peppermint bark

mr phipps loves, with a capital L, peppermint bark. he mentioned it a few days ago when we were browsing william-sonoma. i decided to try it from scratch as a surprise for him. it passed his taste test & even got a "perfect, better than william-sonoma"
i figured i'd share in case anyone out there is curious since christmas is obviously the perfect time for said treat. the original recipe can be found here
i altered it a bit at home because melting chocolate via stovetop has never been my specialty & quite frankly white chocolate can be quite testy over the stove anyway. however, if you are a purist & want to use the stove i salute you. if you are going to microwave it, don't use the oil. you'll need a glass bowl heating at medium power in 30 second intervals, stirring in between. slower is always better when melting chocolate & you'll get yummy, perfectly melted every time. i also used a dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet because i feel it compliments the white chocolate & peppermint better, but that's a personal opinion.

note: the recipe calls for high-quality chocolate. honestly it really is better because lower quality chocolate can cause the layers to separate while you are breaking/cutting it to serve.

ingredients:
8oz high-quality [dark, semi-sweet, or milk] chocolate, broken into pieces
8oz high-quality white chocolate, broken into pieces
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided
8 candy canes, crushed
wax paper
9x9" pan

instructions:
1. lightly grease 9x9" pan & line with wax paper, smooth out wrinkles; set aside
2. place [dark, semi-sweet, or milk] chocolate in glass bowl & microwave at medium power for intervals of 30 seconds, stirring in between, until melted. when melted, stir in 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract. pour chocolate into the prepared pan, & spread evenly over bottom of the pan. sprinkle half of the crushed candy canes over the chocolate layer. refrigerate until completely hardened, roughly 1 hour.
3. place white chocolate in glass bowl & microwave at medium power for intervals of 30 seconds, stirring in between, until melted. when melted, stir in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract. pour the white chocolate directly over the chocolate later; spread evenly. sprinkle the remaining crushed candy over the top and gently press in. refrigerate until completely hardened. removed from pan; break [or cut] into small pieces.

here are a few pictures from the process:



enjoy all the treats this holiday brings!