Double Chocolate Peppermint Bark

It's holiday time! This dark, cold time of the year that is warmed by the (hopefully!) warm fuzzies of the holiday spirit. Thanksgiving kicks us off with a good helping of Family, and then we roll on through December, gaining the momentum of the holiday season.

As I pile my holiday cards on the table for stamping, I check through my list to make sure I have everyone from all parts of my family. I have two moms and two dads, lots of aunts and uncles and cousins -- steps, halves, wholes, and other fractions and derivatives.  In many ways, the biggest ways, I am so fortunate to have multiple families. In some ways it is a dance to navigate. There are a lot of wonderful people, a lot of different relationships, a lot of history. It's all still unfolding as I continue to 'grow up' and start another part of the sprawling family with Bill.

Getting married brings a lot up, too -- for me and for all those in my family. It's crazy that you can buy 1,000 books about how to pick the right wedding dress, shoes and flowers, but barely a one that discusses the complexities of bringing your family and friends together for the first time ever in this rite of passage that is a wedding.

Luckily the holiday season is a great distraction from planning a wedding. And it's a good thing there are also 1,000 books about homemade Christmas crafts, cookies and candies. This recipe is easier than cookies, keeps well and is super tasty.

Last year I made it with white chocolate only and that was great, too. I think if I make it again, I'll make it with the white chocolate and then drip the dark chocolate over in ribbons, rather than coat the entire thing -- just to make it look different. This way is addictively delicious.

Double Chocolate Peppermint Bark

Ingredients

22 ounces good quality white chocolate

10 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate 

6 candy canes or peppermint candies, crushed (I pound mine with a small hammer inside a Ziplock bag)

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Directions

1. Line a standard-sized cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler, stirring frequently and watching the whole time.

3. Stir in the crushed candy canes or peppermint candies and peppermint extract.

4. Spread the white chocolate mixture evenly out onto the cookie sheet. 

5. Melt the semi-sweet or dark chocolate in the same double boiler (no need to wash if you have scraped out the white chocolate mixture well). 

6. Pour the semi-sweet or dark chocolate on top of the white chocolate and spread evenly. 

7. Let cool for an hour or more at room temperature, or a half hour in the fridge before breaking into pieces. 

Enjoy and share!

This makes great gifts, packaged in small tins or baggies. It will keep well for a couple weeks (maybe even more -- I'm not sure because it's never around that long!