Peppermint Bark

Every year for the past three years, my big cuzzie Megan and I make Peppermint Bark together. It's become a sort of tradition for us. The first year we did it, she was pregnant with her youngest son and this year I'm pregnant with Jake and my first child. The funny thing is, this year when we got together I was only 6 weeks behind where she was when we got together the year she was pregnant.

I was raised in a neighborhood where the neighbors look out for each other, and give cookies or some kind of homemade goodie around the holidays. When we moved to my parents' current house, we weren't that close with our neighbors but I did manage to make cookies a couple of years.

Now that Jake and I live on our own, I cherish the thought of having neighbors on friendly terms, because they're the ones who will call the cops if someone suspicious is casing your house. They're the ones who will help you out, say hello, invite you to neighborhood functions. It's important this day in age to have that sense of community, and Jake and I have that where we live. So I make Peppermint Bark for my neighbors because #1, they are awesome people that I'm glad are my neighbors and #2 because I like visiting them and letting them know that I do think of them, especially this time of year.

So, onto the recipe...

Peppermint Bark
Prep time: 10 minutes, cook time: 45 minutes = TOTAL: 55mins
Makes 2 9x13 inch pans

1 regular bag (forgot the oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 regular bag of white chocolate chips
(You can of course have all white, or all semi-sweet and therefore would need two bags of that flavor rather than one of each)
6 regular-size peppermint candy canes
Wax Paper
a cookie sheet

Unwrap candy canes and put into a ziplock bag. Crush candy canes with either hammer or rolling pin (make sure your countertop is adequately protected). Make sure when crushing that there is a good mix of small chunks of candy and more powder-like candy. Take a small mesh collander and separate the larger chunks from the powder. Set aside.

Melt semi-sweet chips either in a double-boiler or in the microwave - be careful to melt chocolate slowly so it doesn't burn. Mix in half of peppermint powder into melted chocolate. Spread a 1/8 inch layer onto wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Place in refridgerator.

Melt white chocolate chips either in double-boiler or in the microwave - again, be careful to melt chocolate slowly so it won't burn. Mix in rest of peppermint powder into white chocolate. Take semi-sweet-chocolate out of fridge and spread 1/8 inch layer of white chocolate on top of the semi-sweet. Sprinkle peppermint candy chunks on top of white chocolate.

Take large piece of wax paper and using that, gently press peppermint chunks into the white chocolate. If you don't do this, the candy won't stick into the chocolate as it cools and will fall off.

Refridgerate for 45 minutes. Take out and break into pieces.