Easy 2- Ingredient Chocolate Peppermint Bark is perfect for a holiday sweet treat, even better packaged with a bow for sweet homemade gifts!
How Fun Is Chocolate Peppermint Bark!
There’s something delightfully childlike about making homemade chocolate peppermint bark.
Maybe it’s the way the crushed candy canes scatter across the kitchen counter like confetti. Maybe it’s the intoxicating swirl of dark chocolate and ribbons of red and white looping together like scarves tossed in winter wind.
Or maybe it’s simply that peppermint bark invites you to play, no precision piping, no fussy techniques, just melt, swirl, sprinkle, and break into whatever shapes feel right in the moment.
Peppermint For The Holiday Season
I love making a batch of chocolate peppermint bark in those quiet December pockets when the world feels a bit softer, late in the evening when the tree lights are glowing, or early on a weekend morning before the house wakes.
The process is simple, soothing, and over far too quickly. And when it sets and you crack it into jagged, glossy shards, it feels like you’ve made something magical with very little effort.
On a holiday table, peppermint bark is pure joy. Piled high on a platter, it catches the light with its red-and-white shimmer, inviting people to reach in again and again.
It bridges generations too, grandparents smile remembering the candy canes of their childhood, kids reach for the biggest piece they can find, and the rest of us just enjoy the cold snap of peppermint against smooth, rich chocolate.
Who Doesn’t Love Chocolate Presents
Maybe the most charming thing about peppermint bark is how easily it becomes a gift.
A pretty tin, a small box lined with parchment, even a clear cellophane bag tied with twine or ribbon, all of them instantly transform those chocolate shards into something thoughtful and handmade.
I love tucking a little bundle into a neighbor’s mailbox, handing one to a friend after coffee, or sending guests home from a holiday dinner with a packet “for later” (even though everyone knows it will be gone by the time they reach the car).
It’s festive. It’s nostalgic. It’s fun. And it’s one of those rare holiday treats that manages to feel both elegant and wonderfully imperfect, proof that the simplest traditions are often the ones that make the season shine.
Easy 2-Ingredient Chocolate Candy Bark
Who loves an easy 2-ingredient chocolate sweet treat that looks ‘all dressed up’?
You know who you are; the holidays arrive, we think we have plenty of time for great recipes, and suddenly ‘it’s here’!
Focus moves to dinner menus and my long awaited holiday chocolate peppermint bark is lurking in the wings of a short span of time.
Easy candy recipes are what I’m after, with Christmas only a few days away, and by golly, I’ve got one for us folks that love peppermint and chocolate together!
The best news is, only 2-ingredients and 5-minutes to melt, smash, mix and spread!
Why Does Chocolate And Mint Taste So Good Together?
It is said that these two flavors sit on the opposite end of the flavor spectrum. Chocolate is rich and fatty in flavor while mint is lighter and more bright on the tongue.
If it’s because opposites attract then I’m all in. In fact my real Hot Chocolate Peppermint Vodka Cocktail is totally in sync with this flavor concept.
Last Year’s Peppermint Candy Canes Repurposed Into Bark
Can you believe I found an unopened box of ‘organic’ (lol), peppermint candy canes in my pantry from last Christmas?
I don’t know about you but I love mint; peppermint, anything mint and for sure I love mint and chocolate!
I found an unopened box of candy canes tucked beyond visible reach, in my pantry this December, and knew exactly what I wanted; Chocolate Peppermint Bark!
Easy Gift Giving With Chocolate
When the holidays roll around, I always ask myself ‘why I didn’t start stashing away gifts earlier in the year’.
Since I published an all time favorite cookbook for just muffins every way imaginable, My Muffin Madness, I’ve discovered easier ways of gift giving.
Simply print out a favorite recipe, or tuck my cookbook into a gift bag, pile in a few of the ingredients, or a special gadget or pan, and gift giving just got easy and Fun!
This easy 2-ingredient chocolate peppermint bark is a perfect gift to give already made (by you), or tuck a large bar of chocolate, peppermint sticks and a silicone sheet into the gift bag!
Chocolate And Peppermint – Totally Trending
Why is peppermint and chocolate a totally trending flavor? Sorry folks, but it’s not new (even though trending).
Chocolate is made from a rather bitter bean, that has been roasted and not sweet at all!
In order to smooth out, mellow the flavors of the bitter roasted cacao bean, it needs lots of help. Way more help than its cousin, the coffee bean.
Chocolate is made from the roasted bean, and then mellowed with sugar and lots of fats.
Peppermint is refreshing, clean and plant-like, in its flavor, therefore pairs well with the earthy, sometimes bitter flavor of chocolate.
