Sweet & Salty Christmas in July White Chocolate Bark

Merry Christmas in July! Have you been indulging in any holiday activities to get you into the holiday spirit super early? I’ll admit, I have watched a few Christmas movies thanks to Hallmark Channel’s Christmas in July stunt. Nothing too crazy though. If you are a crafter, now is the perfect time to start on any Christmas crafts/gifts you plan on making. And of course, there have been sales, but instead of calling them Christmas in July sales retailers have been terming them Black Friday in July sales. Not everyone is keen on celebrating or even mentioning Christmas before Thanksgiving!

Initially I was stumped on what to make to celebrate. I toyed with the idea of a Peppermint Shake along the lines of last year’s refreshing No Churn Peppermint Chip Ice Cream. And then I thought of forgoing the whole thing and not making anything. But then I remembered I had a bag of red & green mini M&M’s I bought during the holidays last year that I was planning on using to decorate Gingerbread Cookies that I never made. Thankfully they hadn’t expired – it’s scary sometimes how long candy can last – so I decided to make a super simple and festive chocolate bark with them.

Along with the M&M’s I used chopped pretzels and nonpareils to decorate melted white chocolate. If you are not a fan of white chocolate, you could easily swap it out for either semi-sweet or milk chocolate. Making chocolate bark is one of the simplest things you can make, and the M&M’s and nonpareils can be swapped out for any holiday. After melting white chocolate chips in the microwave, I spread the chocolate on a parchment lined baking sheet about 1/4-inch thick and then sprinkled it with the M&M’s, chopped pretzels and nonpareils. I lightly pressed everything into the chocolate and then placed it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes so the chocolate could harden.

And then I just haphazardly broke it apart and stored it in the refrigerator for an occasional sweet treat! Come the holidays though this would be the perfect treat to serve guests or to gift.