Buckeye Bark
Ingredients
- 18 oz. chocolate, divided* dairy-free
- 4 tsp. oil, divded: walnut, almond, coconut
- 9 oz. creamy peanut butter*
- 2 TBSP powdered sugar
- 2 TBSP powdered monk fruit, stevia, or other sweetener* homemade or store-bought
Instructions
- Line a baking dish or cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper; have some excess hanging over the sides, it will help later when breaking up the bark
- Add half of the chocolate (9 oz.) and half of the oil (2 tsp.) into a microwave-safe bowl and melt in 15-25 second increments in the microwave, stirring thoroughly between so the chocolate doesn't burn
- Line a baking sheet or casserole dish with parchment or wax paper, and pour the melted chocolate in and spread it out evenly with a rubber spatula or knife*
- Place the pan in the fridge for the chocolate to set, and prepare the peanut butter mixture while waiting
- In a bowl, combine the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and powdered stevia (in a blender or food processor, blend the stevia or other sweetener up to a fine dust) and mix them together – it'll be thick, so continue to fold and press the peanut butter with a rubber spatula until there are no more clumps of sugar
- Once the peanut butter mixture is prepared, disperse it as evenly as possible – it doesn't have to be perfect – over the chocolate by forming thin patties (no more than ¼" thick) by hand and layering them on top of the chocolate or pressing and spreading it with a rubber spatula*
- Return the pan to the fridge and melt the remaining chocolate and oil, same as in step 2
- Pour the melted chocolate on top of the peanut butter layer and use a rubber spatula or knife to spread it out evenly, covering the peanut butter entirely, then place the pan back in the fridge
- Once the top layer of chocolate is set, use the excess paper hanging over the sides as "gloves" to break the bark up into pieces by hand – using the paper is far less messy as the chocolate won't start to melt in your hands
- Store in the fridge (and be tantalized every time you open the fridge); it's soft enough to eat straight from the fridge, but you can let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to let it soften even more before eating if you prefer
Notes
- *Chocolate: Enjoy Life is an allergen-friendly brand that bakes, melts, and tastes like regular chocolate and is what was used here
- *Peanut butter: thicker, non-runny peanut butter works best (the freshly ground peanut butter that you can grind in the store is usually nice and thick)
- *Powdered sweetener: you can use all powdered sweetener in place of the powdered sugar to cut down on added sugar; so 4 TBSP of powdered sweetener and no powdered sugar. You can quickly make your own powdered sweetener by blending up stevia or another sweetener of choice until it's a fine powder, or you can also use regular powdered sugar if you prefer – doing so would increase the sugar content of the recipe, if that's something you're conscientious of
- *3. The size of the pan or dish isn't super important (typically a standard, medium sized pan anywhere from ~10-15"x13-18" is used, but whatever you have will surely work) – the smaller the pan, the thicker the bark will be, and it'll get thinner and make more bark the larger the pan is, but that's the only aspect of the recipe impacted by the size of the pan
- *6. As long as your peanut butter isn't runny, adding the peanut butter layer by hand is the preferred method; it's not as gooey or messy as you may think, and it prevents the possibility of pressing the PB too forcefully though the chocolate if it hasn't fully set or cracking the chocolate layer altogether. If you don't do it by hand, warm the peanut butter mixture in the microwave first to make it a little more spreadable and work carefully. If your peanut butter is on the runnier side, spreading it with a rubber spatula, butter knife, or spoon will work best.
- To make this vegan, ensure the powdered sugar is free from bone char and other animal-derived ingredients
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