Peppermint Bark Candy to Buy

As I mentioned yesterday, there's nothing like peppermint and chocolate to welcome the holidays. Here's a link to two easy recipes, but if you don't want to make your own, there are several great brands out there that are delicious.

Williams Sonoma Peppermint Bark. This confection is made with custom-blended Guittard premium chocolate and natural oil of peppermint. Starts with melted semisweet chocolate then a layer of white chocolate. Bark is finished with crisp handmade peppermint candy bits. What I love about this is the great reusable red tin with barking Dalmatians.

New this year are the Williams Sonoma Peppermint Bark Cookies. These are chocolate wafers covered in Guittard white chocolate infused with peppermint oil and sprinkled with peppermint candy.

Williams Sonoma also offers Peppermint Snaps, Peppermint Cremes and Peppermint North Poles.

Trader Joe's also makes a good Peppermint Bark. Their candy is pretty heavy and all natural. High quality ingredients and great packaging, and less expensive than some other brands.

Dove has new Peppermint Bark Promises this year. The candy comes in a bag easily available at your local drugstore. Each piece is individually wrapped in a festive foil wrapper. Not only is it a delicious bark candy, but there are special holiday tips on the wrappers from Martha Stewart. This is a variation on Peppermint Bark. There's a chocolate base with white chocolate top with bits of red and white peppermint candies mixed in the white chocolate. Interesting the dark chocolate (not all that dark) melts faster than the white. I really liked these. This is also available in traditional Bark.

Ghirardelli has their Limited Edition Ghirardelli Holiday Squares. I love the Peppermint Bark Squares and have a few stashed in my desk this time of year. Basically a milk chocolate base covered with minty white chocolate filled with crunchies. I'm not convinced the crunchies are pieces of candy cane, but they add great texture to this candy treat.

Haven't tried it yet, but Crate & Barrel has a Peppermint Bark with a dark "fudge" and sweet white chocolate "fudge" that comes in a red metallic tin with hinged lid so it can be reused.

What's your favorite?