White Chocolate Halloween Bark: 2 Ways

So far it's 1:15 and I'm still at my family party. We're going around the room playing a game we created.

Celebrity Name Game

Rules:

1) You must use the first letter of the last name of the previous player's answer.

2) If the first letter of the first name corresponds with the first letter of the last name, it will reverse to the previous player's turn (i.e.- Bob Barker). (Doing the Kardashian family made this pretty fun)

3) If the player is unable to come up with a name, they will receive an X. Three X's will result in expulsion from the game.

4) One name celebrities are allowed and result in skipping the next player's turn.

5) If the player needs help thinking of a name, they can ask for help and the other player will now be in possession of the game.

6) No fictional characters.

Oh man, we get wild.

This is our annual Halloween party and that means creative food for sure. I already knew my aunt was making a cheesecake and someone else was making cookies, so where do I go? Halloween is a great time of year for candy making, so I went with something I've never tried.

Of course I went with white chocolate bark as opposed to pure chocolate. It's still hard to imagine that I made a almost purely chocolate treat. A nd you know what? Bark is awesome. Just melt some chocolate and throw whatever the heck you want in it. It's classy meets sassy. It's such a ghetto dessert too. I guess bark is really anything you want it to be. Which is great. That's not to say bark easily conforms; far from it. Bark is a class all it's own. Okay, enough talk about bark and it's personality. Just go eat it.

White Chocolate Halloween Bark

Variation #1:

14 ounces white chocolate

Chopped up Oreos

Chopped up Kit Kats

Reese's Pieces

Variation #2:
14 ounces white chocolate
Chopped up Snickers
Toffee Bits
Nonpareil beads

Milk chocolate- for drizzling

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Place the white chocolate in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave the bowl in 30 second increments. Start with 1/4 the batch of white chocolate and add 1/4 after each 30 second "nuke". Stir until creamy.

3. Let the white chocolate cool for a minute or two. Stir to make sure it doesn’t harden. Pour the chocolate onto the baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread it with a spatula until it is about 3/8 inch thick.

4. Sprinkle your candy choices over the white chocolate.

5. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave and drizzle over top.

6. Let the chocolate cool and harden. (Place in the refrigerator if necessary)
7. Once the chocolate is set and hard, break bark into pieces.


Which one did I like better... hmmm... It's so hard to pick! I really liked the oreo one, (because I'm OBSESSED with oreos), but the snickers toffee was soooo good too. It's a tie to be honest!


Oh, and this is me and the boyfff. Zeus and Hera anyone? I made him wear that smelly old beard and wig I found in a box in my attic. He''ll do anything to please me=) I didn't make him wear it the whole time. I'm nice like that hehe.

Happy Halloween! with Caramel Toffee Dip and Baked Cinnamon Chips

At the ripe old age of 16, it's hard to find too many people to go trick- or- treating with you. My sister (who's 21) said she'd come, but then she fell asleep (???!). So I eventually dragged my neighbor and her younger brother along with me. She (Julia), played her ukulele, and her brother brought his African drum. So while we went for candy, we also entertained the masses. Needless to say we attracted a lot of attention. We didn't go for long, so my stash this year isn't too great. But, I'd honestly prefer a lovely fresh baked goodie than processed sugar in a bag.

After trick- or- treating, my family went over to my aunt's for a relaxed after Halloween party. So basically it was an excuse to eat a ton of food. There were so many appetizers: cheese and crackers, guacamole and chips, cold veggies and dip, and a really great cheesy spinach bacon dip! I brought a dip too but it definitely was more on the sweet side. Then, after we thought we'd eaten enough for the rest of the month, egg rolls, mozzarella sticks, and chicken wings were served. The wings didn't make it out, but then a cookie cake and sugar cookies did along with apple cider throughout the night. We laughed, played trivial pursuit and had a great time. And thanks to gaining an hour this weekend we felt it justified to stay until 2 in the morning (well, really 1).

So here is the dip recipe along with how to make cinnamon chips because they pair perfectly together. Both recipes are from one of my new favorite sites, Our Best Bites. The recipes are always practical and easy enough to do, yet so creative. Don't be surprised if you see a ton more recipes on here from that site.

Cinnamon Chips (In Halloween shapes)
from Our Best Bites

Flour Tortillas (I used the biggest size and was able to get twelve Halloween cut outs out of just one tortilla)
Melted Butter
Cinnamon Sugar

Preheat oven to 350. I first took the tortilla and used my Halloween cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Then I buttered and cinnamon sugar-ed them. I recommend doing it in this order because sometimes the cutouts get a little hard to use and the butter and cinnamon sugar topping could get messy and all over your fingers (then you might just have to lick it off...) Plus, you're not using every inch of the tortilla so there will be waste. So, I'd definitely cut out your shapes first, then brush on your butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar.

Place them on an ungreased baking sheet and bake them in the oven for about 10 minutes. I did 10 minutes because I don't like when they are overly crisp, but they were not flimsy either at that time. It's all up to your preference, but ten minutes is a good guideline. When they're the right crispness for you, remove from oven and let cool. I then placed mine on a cooling rack but you could leave them on the pan.

Now this dip seriously took less than five minutes to make! It is so tastey and is a perfect fall sweet treat.

Caramel Toffee Fruit Dip
from Our Best Bites

1 8-oz. package cream cheese
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla (you can add more to taste)
Toffee bits
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. (about a pinch) nutmeg

Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. I found it pretty easy to mix without dirtying up any equipment, except a spoon. When ready to serve, stir in about 1/2 a bag of toffee bits with more sprinkled on top.

Yes, it's that simple. I served mine with the cinnamon chips, some honey pretzels, and apple slices. The apple slices work great because it's basically a caramel dip, what a classic! You of course can use anything you'd like to dip in. Get creative!