It's BAKING SEASON!!!

I love this time of year. As soon as Thanksgiving is finished I hit the baking aisle of the grocery store and set to work. I used to give out Christmas treat baskets of my goodies, but I have a house full of almost grown males, now. Nowadays, if you want some of my baked goods, you'd better watch for a tweet, Facebook status update, or blog post, grab your GPS, and beat tracks! Regardless, I love baking. I love my kitchen and house, by extension, smelling of chocolate, peanut butter, and mint. I love watching the hubby and boys come in sniffing the air to find out what I made that day. I just love everything about it!

This morning I kicked off my month of chocolaty goodness with a batch of Peppermint Bark. As I'm not a huge fan of plain white chocolate I layer mine. The recipe follows. If you try it out make sure and comment and let me know if you liked it, what you changed, etc. The best part about baking is sharing ideas to make newer, better things!

Peppermint Bark a la Bragg

Ingredients

• 12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 12 oz. bag of white chocolate chips
• 2 teaspoons of vegetable shortening, divided
• ½ teaspoon of peppermint extract, divided
• 12 candy canes, broken into small pieces

Instructions

1. Line a 9-inch x 9-inch pan with wax paper or aluminum foil.
2. Using a double boiler melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of the vegetable shortening, stirring frequently to prevent the chocolate from scorching.
3. When almost melted add ¼ teaspoon of peppermint extract and continue stirring frequently until all of the chips are melted and smooth.
4. Immediately pour the melted semi-sweet chocolate into the lined pan and spread evenly.
5. Top with ½ of the broken candy canes and place in the refrigerator until the white chocolate is ready to pour.
6. Repeat steps 2-4 with the white chocolate chips.
7. Top with the remaining broken candy canes and refrigerate one hour, or until set.
8. Remove candy from pan by turning it upside down onto a hard surface.
9. Carefully peel the wax paper or foil from the candy and break from the bottom into the desired sized pieces.
10. Store in an airtight container.