Today we are going to make peppermint bark which pretty much tastes like heaven…in a tin.  And what makes this recipe even more heavenly is that it’s so simple.

I’m serious, just try it, you’ll see.

This makes a great gift for a neighbor or perhaps a postal worker!  You will need a double boiler for this.  Remember, if you do not have a double boiler, you can just put a metal bowl over a pot of boiling water.  But be careful, this is hot stuff!

What you’ll need:

2 lbs of white chocolate baking chocolate (OH YEAH, BABY.)
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
12 large candy canes

Before you do anything, start to boil that water and then take out a large cookie sheet (one with sides) and cover with wax paper.  Then unwrap the white chocolate and the candy canes, this is by far the most difficult part of the recipe.  (which says A LOT.)

Cut up the white chocolate into 1/2 inch squares, this make the melting process go faster.

Chop up your candy canes.  Now, the size depends on your preference.  Some people prefer larger pieces, others prefer smaller.  I prefer smaller.  I put all of the candy canes into a 1 gallon zip lock bag before crushing which keeps candy canes from flying all over the kitchen.

Add your white chocolate to the top part of the boiler, once the water is boiling, and begin stirring.  Once smooth, add a 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract and stir thoroughly.

Then add your crushed candy canes.

Stir, stir, stir and then pour directly onto the wax paper covered cookie sheet.  But WAIT, before you pour, grab a towel and carefully (it’s hot, man!) wipe off the bottom of the pot or metal pan to avoid water dripping into your recipe.

Spread evenly.

Chill for about thirty minutes.  Take out of freezer and break apart, placing the beautiful pieces into a cookie tin, on a plate or directly into your mouth.

mmmmm……

Store in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to one week.

ENJOY!

It’s a messy, messy job but somebody has got to do it and these are so delicious and freakishly easy that you may as well be the hero.  Okay?

If you don’t want to decorate your truffles, you just want them plain and simple, all you need is the following:

2 1/2 packages (20 squares) semi-sweet baker’s chocolate, divided
1 package of cream cheese, softened
wax paper

But if you’d like to decorate your truffles, say, if you’re gifting these or bringing them to a holiday event, well, then you’ll also need:

sprinkles
unsweetened cocoa powder
powdered sugar

Melt 8 squares of  chocolate, thoroughly, in the microwave.  Stirring every 40 seconds or so.  (should not take more than 2 minutes to melt.)

Beat the cream cheese until creamy and do your best not to DIVE directly into the bowl.  Which I would totally do, if no one was looking.

Once the cream cheese is creamy, add the melted chocolate.  It will look like this which I’m pretty sure could be considered heaven.  Thoughts?

Honestly, I could photograph cream cheese all day.  It’s so beautiful.

Anyway.  Stir thoroughly and place in fridge until firm.  Firm should be anywhere between 45 minutes to 90 minutes.

Once firm, form chocolate mixture into balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet.  Will look like this but hopefully prettier.  My balls are not pretty.  Well, in this photo, I hadn’t yet rolled them out yet, just scooped them out but still, I realized while making these that I’m not a good baller.

Once your balls are all round and perfect (or close to it). melt the remaining 20 squares of chocolate.  You can do this in the microwave or in the double-boiler.  I used the microwave this time around, but next time, I will definitely be using the double-boiler.  It’s your choice.

Once the chocolate is melted, dip your refrigerated balls into the chocolate, one by one, (I used a skewer tool to dip and a spoon), place the dipped ball back onto the cookie sheet.  (this was the messy part for me, by the way.)

At this point, I would add the sprinkles, that way they stay on.

Place in the refrigerator for one hour.  Once cold, you can roll a few in the cocoa and the powdered sugar.  I also sampled a few and nearly died.

Place in mini muffin papers…

Oh and share with a child who adores chocolate.  It’s part of the recipe.  I swear.

Refrigerate the leftovers…you know, should you have any.

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Don’t forget to enter the $50 Visa gift card giveaway, sponsored by Viva!

I know quite a few people who do not like to bake, who say they don’t know how or who are just too busy to do so.  So, I’ve decided to share one of my favorite recipes that is so easy, I guarantee ANYONE can do it.  The best part?  It’s a great gift…I promise it is.

