Homemade Peppermint Bark (Small Batch)

Peppermint bark is a satisfyingly simple holiday treat, with two gorgeous layers of dark and white chocolates and a flurry of candy cane pieces on top. Making your own from scratch is extra satisfying, with just a few ingredients and less than an hour of your time. This is a small batch recipe, requiring less than 12 ounces of chocolate in total to make an 8-inch square piece of bark, but it can easily be scaled up as needed.

There’s a reason peppermint bark is a holiday staple: it’s oh so festive, almost universally popular, and a perfect long-keeping treat for gifting or cookie exchanges (it totally counts as a cookie, in my opinion). Tied with festive twine and gorgeous gift tags (scroll to the bottom to download the free printable!) it makes an amazing gift for friends, teachers, and anyone who could use a little extra holiday sweetness.

I’ll admit, I didn’t set out to share a basic peppermint bark recipe (or as Taylor would say, a plain a$$ peppermint bark). There are easily a million and one recipes already out there on the Internet, does the world really need another one?

But as I was testing my Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookie recipe, I couldn’t find a store bought bark that wasn’t A: wildly expensive, or B: overly thick.

So I decided to make my own.

And since I was making my own peppermint bark from scratch anyway, I figured, why not kill two birds with one candy cane, and get a second post out of it? You could say it was peppermint to be! Granted, I didn’t plan on that second post turning into such a behemoth, a dissertation on peppermint bark if you will, but, alas, here we are.

(Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of this (admittedly very long) post to download the free printable gift tags!)

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Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

When you can’t decide if you want Christmas cookies or classic peppermint bark, these dark chocolate cookies let you enjoy both at once: studded with peppermint bark pieces and topped with squares of peppermint bark for a truly festive, truly glorious cookie that’ll easily become a new holiday favorite.

These cookies are a true holiday showstopper: deeply chocolate with bits of chopped peppermint bark instead of the usual chips, plus an extra square of peppermint bark nestled on top so you know exactly what you’re biting into. And because it is a melted butter-based cookie, you can mix it by hand, no electric mixer required (and no worrying about softening butter ahead of time, either!)

I love peppermint bark… but not necessarily on its own. But making peppermint bark-ified versions of other kinds desserts, well, that I’m totally on board for (see: peppermint bark shortbread and peppermint bark brownies). Peppermint and chocolate should always go together, in my opinion!

These deeply chocolate, peppermint-infused, rich and gooey cookies are the result of years of testing. And I deeply apologize for the extended wait, because you’ll soon find this is one cookie recipe you can’t live without.

What took me so long? Well, whenever peppermint season came around I’d make a batch or two, tweaking the recipe and making it better each time, but it still wasn’t quite right. And I didn’t much feel like testing peppermint cookies come January (I’m sure you understand!) So yes, I’ve actually spent 4 years perfecting this recipe, though I’ve only made it about 5 or 6 times over that period of time.

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Chewy Maple Brown Butter Sugar Cookies

Impeccably chewy and packed with a triple dose of maple flavor (in the form of pure maple syrup, maple extract, and a maple sugar coating) these flavor-packed cookies are also made with browned butter for a toasty, nutty, and—especially when paired with maple— an almost butterscotch-like flavor.

And as an added bonus, because the dough uses brown butter in its liquid form, you don’t need to soften butter beforehand (win), the dough can be mixed entirely by hand without an electric mixer required (double win), and you can bake your cookies immediately, no chilling required (triple win)!

In terms of seasonal cookies, let’s think outside the box (and by box, I mean the ubiquitous fall/winter flavors of pumpkin, peppermint, and gingerbread). Maple might not be as widespread in fall baking recipes, but it certainly deserves the spotlight as much as its -ber month cousins, and these cookies are a great way to give maple its much deserved moment. Maple is, afterall, good for more than just pancakes!

I’m ashamed to admit I’ve been ignoring humble maple just as much as you have, as there are startlingly few recipes that use maple syrup in our archives. I definitely need to remedy that, stat!

