Black and White Holiday Bark
You can’t go wrong with this black and white holiday bark- it is insanely easy, fun to share, and so crazy delicious!
Believe it or not, I’ve been waiting an entire year to share this recipe with you. Oh, the self-control! I amaze myself.
I made it, like, the day after Christmas last year or something. Don’t ask me why. I think I was thumbing through my Recipes To Try binder (which is enormously overcrowded) and found this. And decided I had to make it NOW.
Even though the holidays were officially over. Your guess is as good as mine as to why I thought hadn’t consumed enough sugar already through the holiday season. Clearly, I felt I needed more.
And this holiday bark was so delightfully simple, I nearly cried that I was going to have to wait a whole year to tell the world about it. Here’s the thing, not only is it easy, but it is so delicious, it kind of leaves you going, “hmmm, what is IN this that makes it so awesome?” Here’s the secret ingredient: rice krispies. Don’t be a doubter! It works.
The dark chocolate is topped with a mixture of white chocolate, rice krispies and dried cranberries and that little bit of texture and crunch from the rice cereal seriously puts these over the top. Then you add the tart sweetness of the cranberries and wow…stellar.
You can’t go wrong with this stuff. It is insanely easy and so crazy delicious, I’m afraid you are going to seriously resent me for taking this long to share it with you. It’s ok, I still love you.
See all of this year’s Sugar Rush treats HERE.
Black and White Holiday Bark
Ingredients
- 1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup Rice Krispies cereal
- ¾ cup dried cranberries, divided
- 1 pound white chocolate, chopped (do not substitute white chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Line an 8X8-inch or 9X9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, allowing the foil to extend over the sides, and set aside. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, microwave all but 2 or 3 tablespoons of the chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate at 50% power for 1 minute. Stir, scraping down the sides. Continue microwaving at 30 second intervals, still at 50% power, until small lumps remain. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Spread the chocolate into the prepared pan and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Melt the white chocolate using the same method as the dark chocolate, keeping in mind that white chocolate melts at a lower temperature than dark chocolate so take care not to scorch it. When the white chocolate is completely melted, stir in the rice krispies and 1/2 cup of the cranberries until everything is evenly mixed. Spread this mixture over the chilled chocolate mixture in an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup cranberries over the top. Chill for 30 minutes, until the white chocolate layer is set.
- Melt the 2 or 3 reserved tablespoons of dark chocolate in the microwave and transfer to a small ziploc bag, making sure to pour it all into one corner of the bag. With the pan of bark right in front of you, snip a tiny corner off the bag where the chocolate is and drizzle it over the top of the bark. Let the bark sit for 10 minutes until the drizzle is set. Remove the bark from the pan by lifting up on the foil. Carefully peel the foil away. Cut the bark into squares with a sharp knife. The bark will keep, well-covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from America’s Test Kitchen Holiday Cookies 2010
I make this every year for our secretaries’ Christmas Party at the office and my colleagues love it!
I also had the issue with the layers coming apart when cutting and found that semisweet chocolate works better than bittersweet and it also helps to add the white chocolate layer before the dark chocolate has set fully.
Thanks for the feedback, Corinna!
Easy enuf to make. Tastes good but the separation of the chocolates is a deal breaker. Get to explain to my company that the random sized chunks of chocolate are to be eaten together. Bummer.
I make an easy rocky road candy every Christmas – everyone loves it. I think this will be a simple recipe and I can give it with the rocky road. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Mel, I bought all the ingredients for this except the cranberries because I wasn’t sure if they were dried unsweetened ones or dried sweetened ones (like Craisins). I invested quite a bit in buying 8 Ghiradelli bars to make up 2 pounds of chocolate!!! So I want to make sure I get the right cranberries. Thanks so much. Can’t wait to make this for an upcoming holiday open house next weekend.
Hey Teresa – I’ve used both…and really either works great. I do think with this, the sweetened ones are a little better to give an extra dose of sweetness with the tang.
Wondering if you’ve tried freezing this? I want to try a bunch of your recipes for Christmas gifts but there isn’t much mentioning if freezing?
I haven’t tried freezing this, sorry.
Mel, do you recall if you used an 8×8 pan or 9×9 for this? Thanks!
