Cuisine: Christmas Peppermint Bark - Joyeaux Noêl!

Here is a simple and easy little gift to make for all your friends and family. Fast and so Colorful, Peppermint Bark – I love the taste of Chocolate and Peppermint together - the richness of the Chocolate and the sweet, refreshing and crackly crushed pepperminty taste of the Candy Canes.  They're easy and exhilarating to make and great fun smashing and bashing the candy canes into linen napkins. All the ingredients are organic and can be found at Whole Foods Market. This recipe is enough for one cookie sheet of Christmas Peppermint Bark and makes enough bark for six "Peppermint Bark Gift Boxes."

Christmas Peppermint Bark Recipe

• 24 ounces white chocolate chips
• 24 ounces milk chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 20 candy canes

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with a vegetable cooking spray.

2. Pour all the milk chocolate chips onto the pan and spread them around. Bake for a couple of minutes until they look a bit melted. Then take the pan from the oven and spread the chocolate around with a spatula. Put the pan in the refrigerator to cool and harden for about 30 minutes.

3. Next open the candy canes, place them on a cookie sheet under a clean dishtowel and crush them with a hammer (as I said this part is fun). Sort the larger candy cane pieces from the candy cane dust (set aside).

4. Melt the white chocolate chips in a double boiler (I used a small glass bowl over a pan of hot water) and stirring constantly. Add the peppermint extract and stir in the candy cane dust which will color your chocolate a light shade of pink. Let it cool a bit, and then pour it over the top of your milk chocolate layer.

5. Sprinkle this last layer with candy cane pieces and press them down gently so as to not stick.

6. Refrigerate pan for several hours, shake off the excess candy pieces, and then break the bark into chunks. Best to keep Peppermint Bark refrigerated.

Pack pieces of Peppermint Bark in Cellophane Bags and place bags in small box cushioned with tissue paper.

Close box up and tie with a Big Fat Red Satin Bow.

Merry Christmas!