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This holiday chocolate bark made with rich dark chocolate is bursting with flavor! Pomegranate seeds give it color and some tartness, pistachios make a nice contrast in both texture and color and finally a pop of candy canes to make it more festive. It’s always one of my most popular holiday sweets for parties and gift giving! You will absolutely love it! And did I mention that it’s gluten AND dairy free?!?
If you need a gluten-free sweets recipe this holiday season, and you don’t want to spend a gob loads of time preparing and baking and worrying….then make this holiday bark.
And seriously, this dark chocolate with nuts is glorious. And it is so easy to make. Christmas? New Year’s? Make it for both! I’ll show you how. You can go out this year with a smile on your face knowing you ate the best holiday bark ever!
Chocolate bark is my GO TO dessert during the holidays, and this recipe has become my staple sweet dish.
What is Chocolate Bark?
This chocolate candy with nuts is a simple confection that’s made by spreading melted chocolate into a thin layer and topping them with a variety of nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, coconut, or candies.
Once the chocolate hardens on the parchment paper the toppings stay stuck to the surface. The chocolate is broken apart or cut into different sizes for serving.
It’s a versatile treat because you can make it with a variety of different types of chocolate and toppings. It’s commonly served around the holidays but is suitable any time of the year.
This Healthy Chocolate Bark Recipe Is…
- Easy Holiday Recipe. Holiday bark is very easy to prepare. It’s simply a sheet of chocolate that’s been tempered with dried fruits and nuts laid atop on it while warm.
- Budget-Friendly. Now, I love me some fruit in holiday bark, like this amazing Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bark by Salt & Lavender so you can make it at home and save some money! I mean not only is it easy, but tastes so delicious!
- Fully Customizable. Use different toppings or experiment with different types of chocolate to make your version of a Christmas candy bar you love!
Ingredients
The combination of each ingredient makes for a fantastic flavor in this healthy bark recipe. You’ve got silkiness in the dark chocolate, combined with saltiness in the pistachios, the oil depth in the walnuts, sweet and crunchy in the pomegranate seeds, and minty sugar in the ground candy cane. Seriously. It’s like Christmas on a bed of chocolate.
- Dark chocolate chunks: Feel free to add extra if you want! Make sure to check your label for gluten free. Enjoy Life is GF AND dairy free and Toll House dark chocolate morsels are GF.
- Pomegranate: Grab a fresh pomegranate at the store for the best results!
- Sugar: Just a touch to sweeten the pomegranate as it cooks.
- Pistachios: I suggest using roasted and salted nuts for a bit more flavor. Setton Farms are GF certified.
- Walnuts: Use the halves and look for the label to state they’re GF label OR “Made in a facility with other tree nuts.”
- Candy Canes: These will be ground up and sprinkled over the top! Bob’s are GF.
How to Make Holiday Chocolate Bark
Gather all your ingredients for chocolate bark candy and let’s get started cooking! Here’s a description of the steps in the recipe but be sure to follow the detailed directions in the recipe card.
- Cook the Pomegranate Seeds. Cook the pomegranate juice and seeds with a pinch or two of sugar for about 20 minutes. As it cooks the consistency thickens and becomes sticky but keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Remove it from the heat and transfer to parchment paper. Spread it out and let it cool and dry completely.
- Temper Your Chocolate. Heat the chocolate in the microwave in a glass bowl for 30 seconds. Then remove it, stir, and heat for another 30 seconds. Do this a total of about 4 times or until you see only tiny little pieces that still need to melt. Give it a stir and these pieces will melt from the heated chocolate!
- Spread Out the Chocolate. Transfer the melted chocolate to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Shape it into a big rectangle that’s thin and even. It’s easier to work from the inside out.
- Add Your Toppings. Add the chopped walnuts, pistachios, and ground candy cane over the top. Make sure you do this quickly while the chocolate is still wet.
- Add the Pomegranate. It will be like a sticky molasses or at least sugary and sticky. Take it and sprinkle all over the chocolate as well. It will be sticky so do your best.
- Secure the Toppings. Gently press down on all the toppings slightly so they are in the chocolate. Let sit and harden. Once chocolate hardens, you can break it into pieces.
Seasoned Tip
In a Rush? If you want to quickly harden the chocolate you can place it in the fridge or briefly in the freezer so that it firms up faster.
