Holiday Chocolate Bark
Dec 4, 2009 tagged Dairy-free, Egg-free, Gluten-free, Vegan 
“We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.”
-Buddy, the Elf
I have it on good authority this is the chocolate bark the elves make exclusively for Santa. There are two flavors—Fruit & Nut and Salted Caramel Pretzel. We’re not sure which one Santa favors although the reindeer probably like the Fruit & Nut since they’re vegan. We’ll be leaving both out on Christmas Eve just to be safe.
Oh, and as a wise woman once told me, Santa appreciates a nip of Scotch—neat—with his cookies, er… chocolate bark.
Holiday Chocolate Bark
1 package Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips or your favorite GF/CF/Vegan dark chocolate, finely chopped
For Fruit & Nut Holiday Chocolate Bark
Pepitas
Chopped Almonds
Dried cranberries & cherries
Sea Salt
For Salted Caramel Pretzel Holiday Chocolate Bark (not Dairy Free or Vegan)
Crushed Glutino Pretzels
Caramel Sauce or Cajeta
Sea Salt
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Place the chocolate bits into a microwave proof bowl. Heat in the microwave 1 1/2 minutes on medium high power. Remove and stir—they will not be fully melted yet. Place the chocolate back in the microwave and heat at full strength in 30 second intervals. Be sure to stir between each heating—the chocolate will continue to melt as you stir. You want to heat the chocolate just until it melts and is pourable and no more than that. (Alternatively, you can heat the chocolate in the top of a double boiler. The water in the bottom half should be heated to below a simmer so keep the burner on medium low.)
Pour the chocolate onto the parchment and spread to the thickness and shape you desire. Sprinkle with toppings and a little bit of salt.
Place the candy in the refrigerator to cool—about 30-45 minutes. Remove and cut into squares with a heavy, sharp knife.
The candy will keep about a week in an airtight container—if it lasts that long.
Notes:
Here’s a great recipe for cajeta (a mexican caramel sauce). Online sources for GF caramel sauce: Sweet and Saucy Autumn Harvest Caramel Sauce or Robert Rothschild Farm Old Fashioned Caramel Sauce. I can’t vouch for either of these since I’ve never tried them but they both say Gluten-free on the sites. The caramel sauces and the cajeta are not Dairy-free.
Reader Comments (6)
We love "Elf"! Watching it right now!
Awesome looking recipe! :)
OH...you used Pepitas! I thought about using Pepitas on some of the Christmas Cookies!
Your bark sounds so good....YUMMY!
Oops forgot to leave my blog address in my above post...so sorry!
Wow. Yum is all I have to say =D.
These are far too tempting. I love the idea of the crushed pretzels! I hope I have time to make these this holiday.
Thank you for sharing this on A Gluten-Free Holiday! Looks great.