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.
Sarah
“Real chocolate is the real deal” I agree! Love chocolate bark, and this looks so yummy!
Nicole Burkholder
I don’t buy fancy enough chocolate to have ever tempered it. But I’ve always wondered how people got chocolate bark that “snapped” so nicely! I learned something new today- thanks!
Jolina
Haha you’re welcome! I learned a lot during that visit to the store too 🙂
Sandra Shaffer
Well I had no idea on the different types of chocolate either. I’m always looking for dark chocolate, which is my favorite with peppermint! Love this for gifts. My co-workers would love a little pack of bark.
Jolina
Dark bittersweet chocolate is my favourite too 🙂 Have fun making your customized bark. Your co-workers are a lucky bunch!
CourtneyLynne
Omg can we say yum?!?! I just love bark!!!! I will be giving your recipe a try!!! Deliciousness
Liz @ Ready To Yumble
Oh yum, I love chocolate bark! Although not sure I have the right…temperament (ahaha) to make it myself! Gotta admit I always use the microwave melting method myself. It’s just so easy! But I appreciate that you tried both methods…I see a chocolate taste test in my future 🙂
Jolina
LOL so true. But hey, chocolate tests are the best kind! Have fun Liz!
Kimberly @ Berly's Kitchen
This chocolate bark looks delicious! Perfect for a Christmas gift.
Elizabeth
I’ll try this one out and give tempering a shot. Wish me luck.
Jolina
Luck! 🙂 I’m sure you’ll do great. Slow and patient is the key 🙂
Gina
I am always looking for homemade gifts or sweets to add to a cookie swap. this would be a great addition. Thanks for sharing.
Emily
Yum! I need to make some of this! We always have a cookie baking and decorating party with my kids and their cousins, this would be a fun one for them to make.
Jolina
Oh yeah this would be totally fun! I’d keep the kids away from the chocolate melting (ha ha) but they can go totally crazy with the topping and decorating. Enjoy! 🙂
Emily @ Love, Pasta and a Tool Belt
Chocolate bark is so good. I love how you can change it up by adding in different things! And it’s perfect for gifts
Glogeworld
Omg! They look super yummy!
Chelley @ A is For Adelaide
When I learned how to temper chocolate, my whole world changed!! I love making my own special treats now!
Jolina
I totally believe that! I cannot wait to get better at it. I’m so excited 🙂
maria @closeothome
I love making bark for holiday parties and gift giving. You can just cut up a bit to enjoy a little sweet flavors
Marian Mitchell
This looks so easy and such a great homemade gift! I still don’t understand how to temper the chocolate though.
Jolina
Hi Marian! I’m still in the process of perfecting it too. Check out the link from The Kitchn in my post. They outline a pretty great guide on tempering 🙂
Amanda Mason
I love this!! I’m a food blogger and didn’t know about the tempering either so dont feel bad!! I’m so making this for our guests at Christmas dinner!!! Thank you so much for posting!
Jolina
LOL thanks! I did feel a little silly standing there at the store 🙂 Have fun making it and have a wonderful Christmas dinner!