In the meantime… these cookies are the best way satisfy your most urgent maple cravings short of a shortstack of pancakes. They’re just as chewy as your favorite molasses cookies, but with the unique flavor of maple shining through, plus delicately crispy edges and a touch of crunch from the larger grains of maple sugar. Add in a little brown butter for some roasty toasty goodness, and, well, you’ve got yourself a smashing success of a cookie.

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Snack Friday Sale + the Cutest Foodie Gift Guide Ever (shop small!)

This holiday season… we’re shopping small, buying thoughtful gifts from local businesses and independent artists and creators. Who’s with me?

If you’ve been following me for any length of time you likely know my love of food puns runs deep, and this year I finally acted on the idea that had been rolling around my head for years: putting some of my favorite puns on illustrated tees, tea towels, and more. I called it Fresh Baked Puns.

The best price on new designs is always during the pre-order phase (our next designs launch in January… sign up here for updates!) But we didn’t want to let black Friday (excuse me, *SNACK Friday*) pass by without at least a little something something to sweeten your holiday shopping list.

That’s why we’re offering:

>> 10% OFF EVERYTHING: from tees to tea towels to stickers and more, everything in the shop is 10% off through Monday 12/1 with code SNACKFRIDAY.

>> FREE SHIPPING on That’s My Jam: Hardcover copies of That’s My Jam ship FREE! Buy a book on its own and pay $0 shipping, or add one to your order and pay no additional shipping (and let’s face it, books are heavy, so this is a great deal!) No code necessary, US shipping only.

>> FREE STICKER on orders $40 or more: Spend $40 or more and get a free sticker (we’ll choose one for you, or if you have a preference please specify your choice in the Notes field during checkout.) Better yet, spend $80 and we’ll send you TWO stickers!

Shop the Snack Friday sale now »

More Small Business Love!

But mine isn’t the only small business you should support this holiday season! I’ve gathered some cute food-themed gift ideas from other creators and small businesses, and there is some seriously adorable stuff out there.

How cute is this farfalle hair clip? I also adore the bread and croissant themed accessories from this French artist.

I love food-themed art, and this sardine block print is perfection. I’m eying a number of her block prints, actually.

Birthday cake candle? Say no more.

Fellow pun lovers: we rise at dawn! Hand-lettered and illustrated greeting cards (plenty of non-food designs too).

I don’t have pierced ears but I’m almost tempted to solely so I can wear these heirloom tomato earrings (yes! these are earrings!)

This blood orange art print is simply STUNNING, with bold, vibrant colors. The matching tea towels too!

These ceramic frosted animal cookie magnets are so cute and they look EXACTLY like the nostalgic cookies from your childhood.

This ravioli spoon rest is simply adorable, and punny to boot! I love it.

More ceramic love… this fruit mug is absolutely perfect. No notes.

As a caffeine-averse tea lover, this herbal Apple-achian Chai Tea sounds right up my alley.

Hats off for this adorable rainbow chard hat (not sure about you, but rainbow chard is my favorite leafy green). I also love the food-themed hair accessories, too many cute things to choose!

I’m in awe of these hyper-realistic food paintings on newspaper… the bagel and lox painting in particular (which has since sold, but she’s got a number of other one of a kind paintings available including more bagels).

***

Happy holidays, everyone!

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Pecan Pie Shortbread Cookie Bars

Chewy pecan-studded and maple-infused caramel atop a sweet and salty brown sugar shortbread. The result is a chewy (but not gooey), sweet and nutty bar that is practical, portable, pecan perfection.

Pecan pie, transformed into a portable, easier to prepare package. Instead of finicky pie crust, the base is a simple brown sugar shortbread. And instead of a temperamental custard with eggs that may or may not set properly, a simple brown sugar and maple syrup caramel that bakes up to a perfectly chewy, nutty finish.

Is it a cookie? A pie bar? A bar cookie? Or a little bit of all three?

For a seemingly simple recipe, this took me more than a few tries to nail the right ratio of shortbread to pecan and the proper set to the pecan caramel layer. And by more than a few, I mean 6. Indeed, it took me 6 trial batches to perfect this recipe (I felt a little like goldilocks, but instead of bears and porridge it was pecans and caramel.)

