DIY/ Recipe Trial: Chocolate Bark

While my fudge DIY turned out really well- all of it was gone by the end of the day at work- I know that not everyone loves fudge. I personally can eat a little bit of it, but a little bit goes a long way. I was on the hunt for something that was chocolate but not just molded chocolates. (I’ve made them before and want to branch out this year. If you are interested in making a super easy and fast treat, molded chocolates are a great starting point!) I found the idea of chocolate bark on Pinterest, and thus my new DIY was born….
What I love about chocolate bark is that it can literally have anything you want in it! If you are making a customised bark, you could tailor it perfectly to the recipient. Given that this was the first time I was attempting this, I decided to do a half and half to test it out.
Ingredients
-3 cups of chocolate chips (whatever kind of you want)
-something salty/crunchy
-something sweet
Directions
1. Melt chocolate in a double boiler on the stove. If you don’t have a double boiler, use a metal bowl over top of a stove!
2. Pour melted chocolate into pan lined with parchment.
3. Pour toppings onto melted chocolate.
4. Place in fridge or freezer for 1-3 hours.
5. Break into small pieces to give out.
What I Used
– I used a standard semi-sweet chocolate chip for melting!
-I used broken up pretzels for my salty/crunchy piece! Easy to break them up, and dont’ have allergy issues that accompany nuts.
-On one half I used crushed candy canes, for a classic minty Christmas taste. On the other half I used Smarties and M&Ms!

This was incredibly easy to make! I melt chocolate on a regular basis, so that really doesn’t take any thought. I had everything to sprinkle on the bark laid out ahead of time to make sure that I could get it done before it started to harden. I put it in the freezer for just over an hour, and it was completely hardened through and through. I would recommend trying to catch it earlier in the hardening to make it a little easier to break into smaller pieces. I wedged a knife into it, and then used said knife to drop it back down into the pan and split it. I have cute cellophane bags from the dollar store to use when I give it out!
Have you tried any DIYs for holiday gifts this year?
Until tomorrow,
The Historian!