Peppermint Bark

After Wednesday's mayhem it was all I could do to pry my eyes open yesterday morning.  After having passed out from sheer mental exhaustion the night before, I think I'd convinced myself at some point during the night that I would be waking up on Saturday morning...and that may have actually occurred if the dreaded alarm clock hadn't gone off.  

First things first - what to do after a bad day?  Consume chocolate.  Okay who am I kidding....what to do in the middle of a bad day?  Consume chocolate.  And I had tried to do that the previous evening, but Chef's cat insisted on skidding all over the parchment paper and trying to lick hot chocolate out of the double boiler-like contraption I'd assembled.  When unsuccessful she decided to 'show me'  and took off running into the living room, jumped on the sofa table, slid across and sent a huge piece of coral crashing to the hardwood floors.  It was then that I just gave up and left the house to answer the call of shrimp and carnitas tacos.  *happy place*

With thoughts of those homemade peanut butter cups (seen here) still fresh in my mind, I set out to give the bark another go (no pun intended to all the cat readers out there).  I'm beginning to think, time factor cooperating, that I may not eat over-the-counter cheap chocolate again.  This stuff was easy to make and tastes AMAZING! It's not even been a full day and I'm a quarter of a huge cookie sheet down.  Happy days are here again... 

Homemade Peppermint Bark
Ingredients
1.5   12 oz. bags milk or dark chocolate chips (I used dark)
1.5   12 oz. bags white chocolate chips
3t     vegetable oil - divided in half
0.5t   peppermint extract
enough parchment paper to cover a large cookie sheet

Method

• Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper
• Crush some candy canes. You'll need about 1/2 cup of crushed candy canes.
  
• Melt the chocolate chips and 1.5 tsp of vegetable oil in a double boiler, stirring constantly.  *I don't have a double boiler so I put my chocolate in a smallish bowl that just fit on the top of a small pot.  In the pot I had enough water to fill the bottom and maybe half an inch up the side, and had warmed the water on the lowest heat possible before placing the bowl of chocolate on top to melt.  Works like a charm!  *Do not overheat the chocolate and stir constantly until melted*
  
• Spread the melted dark or milk chocolate on the cookie sheet and allow it to cool until set - about an hour.  You want it to be tacky - not soft and not completely hardened.
  
  
  
  chocolate skating rink, anyone?
  
  
• Melt the white chocolate chips and 1.5tsp of vegetable oil over a double boiler, stirring constantly. (Follow same instructions above).
  
• Stir in 1/2 tsp. of peppermint extract when the white chocolate is melted.
  
• Spread the white chocolate over the cooled dark chocolate, completely covering the dark.
  
• Sprinkle the crushed candy canes over the white chocolate before it sets.
  
  
  
• Break the peppermint bark up into pieces after it sets.

It's great set out for nibbles on a larger tray.

Equally as marvy in a larger chunk for, say, individual breakfasts.

Or how about in these little treat bags to pass out to friends?

I'm thinking about putting them at each place setting for holiday dinners.

And with that I bid you a rest-filled, joyous weekend.  I have no humor left in me; no pithy comments or smart aleck remarks.  I'm spent.  This week was nuts and all the Thanksgiving rest I stored up in my sleep account has been depleted.  *wah* Pardon me while I zone out and go into trim-the-tree mode...anyone heard of a faux fur tree?  How about a sequined one?  What are you guys up to this weekend?  I've been up to my eyeballs, still only one Christmas gift down (help!!) and not had a moment to spare to comment on many of your blogs.  I am hoping it'll even out a bit and I'll be able to catch up next week.  Thank you so much for hanging in there with me!