The winning topping ended up being the eggless version (an added bonus as the shortbread is eggless as well). While the egg made for a more traditional custardy pecan pie consistency, I had a really hard time getting it to set properly, it was always just a little too gooey and drippy, which made for an overly messy eating experience.

The eggless topping, on the other hand, bakes up to a perfectly chewy-but-not-gooey caramel, giving the cookie bars the perfect texture and chew without the sticky mess. The stable caramel makes these bars perfectly portable for cookie swaps, holiday parties, edible gifts and more.

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Black Bottom Pumpkin Cream Pie with Chocolate Ganache

Add a little chocolate decadence to your Thanksgiving table with this multi-layered take on a classic pumpkin pie. Featuring a smooth and lightly spiced pumpkin cream filling, with a hidden layer of dark chocolate ganache that’s not visible until you slice into it. Surprise chocolate? Count me in!

A traditional pumpkin pie this is not: with a pudding-like pumpkin filling that’s cooked on the stovetop rather than in the oven (freeing up your oven for other delicious things) and a black bottom of silky dark chocolate ganache, all nestled in a sweet and salty chocolate graham cracker crust, with a stabilized whipped cream to finish it off with a flourish.

I know, two pie recipes in a row! Usually I try to mix it up a little bit when I share recipes, but I figured y’all would want this pie recipe sooner rather than later (assuming you’ve already started to plan your Thanksgiving menus, that is, this pie should definitely be on it!)

I like to think of this as the pumpkin pie for pumpkin pie haters, but pumpkin lovers will adore it too. Assuming that most of the pumpkin pie hate comes from the texture: namely, the potentially-pastey and overly-thick baked custard filling of most traditional pumpkin pie recipes. Personally, I feel that a good pumpkin pie is anything but pastey if you do it right, but a luscious, creamy filling is certainly not the easiest feat to achieve.

Eyes on the Pies!

Pie lovers, this one’s for you! Get your Eyes on the Pies tshirt, tea towel, or sticker today from Fresh Baked Puns.

Buy Now »

Enter: Pumpkin Cream Pie. Think banana cream or coconut cream pie, but pumpkin (I know, right??)

The filling is more like a pudding rather than a baked custard, cooked on the stovetop instead of the oven. That means that, other than a few minutes to set the chocolate graham cracker crust (which you can certainly do ahead of time), the rest of the pie can be made without the use of the oven, freeing up that valuable rack space for other things. Not technically no-bake, but close to it!

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Flaky Chocolate Pie Crust

Pie crust is great, but have you ever had chocolate pie crust? This flaky chocolate pie crust is everything you love about pie pastry: tender, flaky and buttery, with the addition of cocoa powder for a deeply chocolate flavor that will complement just about any filling.

The crust comes together just like any other pastry, you can use a pastry blender by hand, or mix with a stand mixer or food processor (though I always recommend mixing in the water by hand regardless). The result is a beautiful, flaky pastry that’s easy to work with and a delight to eat!

My Chocolate Banana Cream Pie recipe (newly updated and improved with new photos and step-by-step!) features a chocolate pastry crust, but the original recipe utilized a rough-puff technique that has since vanished from the internet.

The original crust recipe proportions were a little vague as well, so I made a couple changes and also clarified the process, with step by step photos to show you the way!

So I figured it was high time for an update, and such a delicious crust was more than worthy of its own post, especially since it’s so versatile: you could really fill this chocolate crust with just about anything, from fruit to pumpkin to custard! Let’s be serious, what doesn’t go with chocolate? You could also swap this crust for chocolate cookie crusts if you prefer a flakier pastry (and as much as I love a cookie crust, the demise of the Famous chocolate wafer cookie has me looking for chocolatey alternatives).

The result is a buttery, flaky pastry crust with a rich chocolate flavor. It’s amazing how much chocolate flavor you actually get from a mere 3 tablespoons of cocoa!

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