Peppermint Mocha Bark

The Perfect Holiday Sweet to Treat Yourself or Gift to Others 

Are you ready for the best time of year? Santa will be sliding down your chimney before you know it!

Here at Infinit, we love finding ways to incorporate our products in new and delicious ways. With the holidays coming up, we thought it was a great opportunity to mix up a new batch of goodies to celebrate the season.

This recipe incorporates our seasonal Peppermint Mocha Custom Protein, which helps add a little bit of extra protein for Santa this year. This Peppermint Mocha Bark is the perfect no-bake treat take to your holiday cookie exchange, or just enjoy when the mood hits! 

This Peppermint Bark recipe uses dark chocolate, rather than milk chocolate, for some added nutritional benefits (although, you can use milk chocolate if you prefer). Dark chocolate contains 2-3 times more flavanols than milk chocolate.

Flavanols are compounds that are naturally found in plants. They help relax the muscle tissue in your blood vessels, thus lowering blood pressure and improving blood flow. Dark chocolate is also rich in copper, iron, zinc, magnesium, and phosphorus. The higher percentage of cocoa found in dark chocolate, the more flavanols present.

Peppermint Mocha Bark

Prep time: 30 minutes

Total time: 3 hours, 30 minutes

Yield: 15 servings

Ingredients

• 2 scoops of INFINIT Peppermint Mocha Custom Protein
• 12 oz dark (or semi-sweet) chocolate chips, or bars chopped into pieces
• 1 ½ teaspoons peppermint extract
• 16 oz white chocolate chips, or bars chopped into pieces
• 4 candy canes, crushed

Instructions

1. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish or cookie sheet with aluminum foil, shiny side up; smoothing out any wrinkles.
   
   
2. Heat 1 inch of water in a small pot over low heat until steaming. Put the dark chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over the small pot of steaming water and continuously stir to prevent the chocolate from burning. Remove the chocolate from the steaming water once ⅓ of the chocolate is melted. Continue to stir the chocolate until all chocolate is melted.
   
   
3. Add Peppermint Mocha Custom Protein, one scoop at a time. Stir to incorporate into chocolate. The  Peppermint Mocha Custom Protein will thicken up the chocolate. Add ¼ cup water to thin out the chocolate. Add as much water as needed to reach desired consistency. Return bowl to heat if needed. Process could take up to 10 minutes for all of the chocolate to melt.
   
   
4. Once all chocolate is melted, stir in ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract. Quickly pour chocolate into the baking dish and spread in an even layer. Set aside at room temperature until set, about 15 minutes.
   
   
5. As the dark chocolate is setting, repeat the melting process with the white chocolate. Once the white chocolate is melted, stir in ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract. Quickly pour over the dark chocolate and spread in an even layer.
   
   
6. Sprinkle crushed candy canes over top white chocolate. Set aside at room temperature to allow chocolate to completely cool, about 1 hour. Then refrigerate bark 1-2 hours to allow chocolate to set.
   
   
7. Break bark into pieces and enjoy! It can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
   
   

About the Author

Sarah Schuh is a 2020-2021 Dietetic student intern who currently is completing her final undergraduate year at the University of Cincinnati and is preparing to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. INFINIT Nutrition is proud to partner with the University of Cincinnati's Coordinated Program in Dietetics (CPD) to provide our next generation of nutrition professionals an opportunity to spend time with the INFINIT Team and gain real-life experience of working at a sports nutrition company.