it’s a holly jolly Christmas

I tend to do a lot of baking around the holidays, as I’m sure a lot of people do. I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on gifts this Christmas so I made my dad & step-mom and brother & sister-in-law food. Peppermint Bark, pretzels drizzled in white and milk chocolate and cookies.

I can’t remember where I got this recipe from, but I think it’s pretty much the same one you’d find anywhere. The only difference for me was that I didn’t add the peppermint oil. Buying a bottle for a few bucks when I’d only need it the one time didn’t fit into my budget.

Peppermint Bark

Makes 2 1/4 pounds or one 11-by-17-inch sheet
If you don’t have a double boiler, use a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water.

2 pounds white chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
12 large candy canes
1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil

1. Line an 11-by-17-inch baking sheet with parchment, and set aside.

2. In the top of a double boiler, melt white chocolate, stirring constantly.

3. With a chef’s knife or meat tenderizer, cut or pound candy canes into 1/4-inch pieces.

4. Stir pieces of candy canes and peppermint oil into the melted chocolate. Remove from heat, and pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet; spread evenly. Chill until firm, 25 to 30 minutes. Break into pieces, and serve. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

I had leftover chocolate from the pretzels so I took some of that and melted it in a squeeze bottle and drew the trees and snowman on a piece of wax paper, then let it chill in the fridge until it was hard enough to move onto the cake. The writing and dots and anything else in color on the cake was done with candy melts (the ones you can buy for about $2 a bag at Michael’s).