Step by Step PEPPERMINT BARK Homemade Gifts!!

Last night after dinner and after husby headed to bed.. I got busy making the Peppermint Bark..

I found this recipe online and just knew I would love it!!

Here's what you need..

1 lb milk chocolate

2 lb of white chocolate

bottle of peppermint extract

Crushed up candy canes

Simple huh!?

The first thing I did was line

a large cookie sheet with 1 layer of aluminum foil and 2 pieces of wax paper.

I started out weighing out my milk chocolate.. I think this little Paula Dean Scale that my husby got me for Valentines day a couple years ago works great for baking!

Then I made a double boiler..

a double boiler is just a pot of steaming water with a bowl on top to evenly melt the chocolate.

The chocolate started melting..

And once it was creamy and smooth..

I poured it onto the cookie sheet.

I spread it out and also moved the cookie sheet around to make sure all the chocolate coated the sheet well. Be sure to pay attention to the corners. You don't want them too thin!

After this I popped it in the frig for about 20 minutes.

I then got busy cleaning up the bowl and

began measuring out the white chocolate chips.

2 lbs went into the bowl on top of the double boiler.

Once that started melting..

I stayed right there with it the entire time because there was no way I was going to mess up that much money in white chocolate.

After it was almost melted..

I added about a tablespoon of peppermint extract.

At that point, I took

cookie sheet out of the frig.. remember, that condensation might prevent the layers from adhering. Do your best to make sure there is no moisture on your chocolate.

I then added

the white chocolate..

spread it out..

And then broke out my bowl of

crushed candy canes. If you want to see how I made these.. click HERE. Now you will see in the post a super easy way to make these but you can also just beat a bunch of candy canes with a rolling pin if that's all you have on hand.

So while the chocolate was a bit warm still

The candy cane pieces went on..

I sprinkled them all over it..

I also saw..

my holiday sugar caddie and decided to add some red and white sparkly sugar.

VERY GENTLY  press the candy canes a bit so they get secure down in that white chocolate..

~ REMEMBER.. CLEAN HANDS ARE ONE OF YOUR BEST TOOLS IN THE KITCHEN!! ~

I put the bark back in the frig for about 35 minutes.

And here it is..

Ok here is the more challenging part..

You want to lift the bark up and

pull it from the the aluminum  foil and wax paper.

It smelled amazing!!

Then I broke it in half.. Look closely to the picture above.. On the piece I am holding up, you can see the milk chocolate, the white chocolate and the candy cane! That's how its suppose to look!!

Then continue to break it off.

Ok.. heres a note that I didn't get..

When breaking it apart. the milk chocolate starts to melt a bit from the heat of your hands. Do this kinda fast and what worked really really good for me was..

breaking them apart, placing them back down on cookie sheet, white chocolate faced down. I put them back in the frig for another 35 minutes while I took a hot bath.

Then I got them out..

flipped them over and it still looked amazing and the milk chocolate hardened back up!

Yum!!

So I got these bags..

filled up with the peppermint bark. You can see, I did not fill the bags up. I mean that would be SUPER EXPENSIVE but I did put enough for 2 people in each bag..or 1 hungry person!

These tags were on the bags but I pulled them off... filled them out and then finished the gifts up.

I rolled down the bag and taped it...

Used my hole punch and added a pretty ribbon..

Secured the tag on

and here you go!

Cute huh!?

I got them all finished..

I think they turned out really cute..

I got them boxed up and now they are sitting in the cold bedroom upstairs waiting!

Love this is checked off my to do list!

More to come!

If you make this, I want to see it!! Take a picture and either email me kishajaggers@aol.com or upload one on my Facebook or my Twitter page!!

K Jaggers

♥