Fourth of July White Chocolate Bark

I have a confession to make.  I’ve started becoming a Pinterest person.  At first, I thought you could only keep track of all that stuff if you were on it all the time, because things get posted so quickly, and that doesn’t mesh well with the billable hour.  But then I realized that things get reposted and reposted and reposted, so if you go on it once every day or two, you’re bound to catch at least the most popular stuff.

Anyway, I saw this recipe for Fourth of July white chocolate bark on Pinterest and knew I had to try it and take my own spin on it.  You know I love holiday bark.  It’s got white chocolate, which means my husband will love it – he likes white chocolate, I like dark chocolate, he likes pasta, I like rice (okay, I like pasta too), I like black beans, he likes – huh, I don’t know what the opposite of black beans would be, but I bet he likes it.

You start with a base of melted white chocolate, and then you can use any red, white, and blue stuff you have on hand to accent this bark.  Whatever suits you and/or your loved ones’ tastes.

For example, I switched out the plain M&Ms for peanut butter M&Ms, because those are my husband’s favorite.  And, after being together for two and a half years and married for almost one, I’m starting to like them a lot too.  (Peanut M&Ms still take the cake, in my book).

I also threw in some candy-coated sunflower seeds, which I found at the candy store in the mall near us.  And I used some of the red, white, and blue non-pareils and star sprinkles that I bought last year.  I always like proving that something I bought for one holiday or color scheme will indeed get used again.

The recipe I started with said that the number of blue and red M&Ms in the average bag would be uneven.  Maybe peanut butter M&Ms are different, but I got about the same number of blue and red from my bag.  You should get an extra bag just in case, though, because what’s wrong with an extra bag of M&Ms?  Nothing!

Fourth of July White Chocolate Bark

Adapted from Love Stitched

This ingredient list is a template – switch it up however you wish!

• 12 – 16 oz white chocolate, white chocolate chips, or white baking chips (depending on your level of pickiness with chocolate)
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 2 handfuls of miniature pretzel rods (approximately 15 – 20)
• Red and blue M&Ms from one bag of peanut butter M&Ms
• Red, white, and blue candy-coated sunflower seeds
• Red, white, and blue sprinkles and nonpareils
• Red, white, and blue chocolate candies (fake M&Ms) – I mostly added white ones, for balance

Break the pretzels up into tiny bite-sized pieces and set aside.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and coat lightly with cooking spray or vegetable oil.

Pour the white chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave on high for a minute and thirty seconds, stir, and heat for another thirty seconds.  Stir vigorously for a few seconds, scraping the sides.  The chocolate should be completely melted.  If it is not, heat for fifteen seconds, stir vigorously for ten seconds, and repeat as necessary until it is melted.

If you are using bars of white chocolate instead of chips, temper the chocolate.

Add the vegetable oil to the chocolate and stir several times.  Toss in the broken pretzel pieces and mix well.

Pour the mixture over the foil-lined cookie sheet.  Spread evenly with an offset spatula.  Sprinkle the M&Ms and fake M&Ms (if using) on top.  Sprinkle with the sunflower seeds and sprinkles.

Refrigerate for thirty minutes or until hard.  Break into manageable pieces.

Important tip – don’t break them up while you’re outside in 100 degree weather trying to photograph them.  Contrary to popular advertising, M&Ms melt in your hand.  Oops.

Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Here’s another item I’m excited to find another use for – my American flag basket.  I bought it from the Salvation Army thrift store in law school with the idea that whenever my long-distance boyfriend (the beloved carnivore) came to visit, I would fill it with one of his favorite treats.   Now that we live together, I no longer need to welcome him to the apartment with treats every single time he comes home because, well, that would be absurd.  But for the Fourth of July, I felt like busting out the ol’ flag basket and filling it with treats for my fella once again.