I can tell you now, at Walmart, where they sell the holiday baking items, like the tins, baking dishes, sugars, ect, it should be in there, or with the other extracts. I mostly do my shopping at Schnucks, so will be looking there. (However, I'm sure Walmart will have a better price!!)

Hi, Can you tell me what is the equvalient in your recipe if you use 1 cup of butter (i.e. what is the weigh in kilogrammes? What is the conversion for 350oF to celsius?

Thanks

Hi Celia - please see the conversion tool in the left sidebar of this website. ~Elise

I made this this weekend and made the mistake of turning off the burner before I was ready to spread in the pan. I used a double boiler and was still (over) concerned about burning the white chocolate, and I turned down the heat before adding the extract and getting help with pouring. The chocolate immediately started to harden, and wouldn't spread. I made it anyway, but it's super lumpy, and not really "bark." Still good, but I'll probably have to take a rolling pin to the finished product before it's ready for consumption...

Thanks for the recipe! Can't wait to re-try it. I like the idea of layering white and dark chocolate.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe. I had never tasted peppermint bark before making this. It was wonderfully easy and so delicious.

Thank you!

Peppermint extract can be found at Hobby Lobby in the candy making section.

How many servings will this recipe make? I am thinking of serving it at my cocktail party, and was wondering if I should make one or two batches. Thanks much!
I guess, depending how much people want to eat, between 4-6. Maybe even 8 if they only have a small piece or two. ~Garrett

After years of giving my sister chocolate for her birthday and never receiving a comment, I received accolades this year when I sent her a few pieces of this Peppermint bark. My children (ages 13, 7, 4, 1) all had jobs (like opening the candy canes and beating them with in a bag with a rolling pin). I was short on extract so I added 3 drops of peppermint essential oil along with a 1/2 teaspoon of extract. I used the Ghiradelli 70% bittersweet oversized chips to melt for the chocolate with success.

Thanks for this great recipe! I made it easily on my college student budget in my tiny apartment kitchen, which is rare for candy. Definitely will use this again in future.

For any other budget/space/equipment limited people - I used bulk chocolate chips and Starlight mints (candy canes aren't exactly in season this time of year).

How can I ship this? Does it have to be stored in the fridge?

SInce this chocolate isn't tempered, a process that allows chocolate to keep it's stability, it may not ship well so I wouldn't suggest it. As for the fridge, not per se' but it will last longer.

I made 700 peppermint bark cookies last year, so I had plenty of time to perfect the peppermint bark recipe. Follow these tips and your peppermint bark will be far superior to anything you can find in a store.

The expensive chocolate (I used Ghiradelli) did not produce a good bark texture, and crumbled badly. However I also tried melting the Ghiradelli in a saucepan, which may have been the real problem. SO:

1) Buy chocolate chips, not chunks (much faster and more even melting). Nestle, the cheapest stuff I could find, worked perfectly but I suppose the taste would be better with a less-sweet chocolate. Soft peppermint is available in the checkout lanes of Walmart stores. I did not even bother trying the corn syrup variety because it would melt in baking, the texture is inferior, it's sticky, etc.

2) Melt your chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave on medium or low heat depending on the strength of your microwave. Stop melting as soon as the chocolate starts to look soft (don't wait for it to get entirely melted into a pool). The test of whether it is melted is whether it yields entirely to touch.

3) Add room-temperature peppermint extract and stir in well with rubber spatula. If your ratios are good and you used Nestle this SHOULD NOT ruin your texture.

4) Spread over large cookie sheets lined with freezer paper (this worked great and did not stick at all). Spread thinner if you plan to do a double layer. Add crushed soft peppermint in variety of sizes to produce varied texture. Freeze completely.

5) Remove from freezer and if desired add a second layer of chocolate over the first layer (I used chocolate and vanilla). This will produce a much thicker and robust bark than the single-layer variety.

Good luck breaking up the bark; this is really difficult when the bark is thick. When frozen it is hard as rock, and when not frozen it melts all over your hands. I used new rubber kitchen gloves and kept having to run cold water over the gloves and dry them to keep them from getting all messy.

Save the dust created from your crushed peppermint to sprinkle on top of the bark, or cookies, or whatever.

Just put some wax paper over the top if the bark and break it that way. Much easier. Great extra tips! ~Garrett

I have been making other bark and homemade chocolates for Christmas this year and am looking forward to trying this one out later today.

When I was researching how to make my homemade chocolates they mentioned if adding food coloring drops (which have water content) that it is really important to add it one drop at a time and mix well before adding more to prevent the chocolate from seizing up. I followed their advice and had no issues. I assume this same method would apply to those having problems with their chocolate seizing up when adding their extract. I don't have peppermint extract so am going to try it with a little peppermint shnapps instead. Fingers crossed. :)

I made a similar recipe last year, but layered dark chocolate- let it harden in freezer, then put a layer of white chocolate on top. When I went to break it up, the layers separated- any idea why? It still tasted great though (just didn't make a pretty gift).

Chocolate is finicky. It doesn't really adhere to other forms of chocolate all that well unless you temper it. ~Garrett

Hi, these look wonderful, but for those of us cooking abroad, who do not have access to candy canes - or at any rate, only candy canes of various sizes - approximately how much would 5 regular-sized candycanes weigh?

Thanks so much!

Karen (baking in denmark)

About 16 grams. ~Garrett

Hi I was wondering if I make a few weeks ahead of time but keep refridgerated will that help the chocolate from looking dull since tempering is not called for in this receipe. Thank you.

This is best made the day of or night before. ~Garrett