Peppermint Mocha Almond Bark

I'm on a homemade bark kick after the success of making peppermint bark for the Trinity Christmas Cookie Boxes.

Homemade bark looks so pretty and makes a nice holiday gift. It's also quick to make and fun to experiment with different toppings.

So here's my latest creation — Peppermint Mocha Almond Bark. It's a dark chocolate base flecked with crushed candy canes and topped with more candy cane pieces, crushed espresso beans and slivered almonds.

Making it literally took less than 30 minutes and then you just need to wait for the bark to cool and set up before you can break it into pieces. 

Here's the recipe:

Peppermint Mocha Almond Bark

1 pound dark chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup crushed candy cane
1/4 cup espresso beans, crushed
1/3 cup slivered almonds

The easiest way to crush the candy canes and espresso beans is to put each of them into a zip lock bag and crush them by hitting them with a rolling pin or mallet. Don't break up the candy canes too much or you will end up with powder instead little pieces.

After you have crushed the candy canes, put 1/2 cup of it into a small bowl and reserve the remaining 1/4 cup for sprinkling on top of the bark.

Line a sheetpan with good quality parchment paper.

Put all of the chocolate except for two ounces into a double boiler and melt slowly over medium low heat, stirring until the chocolate is melted. Remove the chocolate from the heat and immediately stir in the remaining two ounces. Keep stirring until all the chocolate is melted.

Stir in the 1/2 cup of crushed candy cane.

Pour the chocolate candy cane mixture onto the prepared sheetpan and spread it to 1/4 inch thickness.

Evenly sprinkle on the crushed espresso beans, slivered almonds and remaining 1/4 cup of crushed candy cane.

The bark needs to cool completely before you can break it into pieces. Packaged, it makes a great homemade holiday gift for family and friends.

Let the bark cool until it is completely set up and can be broken into pieces. This takes about 2 hours.