Beverly's Santa Maria: Simple Candy Making

While preparing for Christmas in Candyland we thought it might be kind of cool to make our own peppermint bark. Well, that was a good call! Our peppermint bark was a hit!! We had several customers ask, “Where did that candy come from?” Some were a little surprised to discover that we had made it ourselves! So we decided that peppermint bark is definitely something we needed to show our followers how to make! First of all, it’s SUPER easy to make (really hard to mess up!) and kind of impressive. You could always buy peppermint bark but we know how you crafty people are. J Making stuff is what you do and that is one of our favorite things about you!

We used Guittard vanilla melt'n mold (Aisle 10, Beverly's Santa Maria) and the firm but crumbly melt in your mouth peppermint candies.

We opened all of the candies in one bag of peppermints and put them in a plastic bag. We then broke them up with a rolling pin.

Ok, I'll admit it..this part was FUN!

We melted the chips in a small saucepan (very slowly) stirring frequently. Once the chocolate was completely melted we turned off the heat and dumped in about 3/4 of the candy pieces. Stirring them gently kept the candy from breaking too much more and melting away completely into the chocolate. The melted bark was then poured into a prepared pan (Please use extra care not to burn yourself with the hot melted chocolate.) We sprayed a little non-stick cooking spray on foil. The spray made it easier to lift the candy once it was ready. Before the candy started to cool we sprinkled the remainder of the candy pieces to make it look extra pretty. Once it hardened completely, we broke in into chunks.

The finished bark! This tray features some bark that we made with a bottom layer of milk chocolate. We even accidently scrorched the chocolate and though it did affect the color it DID NOT affect the taste.

(See, hard to mess up!)

Variations.....