I’ve used both on different batches and either works fine (the layers are just slightly thinner in the 9X9 of course).
HELP!! Not sure what I’ve done wrong, but when I popped the finished bark onto cutting board and started cutting, my white top layer split away from the dark bottom layer! Would microwaving a few seconds meld them together?
Hi Julie – I remember from the comment thread that someone else had this issue, too. I suggested the following:
someone else had that issue too that commented above. I’m not exactly sure but it could be brand of chocolate (some chocolate has more cocoa butter in it which may make it more likely to separate like that) or else you may need to add the white chocolate layer before the dark chocolate has set fully so the layers can meld together.
She commented back and said she “glued” the layers back together with melted chocolate and that worked great.
I ended up melting some chocolate and “gluing” the two layers back together. It worked! 🙂
Love this! I’ve made it twice now. The first time I left it in the fridge too long before cutting it — overnight. I had to use lots of muscles. Today I cut it not long after the drizzle went on and it was much easier. I got my chocolate bars from Aldi’s and they were great!
Hey Christine – someone else had that issue too that commented above. I’m not exactly sure but it could be brand of chocolate (some chocolate has more cocoa butter in it which may make it more likely to separate like that) or else you may need to add the white chocolate layer before the dark chocolate has set fully so the layers can meld together.
I made this yesterday. My husband LOVES it and won’t stop talking about it but my entire dark chocolate layer separated from the white chocolate layer when I cut them into bars!! Why?!! We are piecing them together to eat it but doesn’t make for a very good presentation. What could I have done wrong?
Valerie – I haven’t doubled either of those but I think they would be fine doubled for a 9X13 pan.
Have you doubled this into a 9×13 pan before? How about the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge? I need to make loads of holiday cookies for all the teachers and staff at my kids’ schools.
Thanks.
That’s odd, Megan. What brand of chocolate did you use? I wonder if maybe adding the second layer before the first has completely set would help.
Love this. When I made it though, the layers came apart when I cut it. Any ideas of what I did wrong? Don’t worry, we still ate it, just in pieces.
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the cranberries seal the deal for me–excellent touch!
Hi Sherrie – white chocolate chips (as opposed to the bar form) are notoriously finicky when it comes to melting. I think it has something to do with the amount of cocoa butter and such but I’m not sure. Anyhow, the type of chocolate really matters so use the bar form (I recommend Ghirardelli’s brand).
Amanda_AB – truly, I wish we could all come together on the metric system. I could convert easily. 1 pound is 16 ounces.
Amanda in AB, a fellow Canuck here.
1 pound is 16 ounces and is equivalent to 454 grams – go for 450 or 500 grams if buying in bulk.
Great recipe Mel.
Ok, it’s official…this is going to be my homemade food gift this year! I usually make chocolate dipped peanut butter balls, but I am going to shake things up with this bark recipe this year! Thanks for (finally!) sharing this recipe, Mel! 😉
Mel,
Please forgive my Canadian metric self….1 lbs of chocolate equals what? 14oz? 16 oz? Any idea of the gram weight?
p.s. Your receipts rock my world…yes, my Canadian metric world 🙂
Oh wow! This looks amazing! I will definitely try this recipe. For those that don’t want to use dried cranberries, maybe you can try it with dried cherries. That way you don’t lose the sweet-tart-contrast.
Oh wow…..looks amazing. I’m going to add pistachios when I make this. somehow they just seem to go together at the holidays. Thanks 🙂
This looks so good – definitely going to try it!
Just out of curiousity, what is the difference in white chocolate chips?
Shannon, I’m sure it would be fine…it would just be missing the nice tart and sweet contrast.
Do you think it would still be good without the cranberries? We don’t eat them at my house!!
Marsha – I usually use Ghirardelli chocolate or Trader Joes bar chocolate. I love either one.
Wow! Your stuff just keeps getting better and better. My neighbors are going to so love their Christmas cookie plates this year thanks to you!!
Yum!!! I did some toasted pistachios and cranberries with white chocolate last year and it was great. Just made thin bark with it.
Dark chocolate and cranberries! Yummmmm, I will be making this soon.
Mel,
What brand of chocolate did you use or what do you recommend?
Thanks