Dark chocolate topped with pistachios, dried cranberries, and holiday sprinkles makes this Christmas Chocolate Bark an easy and festive treat to enjoy yourself or give as a holiday gift!
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The holidays are the perfect time of year to experiment in the kitchen! I love making traditional vegan Christmas cookies and peppermint bark, but sometimes, I like mixing things up with a fun and colorful Christmas Chocolate Bark!
It includes a layer of dark chocolate topped with chopped pistachios, dried cranberries, and holiday sprinkles to top it all off! I’ve also made another version with white chocolate colored green and red. You can do both versions or pick your favorite.
This Christmas Chocolate Bark looks so cute tied in a holiday bag to give to friends.
There are many chocolate bark recipes to choose from, but if you want one full of holiday cheer and suitable for those with various dietary restrictions, this is the one for you! It’s allergy-friendly, dairy-free, vegan, and gluten-free. It’s so easy, cute, and fun to make!
💗 Why You’ll Love This Christmas Bark
- Easy to make
- Simple Ingredients
- Delicious, festive, and fun!
- The perfect homemade holiday gift!
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Dark Chocolate: I like to use chocolate chunks. They melt easily and produce a creamy consistency. I use dairy-free chocolate chunks from Enjoy Life because they are allergy-friendly and vegan. However, feel free to use your preferred chocolate brand.
Pistachios: Adds crunch and color.
Dried Cranberries: Adds a tart contrast to the sweet chocolate.
White Chocolate Chips: I usually use mini white chocolate chips. I also use the Enjoy Life brand, which is allergy-friendly and dairy-free.
Red and Green Food Coloring: Food coloring has a bad reputation, but some quality brands allow you to add a burst of color without worrying about the chemicals. I use Watkins Food Coloring with no artificial dyes.
Christmas Sprinkles: I love Supernaturals Christmas Softies Natural Sprinkles. They are gluten-free, soy-free, corn-free, and vegan! Plus, they look adorable!
📖 Variations and Substitutions
Other Toppings: Add dried cherries, apricots, blueberries, pecans, and sliced almonds would also be delicious.
Christmas Candies: Instead of sprinkles, you can top with red and green M&M candies or other small and colorful holiday candy. You could add crushed candy canes or coconut flakes to resemble snow. Bits of toffee would also be a welcome addition.
Reindeer Chocolate Bark: Add pretzels for antlers, candy eyes, and red chocolate candies for the nose. Break into triangular pieces to look like a reindeer.
🔪 Tools and Equipment
- Glass Mixing Bowls-For melting the chocolate.
- Microwave-Slowly warms and melts the chocolate.
- Baking Sheet-Used to spread the melted chocolate to create a bark.
- Parchment Paper-Keeps the chocolate from sticking to the baking sheet.
- Spatula-For stirring the melted chocolate and spreading it on the baking sheet.
👩🏻🍳 How to Make Christmas Chocolate Bark
- Add the chocolate chunks to a glass bowl. Melt them in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each time, until completely melted. I find it takes 2 to 3 increments.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the melted dark chocolate into a rectangular shape. You can make it thin or thick, depending on your preference.
- While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the chopped pistachios, dried cranberries, and Christmas sprinkles on top.
- Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour or until set. While the dark chocolate bark is setting, you can work on the white chocolate version.
- Divide the white chocolate into two glass bowls. Melt each bowl in 30-second increments, stirring between each time, until completely melted.
- Add about ten drops of green food coloring in one bowl, and in the other bowl, add ten drops of red food coloring. Use a spatula to stir the color into the chocolate to achieve an even color. Add more or less coloring for a deeper or lighter hue.
- Spread the colored white chocolate on another baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Top with Christmas sprinkles before it’s set.
- Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.
- Once set, remove both barks from the refrigerator and break them into pieces—place in a tin, serving bowl, or baggies to give to friends.
📝 Expert Tips
- Don’t allow the chocolate to seize when melting. It is easy to overmelt the chocolate in the microwave, which can cause it to burn. If this happens, it won’t spread and instead will be inedible.
- To keep from burning the chocolate, melt it in 30-second increments and give it a good stir each time. As the chocolate warms, the heat will gently melt the chocolate. After the second or third time in the microwave, I need to stir it well, and eventually, all the small chunks will melt.
