Easy Snowflake Peppermint Bark

Last week I posted a dipped chocolate recipe/edible craft – my Chocolate Cherry Christmas Mice.  Anytime I dip things in chocolate, I usually end up with leftover melted chocolate – and today I’m going to tell you what you do not to waste it: you make bark!

And not just any bark – by spooning your leftovers into ice cube or candy molds (my trays are silicone ice cube trays I picked up last year) you have an impressive-looking treat for very little effort.  In fact, if you’re like me and make up the bark with your leftovers, it’s virtually no work at all!

All I do is spoon the extra chocolate into my trays.  You don’t need much – really just enough to cover the bottom.  I add maybe 1/4″ – 1/2″ of chocolate into each cavity.

Bang them flat on the counter to get the chocolate to settle as best it can.  You’ll probably still get a few bubbles but it will help you get a clearer design, if you’re using patterned trays like I am.

Then, I crushed up 2 candy canes (there’s really no rule for how much candy cane in relation to how much chocolate… it’s kind of whatever you want.  Because I was using leftovers, I can’t even say for sure how much chocolate I used – maybe 3 or 4 oz for not quite 2 trays of bites?)  I like lots of peppermint, though – just use however much you like! :)

Sprinkle the candy cane on top of your chocolate mixture.  It’s true, you can mix it in instead and THEN spoon your mixture in, I just love the effect of having it set on top.  I did the same thing when I made my Star-Shaped Party Bark.

Now, let it set.  You can speed this process up by setting your trays in the frig for 20-30 minutes, but they will set just fine on the counter in an hour or 90 minutes – it just depends on whether you are in a hurry.

Then, all you have to do is pop them out of their trays for a fun and festive bite-sized treat.  They make a great addition to cookie plates with no baking required!