Looking for a fun and easy Christmas bark recipe to make for the holidays? This pretty chocolate bark is loaded with pretzels, Christmas M&M’s and sprinkles making it ideal for any holiday occasion. A fun and simple treat to make with kids and grandkids!
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Love making Christmas candy at home? Try out Peanut Butter Pretzel Bark and Penguin Cookies – both are no bake recipes, and fun to make with kids.
If you love making treats for the holidays, but want something simple and with minimal work, this Christmas bark is the perfect recipe.
This bark recipe is no bake, and needs just 6 total ingredients. The toppings are very customizable, making it a great project to make with your kids or grandkids.
What do I need to make Christmas bark?
- Chocolate almond bark – this is not really chocolate, but a chocolate flavored candy coating that is ideal for melting. You can find it in the baking section of your local grocery store. This Favorite Day brand is from Target.
- Vanilla almond bark – also a vanilla flavored candy coating, this white chocolate bark is specifically for melting, making it ideal for making bark. Also found in Target in the baking section.
- Christmas M&M’s – feel free to use any color of M&M’s, but because this is a Christmas themed bark, I went for the red and green candies.
- Christmas Sprinkles and Jimmies – feel free to use any shape or color of sprinkles or jimmies. During the holidays there are many colors and variations available.
- Pretzels – I chose a round waffle pretzel, but you could also use pretzel sticks or twists. During the holidays you can also find holiday-shaped pretzels, which would be a great choice.
For exact ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post for the recipe. Thanks!
How do I make chocolate bark?
The first step to making chocolate bark is prepping your pan and toppings. I highly recommend prepping the pan and toppings before you begin melting the chocolate. Once the chocolate is melted you’ll only have a limited amount of time to add the toppings before the chocolate begins to solidify.
First, line a baking sheet or cookie sheet with waxed or parchment paper. Using a paper to line the pan is a must, as it will be critical for lifting it off the pan and breaking the bark into pieces. The paper will also easily peel way from the bottom of the bark, making clean-up very simple.
Adding the toppings to small bowls or containers isn’t mandatory, but very helpful. You don’t want to be stuck wasting time opening packages once the chocolate has melted. Having the candies, sprinkles and pretzels at the ready will help make sure they are ready to go once the chocolate is on the pan.
Other topping ideas for Christmas bark:
- Dried Fruits and Nuts – instead of candies and sprinkles, try adding dried cranberries, apricots, raisins and nuts like pecans, pistachios and walnuts.
- Other Christmas Candies – there is always many Christmas themed candies available during the holidays. Feel free to mix it up using different red and green candies.
- Silver and/or gold sprinkles – sprinkles and jimmies come in every shape and color in the rainbow. Feel free to mix it up with different colors and shapes.
- Crushed candy canes or peppermints – crushed, add to the top of the chocolate bark, making peppermint bark.
How do I melt chocolate for chocolate bark?
For best results when melting chocolate, be sure to follow the package directions for the product you’re using. Chocolate chips, baking chocolate and chocolate coating all melt differently depending on the cocoa butter content.
You can use either your microwave or a double-boiler on your stovetop. I used my microwave for melting the candy coating. I microwaved each bowl (separately) for 1 minute, stirred; then heated again for 30 seconds stirring each time.
Depending on the power setting of your microwave you may need more (or less) time. Using short melting increments is ideal for creating a smoothly melted chocolate. Overheating will create dry, crumbly and unusable chocolate so do your best not to overcook.
Creating the swirl in chocolate bark
Once you’ve melted the individual chocolate and vanilla barks, using a spoon, add big dollops of the chocolate in alternating spots. As you can see from above, I alternated like a checkerboard. This is certainly optional. You could also just pour the chocolates from each bowl randomly.
Using a table knife or offset spatula, swirl the chocolate and vanilla bars together creating a pretty swirl. You can do this by dragging the knife in lines up and down and from side to side.
Adding toppings to Christmas chocolate bark
Once the chocolate has been swirled together, working quickly, add your desired toppings onto the surface of the chocolate. Feel free to do this randomly. I would recommend starting with the pretzels, as they are the largest and take up the most space.
Once the pretzels are on, add the M&M’s, sprinkles and any other candies or chocolates that you would like.
Refrigerate the Christmas chocolate bark
Once you’ve added all the toppings, place the entire pan into the refrigerator for at least one hour. This will allow the chocolate/candy coating to adequately harden with the toppings.
After an hour in the refrigerator, the bark will be ready to be broken into pieces. I found the easiest way to break the bark is by simply using your hands. You could also use a knife.
Storage of Christmas chocolate bark
I recommend storing the bark pieces in a resealable container. This will prevent the pretzels from becoming stale. Feel free to store at room temperature. The bark will also keep well when frozen. If freezing, the bark will keep for up to 2 months.
Love making Christmas candy and cookies for the holidays? Here are some of our top Christmas cookies, candies and fudge:
- M&M Christmas Cookies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
- Maple Pecan Fudge
- Vanilla Fudge
- Salted Caramel Fudge
- Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
- Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkles
- Chewy Ginger Cookies
If you loved this Christmas candy recipe, check out some of these other Christmas themed recipes:
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Christmas Chocolate Bark
Equipment
- Sheet Pan These USA stainless steel sheet pans are great for making Christmas candy, cookies and fantastic for one-pan meals!
- Glass Mixing Bowls Ideal for cooking and baking, and great for anything that needs to go into a microwave.
- Rubber Scrapers These Cuisinart rubber scraper spatulas are fantastic for fillings, batters, and so much more!
- Waxed Paper Great for lining pans when making cookies and candies.
Ingredients
- 10 oz. vanilla almond bark candy coating half package
- 10 oz. chocolate almond bark candy coating half package
- 1/2 cup pretzels any small size or shape
- 1/4 cup M&M chocolate candies plain, Christmas colors
- 1 Tablespoon Christmas sprinkles
- 1 Tablespoon Christmas jimmies
Instructions
- Line a cookie sheet or sheet pan with waxed paper. For best results, fold the paper over the edges of the pan and secure with binder clips so the paper stays in place. Set aside.
- Take the pretzels, M&M's and sprinkles out of their packaging and place in small bowls or set near your pan. You'll want to have the toppings ready to go, as once the chocolate bark goes on the pan, you'll have limited time to work.
- In two separate microwave safe bowls, add the chocolate and vanilla bark to each bowl, keeping them separate. Microwave each bowl for 1 minute, stop to stir, then continue to microwave for 30 second increments until completely melted. Don't overheat, as the bark can become dry, grainy and unusable if heated for too long.
- Once each bark is completely melted and smooth, alternate big dollops of the melted chocolate bark onto the pan.
- Using a table knife, or offset frosting spatula, swirl the melted barks together to create a pretty swirl design.
- Top the melted chocolate with all of the toppings; pretzels, M&M's and sprinkles. You'll need to work quickly, as once the chocolate cools down it will begin to harden. Once you've added all the toppings, place the bar in the refrigerator for one hour to harden completely.
- Once the bark has firmed up and hardened, break the bark into pieces. It is easiest to do this with your hands, or you can do it with a large knife.
- Enjoy right away, or store in an airtight container at room temperature. Will keep for up to a week. Can also be frozen.
Notes
Nutrition
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