Best feelings: 1) Going back to sleep on a snow day 2) Warm clothing, straight from the dryer 3) Recreating a favorite recipe, and finding that you prefer your own version.
Considering that Penn is the stingiest snow-day-giver ever and we haven't done laundry in weeks, it looks like we're stuck with 3. How fortunate, then, that we made some incredible peppermint bark last night. I love the versions from Williams Sonoma, Trader Joe's and everywhere, so clearly I feared a total flop. I'm considering making a habit out of doubting our recipes, because we seem to have the most success whenever we anticipate failure. This one turned out marvelously.
We found the recipe on Epicurious, and modified it only slightly by not adding cream. And while 3 layers ensure that it looks beautiful, you could probably get away with just 2 if you want. Finally, instead of slicing the bark into triangles, we simply broke it into large pieces. Oh, and we used white chocolate chips, as per always. I'm posting our modified version, but you can check out the original here.
Ingredients:
7 oz. good-quality, semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
17 oz. white chocolate (we used chips)
30 peppermint candies, crushed (about 6 oz.)
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
Instructions:
Turn a large baking sheet upside down, and cover it in foil. Mark a 12x9 rectangle on the foil (this is where you will fill in the chocolate). Heat the white chocolate chips by placing them in a bowl over simmering water until smooth. Spread them with a spatula in the rectangle, and sprinkle about half of the peppermint candy. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Heat the dark chocolate in a saucepan with the peppermint extract. Spread over the white chocolate in the rectangle and refrigerate for about 25 minutes. Reheat the white chocolate chips, and spread them as the final layer, adding the remaining peppermint on top. Chill for an additional 20 minutes or longer, then break the bark into pieces and serve.
