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The official start of the holiday season is marked by a few things: Christmas trees for sale, holiday music in all the stores, and tins on tins of peppermint bark. The chocolaty treat is a delicious part of the holiday season, but you know what isn’t quite as easy to swallow? The price tag on those tins.

Solution? Make this homemade peppermint bark instead. It takes barely five minutes and looks better than most of the stuff you can buy.

The secret ingredient is a touch of peppermint extract—it gives it an extra hint of mintiness without having to go way overboard on the candy canes. Everyone is going to be seriously impressed, and isn’t that what the holidays are all about? (Just kidding.)

Share a photo of your own swirly peppermint bark on Instagram and tag us @greatist.

Peppermint Bark

Recipe adapted from: Bare Feet in the Kitchen
Makes: 12 servings
Ready in: 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS

12 oz white chocolate chips
16 oz semisweet or dark chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided
5 candy canes, crushed

DIRECTIONS

1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the white and dark chocolate chips into two separate bowls. Add 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract to each bowl.

2. Microwave the dark chocolate chips until melted at 50 percent power for about 90 seconds. Stir and heat an additional 30 seconds or until melted.

3. Pour the chocolate onto the parchment paper and use a spatula to spread it evenly across the baking sheet.

4. Repeat the melting process with the white chocolate. When melted, spoon over the dark chocolate. It should look like blobs of white all over the dark chocolate (it’s not supposed to look cute yet, don’t worry).

5. Using a knife or the edge of the spatula, gently swirl the chocolates together until they look marbled. Make sure you’re pressing firmly into the chocolate—not just on the surface—so the chocolates don’t separate later on.

6. Sprinkle with the crushed candy canes, then freeze until firm. Break the bark into large pieces with your hands and serve!