Easy? Common, even? Yes and yes. But well done, it’s delicious. And sometimes you can make it with a twist:

Like chocolate-orange? Or traditional peppermint:

This Christmas treat is one of the staples, if you ask me.  A fun, sweet treat that is ready  in minutes and usually also gone in minutes.

Here’s what you need:

• Chocolate candy coating/almond bark
• Vanilla candy coating/almond bark
• Crushed candy canes or peppermints

Begin by crushing your peppermint candy. I recommend using a plastic bag and a rubber mallet, or the blunt side of a meat tenderizer – ideally the chunks will vary greatly in size.

Next, start chopping one flavor of the candy coating and melt it in the microwave or on a double boiler, per the package instructions. Spread it evenly over a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and stick it in the fridge.

Do the same with flavor #2. By the time it’s melted, you the first flavor will have hardened and you can spread the candy coating directly on top. Then, right away, sprinkle your pulverized peppermint. And back into the fridge it goes to harden up some more.

Hey look! It’s me. And Brigette’s roommate. Hi, Andrea!

After 10-15 minutes in the fridge, break the bark apart with your hands. If you’re bagging it up to give to people as a gift, you may want to try leaving it in larger, playing-card size chunks – it has a great presentation. If you’re putting it on a platter of bite sized goodies, make these bite-sized too.

Follow the exact same directions to make the orange bark, and red and yellow food coloring along with at least a teaspoon of orange extract. But I suggest also adding a little bit of shortening – the orange extract and food coloring will change the texture (to be drier and thicker) and the best way I know (from making cake pops) to fix candy coating is to add a little shortening.