I always think it’s fun to page through mail order catalogs at Christmas time to see all the gift ideas on their pages. One item that I often see is gift tins of peppermint bark – and they always looks so good !!
The good news is you don’t have to pay the high prices in the catalogs. It’s really simple to make your own homemade peppermint bark, and it tastes great too. I made a few changes to a recipe I found in a library book and came up with this easy version that goes together super quick. It’s a great last minute homemade food gift you can make that looks cute in little bags to give as gifts, or it makes a perfect tasty treat to bring for sharing at holiday gatherings.
To make this peppermint bark you’ll need a couple bags of white baking chips, some peppermint extract, and a package of candy canes. I know when my kids were small it seemed like we always ended up with extra candy canes around the house at Christmas and this recipe can be an easy way to use them up.
The first step is to get those candy canes all broken up into smaller bits. In fact you might spend the most time on this recipe unwrapping all your candy canes! Once they’re all unwrapped, you’ll break each candy cane into a few pieces, then place them all in your food processor and pulse them into some nice little minty bits to stir into your bark.
Then it’s just a matter of melting the bags of white chips, adding some peppermint extract for an extra boost of flavor, and stirring in your candy cane bits. The mixture can then be spread out on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper to harden. Once it’s completely hardened, it can be cracked or cut into pieces.
I love that this is a holiday treat that looks very fancy and festive, but can be made with just a few ordinary ingredients. What a great way to put those dollar store candy canes to good use!
(AND – this recipe is easy to adapt to this Dark Chocolate Bark version too!)
Homemade Peppermint Bark
Ingredients:
- 2 Bags White Baking Chips (12 oz)
- 12 Regular Size Candy Canes
- 1/2 tsp Peppermint Extract
Instructions:
- Line an 11×17 rimmed baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Unwrap all the candy canes and break each one into a few pieces. Place the pieces in the food processor and pulse a few times to chop them into smaller bite-sized pieces.
- Pour the two bags of white baking chips into a large microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute, stir, then heat for 1 minute more. The chips should now be melty enough to stir into a smooth consistency.
- Add the 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract and the candy cane pieces to the melted white chocolate. Stir well to combine.
- Pour the mixture onto the parchment paper lined pan and spread it out evenly. Then place in the refrigerator for about an hour so the mixture can harden up.
- Once the mixture is hardened, lift it off the parchment paper and cut or crack it into pieces.
I have also utilized white baking bark, which a lot of the time is cheaper than the chips! Great recipe 😉
I have a question. What are white baking chips? Are they white chocolate chips? Or is it something else?
Elizabeth – The store brand of white chips that I often buy are actually called “vanilla flavored” which is why I didn’t want to call them “white chocolate chips” in the recipe. The white chips are sold in the same type of bag and in the same area as the chocolate chips, but they are not usually labeled as white chocolate.
However, there are some bags of chips out there (such as the Ghiradelli brand) that are in fact labeled as white chocolate and I think you could use them in the recipe and still have a tasty final product.
Hope that helps (and that I just didn’t make things more confusing!)
No, you didn’t confuse the issue. Thanks so much! I want to try my hand at this, but wanted to be clear so that I didn’t mess it up. I love this site, by the way!
Thanks again, and please, keep up the great work here!