Matcha Peppermint Bark

My FAVORITE treat during Christmas is peppermint bark. I used to love getting the peppermint bark from Williams Sonoma and eating the whole thing myself. There really isn’t anything that gives me Christmas vibes more than peppermint and chocolate. I wanted to create my own version of peppermint bark with one of my favorite ingredients – matcha! Not surprising there lol. What I love most about this matcha peppermint bark recipe is the bitterness from the matcha powder balances out the intense sweetness of the white chocolate, and honestly, makes it even better. My mom even loved this dessert, and she hates white chocolate.

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

• Dark chocolate – I used Baker’s semi sweet chocolate for my recipe. Use whatever dark chocolate you can find, but I recommend using high quality chocolate if you can find it.
• White chocolate – I used Nestle white chocolate chips for this recipe, and I personally didn’t love it because it didn’t melt completely. But that’s the only chocolate I could find. If you can find high quality white chocolate, I would highly recommend using that instead.
• Coconut oil – The coconut oil helps loosen up the chocolate and gives it that glistening look. You can use any kind of neutral oil as a substitute for coconut oil.
• Peppermint extract – Gives the peppermint bark its peppermint-y flavor. I only used 1/2 teaspoon because I thought that provided the best balance between peppermint and chocolate, but if you really want a stronger peppermint flavor, use more.
• Matcha powder – Matcha powder gives the white chocolate it’s matcha flavor and green color. I used Aiya culinary grade matcha powder for this peppermint bark.
• Candy canes – The candy cane layer gives this peppermint bark some character! Feel free to not add it if you don’t like candy canes.

Making my matcha peppermint bark

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. I used a small baking sheet that is 13×9. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Add dark chocolate and 1/4 teaspoon of coconut oil to a bowl. Put the bowl of chocolate on top of the pot. The heat from the simmering water will melt the chocolate. Stir constantly to ensure it melts evenly. Once the chocolate melts, add 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract. Stir and remove the bowl from the top of the pot. Pour the chocolate onto the prepared baking sheet. Using a small offset spatula, spread the chocolate evenly across the baking sheet. Let it cool in the fridge for 20 minutes.

While the chocolate is cooling, prepare your white chocolate. Add white chocolate and 1/4 teaspoon of coconut oil to a bowl. Sift the matcha powder into a separate small bowl. Crush the candy canes into small pieces. Set everything aside. After 20 minutes, start melting your white chocolate. Put the bowl over the pot and stir constantly to melt the chocolate. Once melted, add the matcha powder and the last 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract. Stir until a uniform green color. Take the dark chocolate out from the fridge. Pour the white chocolate over the dark chocolate. Working quickly, spread the matcha white chocolate evenly across the baking sheet. Sprinkle the crushed candy canes on top. Put it back in the fridge for another 20 minutes to cool. Break apart and enjoy!

Tips on how to make the perfect matcha peppermint bark

Use high quality chocolate

I highly recommend using high quality dark and white chocolate for this peppermint bark. High quality chocolate melts easier, and it looks better. In testing, I used Nestle white chocolate chips, and some of my chocolate didn’t fully melt which made it clumpy. For the dark chocolate, I used Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate which melted so easily, and it glistened when the light hit it (see above). So use high quality chocolate if you can find it.

Use a double boiler instead of the microwave

Using a double boiler helps you control the melting of your chocolate better than in a microwave. It also helps reduce the chance you will burn your chocolate. To create a double boiler, bring some water to a simmer. It doesn’t matter how much as long as it doesn’t touch the bottom of your bowl. Put your bowl of chocolate on top and stir it constantly to help it melt evenly.

If I want to use a microwave, how do I make sure my chocolate doesn’t burn?

If you want to use a microwave, I would recommend heating your chocolate in small bursts (10-20 seconds), and mix in between each time interval. Once almost all the chocolate has melted, stop heating your chocolate and mix it until the last bits fully melt. The heat from chocolate should melt the rest of the chocolate.

Work quickly to prevent the dark chocolate from melting

When you add the layer of white chocolate, the white chocolate is hot, so if you don’t work quickly, the heat will melt the dark chocolate layer on the bottom. This happened to me in testing which caused some of the dark chocolate layer to mix into the matcha white chocolate layer.

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