Easy Peppermint Bark
Come on friends, we all love to eat the candy of the holidays, those indulgences we don’t eat all year long, am I right?
Easy holiday bark is exactly that; easy! Melt a pot of chocolate, white or cacao, toss whatever your hearts desire is into the melt; nuts, dried fruit or last year’s candy canes.
Pour it out onto a pan to cool, and in minutes you’ve got a totally new candy that YOU made!
2-Ingredient Chocolate Peppermint Bark
Do you know how fast this bark is to make? Less than 30-minutes!
I don’t know about you, but since I waited until the week before Christmas to make the candy I wait all year for, I’m crazy busy with other recipes.
Absolutely, I was not going to finish out this week without the chocolate peppermint craving I wait all year to satisfy!
2-ingredients, a hammer, a melting pot, a fridge and I’ve got my favorite holiday treat, though truth be known… I’m not sharing my stash with the family!
How To Make Easy Chocolate Peppermint Bark
First you need to get ahold of some peppermint candy canes; of which you might have from last holiday season. If not, buy some!
Smash the heck out of these canes. Melt some dark chocolate. Add the smashed candy canes to the melted chocolate, and you’re almost done!
Pour that scrumptious, dark and candy-cane-speckled lava onto a flat pan, chill, break apart, and you’ve got the holiday flavors you crave; in 30-minutes!
Equipment Needed
- Plastic Baggie – A simple zip-top bag becomes your candy cane crusher, just tuck the canes inside, seal it up, and give it a few satisfying whacks. It contains the mess and turns the candy into perfect little peppermint jewels.
- Mallet or Rolling Pin – This is where the fun happens. A light tap or a hearty smash, your choice, breaks the candy canes into those festive red-and-white flecks. It’s oddly therapeutic, too.
- Pan for Melting Chocolate or a Microwave-Safe Dish – Whether you prefer the gentle control of a stovetop double-boiler or the convenience of the microwave, you just need a simple vessel to melt your dark chocolate into a smooth, glossy pour.
- Stovetop or Microwave – Either heat source works beautifully. The stovetop gives you a more hands-on experience; the microwave offers a quick, fuss-free melt. Use whatever fits your mood, or the moment.
- Parchment Paper or Silicone Sheet – These create the perfect non stick surface for your bark to cool and set. They also peel away easily once the chocolate hardens, leaving that shiny, beautiful underside.
- Sheet Pan – Your bark’s landing pad. Once lined, this is where the melted chocolate gets poured, spread, sprinkled, and set. It’s the stage for all that holiday magic.
- Spatula – A simple spatula helps you coax and nudge the chocolate into an even layer, thick, thin, or somewhere in between. It’s the final tool before the candy cane confetti takes over.
Ingredients Needed
Together, these two ingredients create something that tastes like the holidays distilled into a bite: deep, smooth chocolate softened by the cheerful snap of peppermint. Simple, festive, and irresistibly good.
- Dark chocolate – When a recipe calls for only two ingredients, each one has to shine, and dark chocolate does so effortlessly. It melts into a glossy, velvety pool, bringing depth and richness without overwhelming sweetness. Use a good-quality bar or chips with a cocoa percentage you enjoy, 70% is bold and beautiful, while 60% brings a slightly softer edge. As it sets, the chocolate forms that signature bark-like snap, making every bite feel indulgent. It’s the kind of ingredient that does all the heavy lifting while looking like you’ve done something far more elaborate.
- Candy canes – Then comes the fun part: candy canes. Crushed into sparkling red-and-white flecks, they bring both whimsy and contrast. They’re crisp, refreshing, and wonderfully nostalgic. A quick rolling-pin smash is all it takes to turn them into glittery peppermint jewels that scatter across the chocolate surface. They add just enough cool, minty brightness to balance the richness of the dark chocolate, no extracts needed. And because each piece breaks differently, every shard gets its own unique constellation of candy cane sparkle.
Easy 2-Ingredient Chocolate Peppermint Bark
Equipment
- baking sheet with parchment paper
- mallet or rolling pin to crush candy canes
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 10 Peppermint candy canes
- 8 oz Dark chocolate bar
Instructions
- Place the hard candy canes inside of a baggie, and with a mallet or rolling pin, smash the candy canes, leaving some of them chunky for the topping.
- In a microwave bowl, melt the chocolate in 30-second intervals, stopping to stir until melted, about 90-seconds total, or melt on top of the stove.
- Pour the smashed candy canes (reserving 2 tablespoons for the top), into the melted chocolate, stir, and pour onto a parchment paper (or silicone), lined baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining chunks of candy cane on top.
- Chill in the fridge for 20-minutes, break into bark and store in the fridge until ready to serve.
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I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.