Variations
- Dark Chocolate: In and of itself all varieties of chocolate are gluten-free so you can use this recipe with milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and even white chocolate. It’s important to check for additional ingredients added that maybe aren’t gluten-free. You also want to make sure the chocolate isn’t produced in the same place as ingredients that contain gluten.
- Other Nuts: You can also use walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, or even a mixture of nuts!
- Chocolate Swirl: Add some melted white chocolate into the mix! Spread out the dark chocolate as directed in the recipe. Then use a spoon to drizzle the white chocolate over the top before adding the rest of your toppings.
Tips & Tricks
- How to Store Chocolate Bark. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve. The bark tastes fantastic when served right out of the fridge! You can also freeze it as well. If stacking, place a piece of parchment between the layers as the pomegranate is a bit sticky.
- Use Caution When Heating the Chocolate. Do it in intervals and stir after each one. Stop heating it as soon as it is mostly melted. The residual heat in the bowl and chocolate should melt the rest of it if you simply keep stirring it.
Once your bark has hardened you can use a knife to press down on the chocolate and break it into pieces. It is supposed to look a bit rough and you will end up with various sized pieces.
An easy way to melt chocolate is to use a double boiler or place a metal mixing bowl on top of a pot of hot or gently boiling water. Stir it with a whisk until it’s mostly melted. Then you can remove the bowl from over the water and continue to whisk until all the chocolate is melted. This method is a bit more dangerous as you’re working over boiling water so use caution. Also, make sure you don’t accidentally get any water in your chocolate as that may make it seize.
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Holiday Chocolate Bark
Ingredients
- 1 cup dark chocolate chunks or more if desired tempered, Enjoy Life is GF and dairy free/ Toll House dark chocolate morsels are GF)
- 1 pomegranate using the juice and seeds
- 1-2 tablespoons sugar
- 40 pistachios about a handful! roasted & salted; shelled, chopped (Setton Farms are GF certified)
- 3-4 tablespoons walnut halves chopped look for GF label OR “Made in a facility with other tree nuts.”
- 2-3 regular candy canes ground in a food processor Bob’s is GF
Instructions
- You will cook the pomegranate first. I slice a pomegranate in fourths, then turn each skin inside out and scrape out the seeds. Then I pick out the yellow colored flesh and keep the juice and seeds.
- Heat a skillet to medium low to medium and pour in pomegranate juice with seeds. Stir and add a pinch or two of sugar. You will stir this for approximately 20 minutes OR until the consistency thickens and gets sticky. Be mindful not to burn. Take off heat and scrape onto parchment paper when finished. Then flatten and let it cool and dry completely.
- While this cools, temper your chocolate. I place dark chocolate in microwave glass bowl and heat for 30 seconds. Stir, then heat another 30 seconds. Do this a total of about 4 times. You will see tiny little pieces still needed to melt. If you see these, you are done. Give it a stir and these pieces will melt from the heated chocolate! If you microwave too much, you will burn the chocolate!
- When chocolate is tempered, pour onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You will spread it out like a big rectangle and in one smooth layer. It will not take up the size of a regular baking sheet. The bark should be thin, so just eye it. Don’t smooth the edges, but rather work from the inside out. Once the piece looks spread out and uniform, you will add your toppings. Work quickly as the chocolate needs to stay wet.
- In a small kitchen bowl, mix up ground candy cane, chopped walnuts and chopped pistachios. You want the pistachios and walnuts to be chopped around the same size, and the candy cane will be almost like a grainy powder. Mix it all up, then sprinkle all over wet chocolate! It’s so fun!
- Grab the pomegranate you cooked. It will be like a sticky molasses or at least sugary and sticky. Take it and sprinkle all over the chocolate as well. It will be sticky so do your best.
- Gently press down on all the toppings slightly, so they are secured to the chocolate. Then let sit for awhile. Once hardened, you can break your pieces, then plate them and put in the fridge until ready to serve. The bark tastes fantastic when served right out of the fridge!
Notes
- How to Store Chocolate Bark. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve. The bark tastes fantastic when served right out of the fridge! You can also freeze it as well. If stacking, place a piece of parchment between the layers as the pomegranate is a bit sticky.
- Use Caution When Heating the Chocolate. Do it in intervals and stir after each one. Stop heating it as soon as it is mostly melted. The residual heat in the bowl and chocolate should melt the rest of it if you simply keep stirring it.
