'Tis the Season for Gingerbread Bark

When I created this Gingerbread Bark recipe, its intended use was for gift-giving. It takes 15 minutes to put it together, two hours to chill, and that is it! It’s elegant, tastes delicious and looks beautiful in a festive container or cellophane wrap.

On my calendar this year: Holiday dinner with the in-laws.

Since my family and I will not be in town for Christmas, we agreed to host dinner with my in-laws upon our return. I was planning on putting together something truly spectacular since I had more time than usual to plan.

How quickly things change…in a matter of minutes, I learned that I had hours to put on “Christmas Eve” dinner. So I relied on my tried-and-true filet mignon with Port-Balsamic Reduction, roasted asparagus, field green salad with spiced pecans and harvest grains.

For dessert, well, that’s where it gets fun. I needed a recipe that would not create a lot of dishes, could be put together in a matter of minutes and something that would go well with wine (hey, we all have priorities).

Ingredients for Gingerbread Bark:

• Parchment or wax paper
• 2 (8 ounces total) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® CHOCOLATIER 53% Cacao Dark Chocolate Baking Bar, finely chopped or 1 1/4 cups NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (I used morsels because that is what I had on-hand)
• 1/4 cup NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup chopped or crumbled gingersnap cookies

Directions:

Line baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.

Melt 2/3 of dark chocolate in uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 45 seconds; stir. If pieces retain some of their original shape, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until melted. Add remaining dark chocolate and stir until melted, shown above.

Spoon chocolate onto lined baking sheet then spread into a 10 x 8-inch rectangle, as above.

Microwave white morsels in small, heavy-duty plastic food storage bag on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 30 seconds. Knead bag until morsels are smooth. Add oil; knead to combine. Cut tiny corner from bag; squeeze to drizzle over dark chocolate (that’s my little helper squeezing the bag above).

Immediately sprinkle chopped cookies over chocolate. You can use pretty much any kind of cookie; I just like gingersnaps because they are so appropriate for Christmas.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm. Break bark into 24 pieces (3 pieces is about one serving, so this recipe will serve eight). Store bark in airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

After our guests left, I caught my daughter checking out the leftover bark (and yes, she is on the counter). She also gave it a thumbs up!

Seeing that my mother-in-law asked me to repeat the recipe three times, I think it was a success! And for that red wine, we had a lovely cabernet sauvignon and port – a perfect end to the evening.  If you have simple, quick and tasty recipes like this bark, please share! We’d love to hear from  you.

And have a Merry Christmas.

Links:

• ‘Tis the Season Gingerbread Bark
• Get a Toll House Coupon

Holiday candy bark recipes:

Holiday Peppermint Bark

Magic Mint Chocolate Bark