Looking for a homemade Valentine’s Day treat that’s festive? I’ve got a super easy 5-ingredient dessert that will make you look like a pro! I came across tons of bark recipes during the holidays, and many of them involved colored M&M’s. We all know they switch up the colors for pretty much every holiday so this year I decided to try some loaded Valentine’s Day bark. It’s made with basic ingredients, but tastes like a million bucks.
Ingredients
1 Pound Plus bar from Trader Joes (They came in in a few different types of chocolate but I prefer the Dark.)
10 Oreos (I found them in a Red Velvet flavor and they are AMAZING)
1/2- 1 cup pretzels
1/2 cup Valentine’s M&M’s
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
Use a medium cookie sheet and line with a piece of parchment paper. This will ensure your bark is easily removed from your work surface when it’s completely set.
Take 10 Oreos (and try to stop yourself from eating the rest of the bag because- cream cheese filling) and cut into quarters. They aren’t going to cut cleanly and many of them will be crumbly, but that’s ok! Lay out all the pieces on your parchment paper, slightly spread out.
Chop up pretzels so they are in small pieces. If you’d like, you can also just break them with your hands, but don’t pulverize them! Lay out the pretzels on your parchment paper, interspersing between the Oreos. You want to make sure they are touching, but not on top of each other.
Open your Pound Plus bar and break into small pieces. Look at this huge thing!
I know some of you may be wondering if you can use other chocolate and yes, I’m SURE you can. However I’ve heard that you want to avoid chocolate chips because they possess an ingredient that prevents them from completely melting down- hence how your chocolate chip cookies look like they have chips and not pools of chocolate. I’m sure any bakers chocolate will do the trick, but I like how easy the Pound Plus bars are. Once you’ve broken the pieces down, put in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 45 seconds. Remove and stir. This is what it looks like after only 45 seconds:
After this, microwave in 30-second intervals until the chocolate is smooth. Make sure to remove and stir between each interval. It may take longer, or shorter depending on your personal microwave. It should be easily stirred and no lumps.
Once your chocolate is ready to go, now it’s the fun part! Slowly pour the chocolate over your pretzels and Oreos in a back and forth motion.
Personally, I love for the entire surface to be covered but you can pour the chocolate as thick as you’d like. The more chocolate, the easier it will be to add the toppings.
Once you’re done with the chocolate, it’s time to sprinkle on the M&M’s. You’ll need to do this step fairly quickly, so that the toppings stick well into the chocolate. If you wait too long, it will start to harden and nothing will stick. I like to scatter the M&M’s with enough space in between to add the chocolate chips in the next step. You can always go back and add more. This is a great step for little ones to help with!
Finally, add your white chocolate chips!
Once you’re happy with your coverage, it’s time to pop into the fridge to help the chocolate set. I like to leave it for at least 1 hour, but preferably a little longer. This is a messy dessert to eat and it already melts a little while eating it so you want to make sure it’s as set up as much as possible.
When you’re ready to remove from the fridge, allow the bark to warm up for about 10 minutes before cutting with a pretty sharp knife on a cutting board. It’s not going to cut super cleanly because of all the ingredients and that’s ok!
Check out those Red Velvet Oreos!
This bark can be kept at room temperature but I prefer to keep it in the fridge and then enjoy a little chilled. It’s perfect for having guests over or for the teachers in your life! I hope you enjoy!
This recipe was adapted from Averie Cooks.
A few more ideas for Valentine’s Day:
Love Is All You Need: 10 Valentine’s Day Dessert Recipes
6 Fun DIY Valentine’s Card Boxes For The Kiddos (Boys AND Girls!)
7 DIY Valentine’s Day Wreath Ideas