Also?  You need not turn on your oven.

First…take two cookie sheets and put them in the REFRIGERATOR.  Don’t forget this step, it’s of upmost importance.

Do you have a double boiler? ( if you do not have one, that’s okay, I went without for YEARS and just used a regular saucepan with boiling water in it and a heat-safe bowl on top.  It gets super hot, so be careful.

This is what a double boiler looks like:

You’ll also need the following:

Specifically, you’ll need-

16 oz (2 boxes) of Semi-sweet bakers chocolate
Peppermint extract (NOT mint, okay?)
2 sleeves of ritz crackers
some holiday sprinkles, of course!

Friends, what we are basically making is a nice little replica of thin mints…it’s not exact but they are very good.  (some people say they are better, but I disagree and I am an expert.)

A cookie.  Made with Ritz crackers.  Can you believe it?

Begin boiling your water.

Cut up your chocolate, I cut each half in half

Once your water is boiling and your ingredients are ready (I believe in totally prepping before beginning the baking/cooking process, you should, too.)  add your bowl or top saucepan to the boiling pan of water.  I turn the heat down to medium.

Add the chocolate, stirring often.  Once the chocolate is completely melted, add 1/2 tsp of  peppermint (NOT MINT) extract.  Stir thoroughly.

Retrieve one of the two cookies sheets out of the refrigerator and line with a single layer of wax paper.  Dip a cracker into the melted chocolate covering just enough of the cracker that your fingers do not get burned, then use a utensil to dip the undipped side.  I use the Pampered Chef skinny scraper, but you can use anything, really.

I also try to keep the flat side of the crackers as the top of the cookie but that’s just me, I prefer the way it looks.

Tap off excess chocolate (do not touch the chocolate with your fingers, you’ll burn your skin off) and place on cookie sheet.  If you do not put your cookie sheets in the refrigerator, your chocolate will pool up and your cookies won’t look as pretty, so keep em’ cold.   If you do not use wax paper, your chocolate will adhere to the cookie sheet and you will not be able to get them off of the sheet without breaking them.  I know this because I’ve done this.  This is also known as FAILURE.

You should stir your mixture up nicely after every sixth cookie or so.  K?

If you have a broken Ritz, do not use it, just cover it with Cheese Whiz and pop it in your mouth.  The last thing you want are crumbs in your chocolate mixture.

I do not decorate all of the cookies because some people prefer non-decorated cookies but if you do decorate them, this is the time to do it, while the chocolate is still nice and melty.  (yes, that’s an official term)

Have your sprinkles ready.  That’s important.

Once you have filled up the cookie sheet, place back in refrigerator.  Take out other sheet and fill up that bad boy with more of the ritzy, chocolate, peppermint (NOT MINT) goodness.

Once the chocolate is all used up…you’re done.  That’s it.  Place the cookies in the refrigerator for approximately 30-45 minutes.

Remove and place in muffin papers and place in cookie tins.    I was able to fill up six muffins liners, five cookies high and then filled up the other side of the cookie tin with Dove chocolate.

Who wouldn’t love this gift?

*if you use mint extract and not peppermint extract, your cookies will taste like toothpaste and that is disgusting.*

*trust me.*

Greetings friends, shop owners and people ready to get their shop on!

I invite shop owners of handmade goods to link to their shops right here on this Mr. Linky. This is a great way to gain free advertising for the products that you work so hard to create!

I invite shoppers to click on the links and peruse the talent that these amazing people have and once you are done perusing, I invite you to SHOP.

If you are a blogger or you’re on twitter or Facebook, I invite you to share this link (http://www.ishouldbefoldinglaundry.com/2009/11/handmade-for-the-holidays.html) to your friends and readers to let everyone know about the glorious shopping that is HANDMADE.  It’s a whole other beautiful, inspiring, unique and affordable world of shopping that many are not aware of – so share!

And if you’re not a shop owner but you have a favorite shop that you’d like to share…link it up!  Share it with the world.

But remember – the products MUST be handmade.

HAPPY SHOPPING & HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

*remember, throughout the next few weeks I will be featuring handmade items that my friends and I LOVE, if you’d like your product to be featured, you can email me at handmadepieces (at) gmail DOT com for consideration!