- Feel free to use any chocolate you like. I use vegan and allergy-friendly chocolate, but you can use milk chocolate. However, try to use high-quality chocolate. It melts more easily because it doesn’t have added stabilizers and will set better.
❓ FAQS
If you prefer, you can melt your chocolate using a double boiler. Bring a saucepan filled with two inches of water to a boil. Reduce heat, and set a glass bowl with chocolate chips on top, ensuring the bowl covers the rim of the saucepan but does not touch the water. You want the bowl tightly fitted across the top of the saucepan so that the steam does not escape. The steam will slowly and gently melt the chocolate chips. Stir until completely melted.
I suggest placing pieces of the bark in a clear treat bag. Tie it with the same holiday string, and attach a cute holiday gift tag! I love this set of holiday strings that comes with snowflake gift tags!
🫙 Storage
Room Temperature: Store them at room temperature in a cool dry place in an airtight plastic bag or tin. They will keep for several weeks.
Freezer: You can also freeze them for a longer shelf life. They will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months.
🎄 More Christmas Candy and Cookies!
⚖️ Serving Size
Depending on how large you break your pieces, this bark will serve about 18 people.
Recipe
Christmas Chocolate Bark
Equipment
Ingredients
- 10 ounces dark chocolate chunks
- 9 ounces mini white chocolate chips
- 3-4 dots natural red food coloring
- 3-4 dots natural green food coloring
- 2 tablespoon Christmas Sprinkles
Instructions
- Add the chocolate chunks to a glass bowl. Melt them in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each time, until completely melted. I find it takes 2 to 3 increments.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the melted dark chocolate into a rectangular shape. You can make it thin or thick, depending on your preference.
- While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the chopped pistachios, dried cranberries, and Christmas sprinkles on top. Place in the refrigerator to set for 30 minutes.
- While the dark chocolate bark is setting, divide the white chocolate chips into two glass bowls. For each bowl, melt the white chocolate in 30-second increments, stirring between each time, until completely melted.
- In one bowl, add about ten drops of green food coloring, and in the other bowl, add ten drops of red food coloring. Use a spatula to stir the color into the chocolate to achieve an even color. Add more or less coloring for a deeper or lighter hue.
- Spread the colored white chocolate on another baking sheet lined with parchment paper in a single layer for each.
- Top with Christmas sprinkles before it has time to set. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour to set.
- Once set, remove both barks from the refrigerator and break them into pieces.
- Place in a tin, serving bowl, or baggies to give to friends.
Notes
- Don’t allow the chocolate to seize when melting. It is easy to overmelt the chocolate in the microwave, which can cause it to burn. If this happens, it won’t spread and instead will be inedible.
- To keep from burning the chocolate, melt it in 30-second increments and give it a good stir each time. As the chocolate warms, the heat will gently melt the chocolate. After the second or third time in the microwave, I need to stir it well, and eventually, all the small chunks will melt.
- Feel free to use any chocolate you like. I use vegan and allergy-friendly chocolate, but you can use milk chocolate. However, try to use high-quality chocolate. It melts more easily because it doesn’t have added stabilizers and will set better.
- Store in a cool, dry place at room temperature in an airtight container for several weeks. It is chocolate so it will last a long time.
- You can also freeze it to extend its shelf life for several months.
Beth
This bark looks so good! I love the combination of the nuts and dried fruit with the chocolate. Yum!
Ann
I love the flavor combo of Cranberries & pistachios. They pair well with the sweetness of the chocolate. Thanks.
Dannii
This looks amazing. I love the pistachios on it.
Jill
Love the natural red and green colors in this bark from the dried cranberries and pistachios!
Gianne
The combination of rich, velvety chocolate with crunchy nuts and sweet candy pieces is a true delight. It’s the perfect treat to indulge in during the holiday season. I can’t get enough of it!
Noelle
I love making bark around Christmas, my favorite treat! Can’t wait to try this recipe out
Angela
What a cute and delicious idea! I love being able to give homemade treats, and this is just perfect! Thanks so much for sharing!
Mahy
I was looking for a good chocolate bark recipe to make this year, and here it is. I just can’t wait to give it a try!
Maria
Its delicious and flavorful! We will try this on weekend <3
Shelley
This is an AWESOME idea – love it love it!! Such a perfect idea for teachers, coaches, neighbors, hostesses … I feel like the list of people who would love to receive one of these just goes on and on. I mean, seriously … who WOUDN”T love to receive this?!?