Get creative this Christmas with homemade chocolate bark! They’re fun, easy to do and make for thoughtful Christmas presents. You don’t even need a recipe! All you need? Your favourite chocolate and your imagination. The possibilities are endless.
(Mix things up and make some torrone as well, an Italian Christmas candy that’s popular around the holidays, some old fashioned penuche fudge or this 3 ingredient toffee. A brownie mix in a jar is a really thoughtful holiday present too!)
Ok. I may have oversold the easy part a little.
While it’s true that you don’t need a recipe to make chocolate bark, you do need to know how to properly temper chocolate. Whether this would be a breeze or painstakingly difficult is, I think, dependent on your temperament (see what I did there?).
Good news is you can still make homemade chocolate bark without tempering chocolate. Intrigued?
Chocolate 101
So I was at my local baking goods store hovering over the many (so many!) chocolate options.
Me: Hi. What’s the best chocolate to use if I wanted to make chocolate bark?
Them: Well. That depends. Do you know how to temper chocolate?
Me: (Thinks for a second. Many, many seconds). Well I really just usually melt chocolate in the microwave (smiles sheepishly).
Them: (Aghast! Recovers and tries to hide their shock at the horror of what I just said. Then very politely steers me away from the expensive couverture chocolates.) Do you want to try compound chocolates?
The look of fear on their faces made me buy the compound chocolates
even though I didn’t know what they were. And I said I will try. They looked pretty relieved pleased with that.
Compound Chocolate
As it turns out, there are 2 categories of chocolate (who knew? Evidently not me): real and compound. Here’s a really great article on that.
Bottom line is, real chocolate needs to be tempered and compound chocolate does not (i.e. it’s perfectly fine with my microwave melting method).
I made 2 batches of chocolate bark using compound chocolate and it’s really not bad. Not bad at all.
Easy to work with. Tastes like chocolate. But once it sets, it gets a little too matte for my taste and turns a not very pretty shade of brown.
So it’s great if you’re craving for chocolate bark and want to make yourself some.
But if you’re giving them out as gifts (as I was), you may want to reconsider.
So back to the store I go and grab myself bags (yes, plural, in case I lose my temper tempering ha ha sorry I can’t help myself) of couverture chocolates
and try again.
Glorious homemade chocolate bark
As it turns out, tempering chocolate is really not as difficult as it sounds.
Requires patience, yes. Tedious, just a bit. I used this guideline from The Kitchn and things went relatively smoothly.
And I talk more about it and give lots of tips when I made dried mango chocolate bites. Check it out.
Anyway, the resulting bark was not as glossy as I would have wanted (I need to work on that!) but looked so much better.
And although there is nothing wrong with how compound chocolate tastes like, real chocolate is the real deal.
No recipe required for creative chocolate bark recipes
Once you get over the temper or not to temper issue, making your own homemade chocolate bark is a breeze and so much fun (try making reindeer bark too).
There’s really no recipe – you don’t need one! I just make sure I have at least 1 pound (16 ounces or about 454 grams) of chocolate then I go crazy.
The combinations I share below are just two of the ones I made to give out as gifts this holiday season.
Awesome Christmas gifts
And they make wonderful gifts! Not only are they delicious, they look so festive too. And the person you’re giving it to would know that you put time and effort in them.
You want to go all out? You can customize your bark per person.
Put one set of toppings on the left side of your chocolate and another set on the right. There are countless combinations you can experiment with.
So whatever kind of chocolate you decide to use, I urge you to make homemade chocolate bark. They’re fun, delicious and thoughtful gifts this Christmas.
If you’re looking for more homemade gifts this holiday season, learn how to make cocoa bombs!
Happy chocolate melting!
Did you make homemade chocolate bark? What toppings did you use? Tell me about it in the comments section below. I’d love to hear all about it.
How to Make Homemade Chocolate Bark
Equipment
Ingredients
Dark Chocolate Bark with Crushed Candy Canes:
- 1 lb semi-sweet chocolate or dark chocolate melted (see post for tips on melting)
- About a cup of crushed candy canes
White Chocolate Bark with Pistachios and Cranberries:
- 1 lb white chocolate melted (see post for tips on melting)
- About ½ cup salted pistachios shelled and roughly chopped
- About ½ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Line a cookie pan or baking sheet with parchment paper (1 pan per kind of bark).
