Peppermint Candy Cane Chocolate Bark Recipe

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Peppermint, to me, is such a festive flavour thanks to candy canes! Crushed and sprinkled on melted chocolate, this Peppermint Candy Cane Chocolate Bark Recipe is so moreish! Honestly, I ate half of it 3 seconds after taking pictures. In my recipe, I chose to mix both dark and milk chocolate. I love dark chocolate but I wanted to lighten it up just slightly but I didn’t want full milk either. This recipe results in a shiny, smooth chocolate that has a great snap that melts in your mouth and has a beautiful added crunch with the candy canes and sprinkles.

Do I need to temper my chocolate for chocolate bark? And if so, how?

It’s not totally necessary to temper your chocolate, but without this step the likelihood of the chocolate not coming out right increases. Without proper tempering, your chocolate can melt at room temperature, discolour (called blooming) or not be shiny or have that lovely snap. If you’re really worried about it, you can buy bakers chocolate or compound chocolate (candy melts) as it is referred to sometimes. These chocolates are already tempered and ready to go however there is a slight taste difference.

For this Peppermint Candy Cane Chocolate bark, I chose the easy way of tempering chocolate using a microwave. This method is called seeding. You start off by chopping the chocolate finely if working with chocolate bars, if you’re working with chocolate drops this step isn’t necessary. Next you add 2/3 of your chocolate to a microwave safe bowl and set on medium for 1 minute. Remove the chocolate from the microwave and stir. Return your chocolate to the microwave in 10 second bursts stirring in between until fully melted. When your chocolate is fully melted, add in the remaining chocolate and peppermint essence and continuously stir until all the chocolate is melted. If you have a thermometer handy, you’re looking for a temperature of 29-32°c (84-90f).

Once your chocolate is tempered, pour onto a lined flat baking tray. Using an offset spatula, spread out the chocolate evenly. Scatter crushed peppermint candy canes and sprinkles all over. I used these sprinkles by Dr. Oetker. Allow the bark to set for at least 30 minutes at room temperature before cutting. For more Christmas uses for crushed candy canes and sprinkles check out my post here on how to decorate Christmas Biscuits.