Christmas Candy – Peppermint Bark

I make this every year at Christmas. It’s not for me though. Personally, I think it’s disgusting. 🙂 However, I am in the minority. Whenever I take it somewhere, I never bring any back. It’s hard to understand people when they’re talking to you and stuffing their mouth with Peppermint Bark at the same time. I have this thing with mint flavor – I hate it. Yep, that about sums it up. Now, this candy is SO easy to make and it is a really good gift for the mailman. You can put it in your mailbox and not worry about it melting at this time of year. We always gift our mailman at Christmas. Anyway, let me show you how to make this and you’ll be shaking your head in amazement at how easy it is….and then you’ll go make a dozen batches.

This is what you need. Peppermints of some sort and white candy coating. That’s it. Recipes with a small ingredient list always intrigue me. I used candy canes because they were on sale (duh) but you could use peppermint disks instead. Also, you can use the green ones if you’re feeling particularly festive. I don’t like those either. Blech! Oh my gosh! I just thought of this – you could use red AND green ones!

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. It will make your clean up  a lot easier. I love it when someone says “easier.” I’m going on very little sleep at this point in life, so anything that is “easier” is a winner in my book. I guess that’s why I’ve been eating so much canned soup.

Now, candy coating is also called almond bark. It’s the same thing, but just named different – sorta like garbanzo beans and chickpeas. Melt the candy coating in the microwave in a glass dish. You’ll microwave it for one minute and then stir it. You’ll still have some chunks in there, so microwave it at 15 second intervals and stir after each one. The stirring helps it melt. I think mine took 1 minute and 30 seconds total.

Unwrap all your candies. Ya know, sometimes getting the plastic off a candy cane is a little frustrating……like getting a Barbie out of the box. Stick the candy in a quart sized Ziploc bag. Now, it’s a good idea to make sure you have a good, thick bag. We’re getting ready to pulverize the stuff, so you don’t want some kind of dinky store-brand bag. Yes, I buy those too…….but I buy the good ones for when I need them; with a coupon of course! Get something to beat the candy with. I like using my rolling pin, but anything you have will work. You could use a hammer if you like. Go to town beating that stuff! It’s a great way to get rid of some frustration that you might have due to lack of sleep over the past month.

It should look like this when you’re done. You want the pieces pretty small. Don’t crush them until it looks like powder – unless you have a lot of frustration to get out, and then by all means attack that candy.

Grab a mesh strainer. A strainer with big holes won’t work because all your candy will fall through the holes. Pour the crushed candy into it and shake it around over the top of your melted candy. This lets all the small, dusty pieces fall through and into the candy. It might take a few minutes of shaking, but just shake until only the bigger pieces are left.

Now, stir it around. See how pretty and speckled? It really does add a uniqueness to it. I’ve seen some Peppermint Barks that don’t have this speckled feature – this really adds a nice touch. I like adding special touches to everything – I can’t stand something plain.

Pour the melted coating out onto your wax paper lined sheet. Spread it around until it’s even. It doesn’t have to be smooth on top. Texture gives it a prettier look. Now, when you’re done you can lick the spreader – unless you’re like me and then you can just put it in the sink. Ew.

Take the big pieces that were left in the strainer and sprinkle them over the top. I love to sprinkle things. Can y’all tell I have a lot of fun in the kitchen?

Take your hand and press the candy lightly into the candy coating. Don’t press too hard or it will just sink down in there. You just want to make sure that it’s going to stick as it sets up. If you get some on your hand, you can lick it off. Unless you’re like me; then you wash it off. Ew.

It just needs to set at room temperature until it firms up. Mine took about 1 hour. You don’t have to put it in the fridge unless you’re in a super big hurry. When it’s firm, break it into pieces. You can store it in Ziploc bags or in an airtight container. It can be kept at room temperature. Look what a pretty presentation that it makes! I might not like eating it, but I like looking at it. It’s so festive!

I also made some using chocolate candy coating. Think mint chocolate chip ice cream. You can’t see the pretty speckles in this version, but it’s still nice and festive. I like the white the best.

There ya go! Easy as pie…..except it’s candy.