- Transfer your melted chocolate to your pan and spread using an angled spatula. It doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth but try to keep the thickness even and about ⅛ – ¼ inch thick.
- Sprinkle your toppings on top of your chocolate and let the bark set for at least 4 hours in room temperature (see notes).
- Once set, break apart and serve.
Video
Notes
- The yield would depend on how big or small you break apart your chocolate bark.
- Some recipes recommend putting the bark in the fridge to speed up the setting process but the ladies at my baking store strongly discouraged this. So I let mine set on the counter. Just make sure your kitchen is not too warm or humid or it might not set properly.
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
Chloe
Omg! I’ve never made this before, definitely want to try making this for this holiday season! This looks so delicious!
Jolina
Thanks Chloe! Have fun making it 🙂
Neely Moldovan
peppermint bark is one thing I always make. Its so good and always such a crowd pleaser! So yummy too!
Jolina
Absolutely! That’s the universal favourite 🙂 Thanks Neely!
Karyl | Karyl's Kulinary Krusade
I’ve never heard of compound chocolate. And I’m sure the staff would give me that same appalled look about tempering chocolate, because I’ve never tried that before either! I’ve seen them do it on the Food Network, but I haven’t been brave enough to try it myself yet.
Jolina
Ahaha wish you were with me then, then we could have horrified them together LOL. Hope you try it Karyl 🙂
Divya
I always love receiving chocolate bark for the holidays. Mainly because I didn’t know how to make it! I had no idea it was that simple!
Jolina
Secret’s out! 🙂 I love receiving it too and also when I give them out, I make extra for me (of course lol)
Bianca
I love making gifts for clients over the holidays, definitely going to add these to my prep list!
Debi at Life Currents
This is a great gift idea! Thanks for sharing it! I love the tins, and have seen them at my local discount stores as well.
Jolina
Thanks! And that’s where I got them too 🙂 The dollar store a treasure trove!
Sofia
I’m obsessed with chocolate bark! Especially peppermint bark 🙂
Jolina
Good choice! I love white chocolate and pistachios 🙂
Catherine Sargent
This homemade chocolate bark looks so yummy. I will have to add this to my holiday baking list.
Jolina
Thanks Catherine! Happy holiday baking and chocolate tempering 🙂
Lisa Sell
I’ve never done this before but I love it as a festive idea. I’m certainly going to give it a try. Thanks!
Amy Scott
I never tried it before but it would be fab for little stocking fillers!
Hey Sharonoox
You got me at No Recipe required! I love white chocolates. I can’t wait to try making these with my little boy. We’re going to have a blast. This is going to be my favorite homemade! Pinned!
Jolina
Aahaha yes no recipe required is always great isn’t it? 🙂 Thanks for the pin! Have fun making your chocolate barks!
Melanie
I love all of these combinations! SO cute and festive!
Ellie Augustin
I am SO going to do this with my kids this week so they can gift their friends I guess i better go run to get some cute little boxes! Thanks so much for sharing!.YUM..
Jolina
That would be so adorable. And they can put their favourite toppings. You guys have fun!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Well, lesson learned for me here ’cause I think I would have had the same reaction as you… didn’t realize that all chocolate are not suitable for the microwave, lol 😀
I make bark every year and love how easy it is to put together (and fun) and it definitely does make the perfect gift. I make baked goods and treats to give to family during the holidays (and keep some for hubby and I too, of course) and it always goes over well. Candy cane is definitely a winner, but I also love dried fruit and nuts. I’ve used dried fig before and it was really good! Happy Monday to ya!
Jolina
LOL yeah quite the lesson for me! I find I quite like tempering though, something about it is so relaxing. I need to get better at it. And I think once I do I’ll coat everything in chocolate which is really not a bad thing eh? 🙂 Dried fruit and nuts are next on my bark experiments! Hope this week is treating you well!
Jeanette
So easy, yet so delicious and perfect on Christmas and also as a gift 🙂