Happy New Year!
What did you do to commemorate the turning of the year? I was in the kitchen cooking up a storm and on the couch cuddled with my cat by 11pm. Wild and crazy life, I know! One of my favorite things I did the past few days off was clean out the kitchen cupboards. I love using up bits and pieces of things, making way for more and new ingredients. You know those huge bars of dark chocolate from Trader Joe’s? I had to use up a few bits and pieces of those and this is what came of it.
One of the key things with this bark is to use dark chocolate and the other is to use the double boiler method. I know it’s quicker and easier to microwave the chocolate in a bowl, but as I have made the mistake of before, chocolate can go from perfectly smooth to chunky in all the wrong the wrong places wayyyy too fast. Do yourself a favor and double boil method this dark chocolate, you will be glad you did! (For a good how to on double boiler action, check out The Kitchn’s guide). This recipe is also super customizable, basically throw anything that is good with dark chocolate (i.e. everything!) on top of the bark and you are on your way to bark heaven.
This one doesn’t really require a recipe, melt 8-12 ounces of dark chocolate (get the good stuff!), spread onto a baking sheet about 1/4-1/3 inch thick and sprinkle on 1/4 cup of 2-3 toppings of your choice, easy! Hope your new year is off to a wonderful start!;
P.S. If you want to get really crazy put pretzels in this, yes! (Then make ice cream with said pretzel/dark chocolate bark. SWOON)
Cass @foodmyfriend says
Yeeess! I love cleaning out my cupboards. I always end up with bags of weird grains that my Mum buys me so that I don’t run out of ‘protein’ lol. Such beautiful bark 🙂
The Frosted Vegan says
Lol, everyone seems worried about the protein! I know exactly what you mean! : ) Thanks for your kind words Cass!
Megan - The Emotional Baker says
Love this bark, Abby! I especially like the idea of making ice cream with it 🙂
The Frosted Vegan says
Thanks Megan! Putting it in ice cream was probably the best idea I’ve had in a long time : )
Gena says
I became a little obsessed with homemade chocolate before the holidays. This is a lovely recipe!
The Frosted Vegan says
I am exactly the same Gena! Once you realize how easy it is, it’s easy to get sucked into it : ) I won’t ever complain about having a lot of candy around!
Kristen Kelley says
I thought I was the only one with bits of chocolate here and there. I can’t wait to use up some of my random pretzels, seeds, dried fruits, maybe even mix in some mint or peanut butter. Yum. Dark chocolate is so great on it’s own but with STUFF in it…amazing.
The Frosted Vegan says
Ohh I love the peanut butter idea!
Kate says
NYE is overrated anyway! This chocolate bark looks amazing. I love the addition of dried cherries and pepitas.
The Frosted Vegan says
I totally agree Kate! : )