12/12/11

PMS Christmas Bark: Part 1, 2, & 3

Jokingly on facebook I stated to my friends that years ago I created a Christmas bark that can easily be given as a gift and double as a PMS bark. The agreement was overwhelming by all my female friends; a bark made of salty, sweet, sticky, chewy and a hint of crispy--how could anyone, let alone a female disagree? I mean it covers all the four food groups that females tend to crave while going through PMS. Right?


Here is the PMS Christmas bark Part 1. Made of Cheez It's, chocolate Oreo's all nice and cozy warm in a base of thick white chocolate. Last year it's first appearance was resounding BUT this year people went crazy for it.

white chocolate bark w Oreo's & Cheez Its

Part 2 was a whole other kind of creation made to satisfy those wanting milk chocolate instead of white chocolate.
So here is PMS Chrismtas Bark Part 2, or Cheez It Bark. Made with again Cheez It's with a hard caramel middle, covered in milk chocolate then a nice sprinkling of salty pecans.

cheez it bark

cheez it bark

And now we have a Part 3. The peanut butter and bacon chocolate bark. Bacon of course is a very important food group when creating a PMS bark? So why not.

pb & bacon chocolate bark 7

pb & bacon chocolate bark 4

Part 3 is very easy to make. Just roll out the dough onto a baking sheet. Originally this was done with cookies--my almost flourless peanut butter cookies with chocolate. This dough makes the perfect bark.

pb & bacon chocolate bark 1

As soon as it comes out of the oven place cooked strips of bacon on the top. Gently pushing them in.

pb & bacon chocolate bark 2

When the cookie layer has cooled then drizzle with bittersweet chocolate. You can use whatever chocolate you like; I found that bittersweet was just the right balance as the semi and milk chocolates were just too sweet and overpowered the bacon and peanut butter flavors. Can't have that can we?

pb & bacon chocolate bark 3


peanut butter & bacon chocolate bark
print recipe

1 cup chunky or smooth peanut butter (natural peanut butter works best just not too oily)
¾ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
½ ts baking powder
1 ts baking soda
2 TB flour
1 ts sea salt

5-7 strips of cooked bacon, in strips or in small chunks
6-8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

Cook notes: this dough cooks very fast. It may not look like its done at the 10 or 11 minute mark but it is. Since there is almost no flour in there it cooks very fast. The next time I make this I will drizzle way less chocolate. In my opinion I put too much chocolate on there and it drowned out the peanut butter flavor. I highly doubt this freezes well. Natural peanut butter is best for this, just not one that's too oily.

In a small bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a mixer or by hand, combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined.
Crack egg open in a small bowl and beat. Add egg to the cookie mixture, mix well.
Next sprinkle the flour mixture over the cookie dough, not just depositing it in one large dump. Mix till combined. Cover bowl and let it sit in fridge for about an hour or more.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place a parchment sheet on jelly roll pan. Place dough on sheet and spread it out. It will not spread out the whole size of the jelly roll pan only about halfway
If dough is sticky, just wet your finger tips.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, until very lightly browned. As soon as you remove it from the oven, place the strips of bacon on top and gently push down/in. Let cool at least 2 hours at room temperature.
When cooled drizzle with the melted bittersweet chocolate. Let chocolate harden and slice into squares.

Makes about 12-15 bars depending on how you cut them.

IMG_6618

And finally the winner of the Nescafe Dolce Piccolo giveaway is Jen of Duluth, GA who was the lucky number 62. Please contact me Jen with your mailing address. Congrats Jen!

16 comments:

  1. What a perfect name for this perfect confection. Who needs Midol?

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  2. hot diggity!! i love this post!

    i recently have made white choc cookies & cream fudge, and also with pretzels and peanuts..must try your version.

    today i made Xmas Crack but b/c I am traveling my pics are a little..melty. lol

    I am drooling over all your pics. WOW!!

    and these recipes. love the salty 'n sweet combo!

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  3. OM gosh! Dawn- you are the sweets queen, its official! I need to try this goodness

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  4. seriouslY??? I want that last one, pb cookies, bacon, chocolate... damn!!

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  5. Maybe you can write a book all about bark! (Just a thought)

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  6. OMG these all sound sensational. I need to make these but certain I'd have to give them as gifts otherwise my waistline will be huge. I say this while eating my own batch of peppermint bark I made last night.

    Thank you for sharing these. Looking forward to making them.

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  7. Unfortunately for everyone in my family I think I will actually be PMS-ing on christmas this year. I'm gifting myself some bark...but really it's a gift for everyone else too.

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  8. These look crazy good! And even though I'm past the PMS stage of life, I could still indulge, right?

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  9. Voilà un récapitulatif bien gourmand
    Je te souhaite une belle journée

    Valérie

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  10. And why not!!!!!! It sounds very addictive!

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  11. I am loving this! So happy I found you on a fellow foodies blog, you've got yourself a new follower! xo Jessica @ Cajunlicious

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  12. all of these sound so tasty. you're definitely my sweet-and-salty guru, dawn!

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  13. Hoooly cannoli! Or should I say bacon. Good stuff my friend!

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  14. Looks delicious! I can't wait to try these! Also, visit me over at The Savvy Kitchen (www.savvykitchen.blogspot.com) to enter my giveaway!

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  15. I like how you think! Might be swiping the bacon cookie bar/k

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