Oh, man! ‘Tis the season for dark chocolate! I am currently waiting for baby #2 to arrive (very impatiently I might add), so I thought it would be a good idea to spend a few hours making all kinds of healthy treats to freeze so we have them ready to go when she arrives. I started with this crazy dark chocolate bark. I call it crazy because it’s crazy easy to make and you can throw all kinds of crazy on top of it and have the bark of your dreams. These are also great all year round, trust me. 😉
Dark Chocolate Everything Bark
Pick your assortments and go crazy!
- Fair Trade dark chocolate chips or chocolate bars of your choice (Why I Choose Fair Trade)
- Assortment of nuts, whole or crushed (I used my mortar and pestle to crush them a bit): cashews, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts, coconut flakes…
- Assortment of seeds: sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, hemp, chia…
- Assortment of dried fruit: cranberries, cherries, crystalized ginger, apricots, raspberries, goji berries, blueberries..
- Zest: lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange
- Spices: You could add one or more spices into the chocolate as it’s melting: cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom, nutmeg, chai, pumpkin, ginger…
- Fleur de sel a.k.a. finishing, flaky sea salt if you’re into that sort of thing
Equipment
- Half or full baking sheet
- Wax paper
- Silicone spatula
- Double broiler or glass measuring cup placed in hot water. I just use one of these over a pot of hot water and I love it. Works fabulously.
How-To
Cut your wax paper to fit your baking sheet and place over it. Melt your dark chocolate in your double broiler (you can put in some of your add-ins now if you want so they go all the way through the chocolate). I think I used about 2 cups of chocolate chips for a half baking sheet. I just winged it though. 🙂 Once melted, pour the chocolate onto your wax paper covered baking sheet and take your spatula and spread the chocolate evenly. Then, sprinkle your assortments of fun toppings all over your chocolate. You can use your mortar and pestle to crush some if you want them less chunky. Press them down into the chocolate a bit, you can use wax paper to do this, it’s less messy. Finish with your fleur de sel if you are adding it then refrigerate or freeze until hardened. Once your chocolate is solid throughout, take it out and break it into any sized chunks you like. Voila! How easy is that, right? And fun! This would make a great, homemade Christmas gift.
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