Candy Bark

Originally published 11/1/13, updated 10/30/16

There are some people who, whether it's from years or practice or God-given talent, can appear to throw a bunch of random foods together & have it turn out amazing. I grew up watching my Mama & Grandma do that, and I have to admit it drives me crazy sometimes. Which makes me a filthy hypocrite, because I do it all the time. Not usually with baking (that's harder to correct when the cookies are already in the oven) but with most of my entrees. Even if I am 'following' a recipe, I usually just guess. 1 cup of veggies? Eh, that looks like enough corn. 1/3 cup of milk? Here, I'll pour some in. Hmm, that looks too thick, let's add more. However, it really makes it hard to duplicate something if you don't know how much of anything was used.

That being said... what I am about to post isn't really a recipe.  More of an idea. And you don't have to be THAT kind of cook to make it. Promise.

I've seen candy bark all over: melt some chocolate (or vanilla) candy coating, spread it out in a pan (or in candy molds), put a bunch of yummy stuff (sometimes following a theme) on top (or in the candy itself), then let it harden & break it into pieces (unless you used the candy molds, then if you break it I think you missed the point). Get the idea? Super easy, fun, and you can do whatever you want with it. 

For some reason, I've never done this before. Growing up, I helped Mama make chocolate-covered pretzels (and Ritz bits, and whatever else we could convince her to dip), but I don't recall ever using candy coating to make something like this.  I've seen it many times, and thought 'oh, I need to get some candy coating so I can do that,' but then I never actually did it. Finally, when I saw The Pioneer Woman posting about it, I remembered to put it on my grocery list so I could.

Remember when I said this isn't really a recipe? I did write it in a recipe, but the only thing I actually measured was the candy coating... and that's only because I used half a block. The rest I recorded in recipe format just to have an idea of how much was used. (And wrote down so I can use this theme again.... peanut butter & chocolate!!!)

Use whatever you have on hand, or whatever flavors or themes you like. It's good to have some salt (or this could get way too sweet way too fast), but you can do whatever your little heart desires.

When I saw the idea recently, I liked how she put it on graham crackers--it makes a nice base. The Reese's Pieces go well with the chocolate/peanut butter theme, and the pretzels add a nice crunch along with the salt. Some other ideas would be to use M&M's, candy bars broken into pieces, used wafers as a base, various nuts, etc.

So, what are you going to put on/in your candy bark? 

Printable Recipe

Candy Bark

Ingredients (remember, I didn't actually measure any of this)

• 8 ounces chocolate candy coating
• 1 cup peanut butter chips
• 3 graham crackers
• 2 tablespoons peanuts
• ¼ cup broken stick pretzels
• ¼ cup Reese’s Pieces

Directions

1. Melt candy coating & peanut butter chips in a double-boiler. Meanwhile, break half of the peanuts into smaller pieces.
2. Place aluminum foil in a 8”x8” baking pan, going at least 1” up all sides. Place graham crackers as close as possible in dish, breaking into pieces as needed.
3. Once chocolate & peanut butter is melted, spread over the graham crackers, making sure to cover crackers entirely. Spread toppings over chocolate, one at a time, spreading each out evenly.
4. Let harden, then break into small (or large!) pieces. Enjoy!

Yield/Time

15 minutes
Approximately 24 chunks

Nutrition Facts *I calculate nutrition facts for reference only, this is not done scientifically

117/chunk (based on 24)

Source (for original): Pioneer Woman
Remember, comments are loved! What would you put on your candy bark?