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Easy chocolate bark topped with pretzels, Oreos, peanuts, almonds, and sea salt.
Happy Monday! I’m back from my week-long break and so happy about it. It felt so strange to not be tapping out recipes on the laptop or editing photos or baking and photographing! I felt like my right arm was missing all week.
Which is just my strange way of saying that I’m glad to be back in the saddle again 🙂
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the relax time. In fact, last week convinced me that I need to take time off more often! The world didn’t implode, my blog didn’t die, and it was kind of nice to lay on the floor with the baby and watch 18 episodes of Flip or Flop back to back on Netflix.
But Iam glad to be back to work????.
And THANK GOODNESS I made this Cowboy Bark before my week-long hiatus. Otherwise, I might have gone without chocolate for 7 whole days ????.
Cowboy Bark from Trader Joe’s is so yummy! Have you tried it yet?
Sadly, I don’t make it over to TJ’s all that often. It’s on a crazy side of town that I avoid at all costs unless I have my husband with me to help with the kids. And also: Trader Joe’s with kids? Nuh-uh. I don’t think so. Our store is teeny-tiny! The three of us would be the definition of a bull in a china shop if I took them with me.
So, moral of the story, the rare trip to Trader Joe’s is a major treat. And when I do go, you can guarantee that’s exactly what I’m loading my cart up with: TREATS!
I head straight for the chocolate section and scoop all the chocolate chips and pound plus bars off the shelf into my cart! And then I add to that chocolate covered nuts, caramels, candy coated sunflower seeds, Joe-joes, Cookie Butter, and a loaf of ciabatta to balance things out.
And flowers. I really like their flowers.
Something that also makes it into my cart? Cowboy bark! And so I got to thinking that this bark would be SO easy to replicate at home. Plus, I could make a whole bunch of it instead of being limited to that tiny little carton they sell at the store.
More = better.
All you need is a few simple ingredients: chocolate (I used Trader Joe’s Pound Plus bar, but Ghirardelli candy melts would have been my next choice), pretzels, almonds, peanuts, Oreos or Joe-Joes, and sea salt.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave and spread it out in a lined baking dish or cookie sheet (or on a silicone baking mat). Add the toppings and pop it in the fridge to cool and harden. And then all you need to do is break or cut it apart to enjoy!
The sweet and salty thing happening in this bark is out of this world. Plus, the texture is AWESOME. So much crispy, crunchy goodness.
The type of chocolate you use will determine where you need to store the bark. If you use a chocolate that hasn’t been tempered (like chocolate chips), then you’ll need to keep the bark in the refrigerator. But if you’ve used a bark made for melting, it’s ok to keep this at room temperature 🙂
Enjoy!
Cowboy Bark
Yield: 15-18 pieces
Easy chocolate bark topped with pretzels, Oreos, peanuts, almonds, and sea salt.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces high quality chocolate
- 1/2 cup pretzel pieces
- 1/2 cup chopped chocolate sandwich cookies
- 2 tablespoons chopped almonds
- 2 tablespoons chopped salted peanuts
- pinches of coarse sea salt
Instructions
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave (in 20 second increments, stirring in between each one).
Spread the chocolate in a lined baking dish or on a lined cookie sheet (I suggest parchment or silicone).
Press the cookies and the pretzels into the chocolate. Sprinkle the nuts over top. Sprinkle pinches of sea salt over top.
Let cool completely in the refrigerator until hardened. See post for storage tips.
More bark recipes:
Pumpkin Seed Bark:
