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Christmas Bark Recipe

With the holidays around the corner, it’s the perfect time to make an easy Christmas bark! This is a great Christmas recipe to include the kids in because it’s not only easy to make, but also easy to clean up! If you cook or bake a lot, then you know how delightful – and rare – it is to not have dishes to wash afterwards. You can make so many different variations of Christmas bark with this recipe depending on what toppings you use. I hope you have so much fun trying it at home this holiday season!

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November marks the beginning of the holiday season and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s always so festive and magical this time of the year, and I love to make the whole season special. I enjoy baking holiday treats all season long and I recently made this super easy Christmas bark! The holidays are definitely associated with gift giving, and giving your friends and family a sweet treat, such as Christmas bark, is such an easy and affordable gift! My friends loved it so much last year, they called it Christmas crack. It also makes for a yummy treat to keep on the counter to share with visitors or to enjoy as a yummy dessert after a satisfying meal. Today, I’m sharing my easy Christmas bark recipe that you can easily make at home with minimal cleanup!

Christmas Bark Recipe

With the holidays around the corner, it’s the perfect time to make an easy Christmas bark! This is a great Christmas recipe to include the kids in because it’s not only easy to make, but also easy to clean up! If you cook or bake a lot, then you know how delightful – and rare – it is to not have dishes to wash afterwards. You can make so many different variations of Christmas bark with this recipe depending on what toppings you use. I hope you have so much fun trying it at home this holiday season!

Notes & Tips:

For this recipe, you can use any chocolate flavors you prefer, but swirling the white and brown colors makes for a beautiful marble effect. I used Ghirardelli and Lindt. However, the Ghirardelli bars melted a lot better so I recommend using that brand or reducing the cook time if using Lindt.

You can use any toppings but this recipe will refer to the exact toppings I used, sharing how to make three different variations of Christmas bark.

You can also melt chocolate chips in the microwave instead of using chocolate bars. I find bars to be easier to use. If you’re using chocolate chips, you don’t want to the chocolate layer to be too thick because it will be harder to break up later.

Using parchment paper is very important because you can lift the bark off of the cookie sheet easily. And as I previously mentioned, it also means less clean up at the end!

When you finish, it can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for best results.

Equipment:

Instructions:

Step 1

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place 6 chocolate bars (white chocolate, semi sweet chocolate, and milk chocolate) in a flat, even layer.

Step 2

Bake for 8-10 minutes on the center rack of the oven at 120 degrees.

Step 3

Swirl the chocolate bars together with a cookie stick until you can no longer see any of the original lines from the bars.

Step 4

Decorate the bark. Sprinkle the M&M’s, white chocolate chips and red & green mini pearl sprinkles onto one third of the chocolate. Sprinkle crushed peppermint pieces and gingerbread sprinkles onto the middle third of the chocolate. Separate the Santa faces from the santa sprinkles. Place tiny pretzels and Santa faces onto the last third of the chocolate, and then add the sprinkles.

Step 5

If you’re in a hurry, you can freeze the bark for 30 minutes or refrigerate for an hour. Letting it harden at room temperature will prevent condensation.

Step 6

Break the bark into pieces & enjoy!

Shop All of the Ingredients and Equipment:
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How To Store Christmas Bark

To Enjoy

I recommend storing the Christmas bark at room temperature in an airtight container or in a clear cookie jar such as this cookie jar on Amazon. You can also store in the refrigerator. If you’re using pretzels, storing in the refrigerator can make them chewy.

To Share

If you plan to give them out to friends and family, I found these adorable gift bags on Amazon!

More holiday baking finds below!

Shop Christmas Decor:

I love changing up my coffee nook throughout the seasons and Christmas is one of my favorite times to decorate!

How To Make Christmas Bark More Festive

There are so many toppings and sprinkles you can use to make your Christmas bark more festive! You can use chocolate chips, peanut butter, toffee, etc. A classic peppermint bark is always delicious but it’d even be fun to make reindeer faces using M&M’s and pretzels as well. Do you have any fun ideas? Comment below!

I love making fun seasonal recipes on Instagram and TikTok, and I always share them right here on the blog!

Be sure to follow along on social media and the blog for more Christmas recipes to come this holiday season!

Printable Recipe:

Christmas Bark

With the holidays around the corner, it's the perfect time to make an easy Christmas bark! This is a great Christmas recipe to include the kids in because it's not only easy to make, but also easy to clean up! If you cook or bake a lot, then you know how delightful – and rare – it is to not have dishes to wash afterwards. You can make so many different variations of Christmas bark with this recipe depending on what toppings you use. I hope you have so much fun trying it at home this holiday season!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Equipment

  • cookie sheet
  • Parchment paper
  • Straws or sticks for swirling

Ingredients
  

  • 2 white chocolate bars
  • 2 dark chocolate bars
  • 2 milk chocolate bars
  • Holiday M&M’s
  • White chocolate chips
  • Red & green mini pearl sprinkles
  • Peppermint candies crushed
  • Gingerbread sprinkles
  • Tiny pretzels
  • Santa sprinkles

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 120 degrees.
  • Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place 6 chocolate bars in a flat, even layer.
  • Bake for 8-10 minutes on the center rack of the oven.
  • Swirl the chocolate bars together with a cookie stick until you can no longer see any of the original lines from the bars.
  • Sprinkle the M&M’s, white chocolate chips and red & green mini pearl sprinkles onto one third of the chocolate.
  • Sprinkle crushed peppermint pieces and gingerbread sprinkles onto another third of the chocolate.
  • Separate the Santa faces from the Santa sprinkles. Place tiny pretzels and Santa faces onto the last third of the chocolate, and then add the sprinkles.
  • If you’re in a hurry, you can freeze the bark for 30 minutes or refrigerate for an hour. Letting it harden at room temperature will prevent condensation.
  • Break the bark into pieces & enjoy!

Notes

For this recipe, you can use whatever chocolate flavors you prefer, but swirling the white and brown colors makes for a beautiful marble effect. I used Ghirardelli and Lindt, however, the Ghirardelli bars melted a lot better so I recommend using that brand.
You can also use chocolate chips and melt them in the microwave, but it will result in extra dirty dishes! If you only have chips and want to go that route, just keep in mind you don’t want to the chocolate layer too thick because it will be harder to break up later.
You can also use whatever toppings you prefer, but this recipe will refer to the exact toppings I used!
Using parchment paper is very important because you can lift the bark out of the cookie sheet quite easily. And as I previously mentioned, it also means less clean up at the end!
You can store the bark in a plastic bag or airtight Tupperware. You can keep it in the fridge if you’d like, however, if you’re using pretzels, just be aware that they can become chewy if you do so.
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  1. Going to try the Christmas Bark I think my family will really like it this year.

  2. I’ve been trying to find a simple recipe for years–this ONE IS FABULOUS !! THANK YOU !!

  3. I’m to take this to our family Christmas Party, it is Sooooo pretty and Looks yummy!!! Thank you, for sharing!!!