No-Bake White Chocolate Almond Bark

Here's a recipe for a quick, no-bake dessert that won't linger around the house. I promise! My husband loves it. He calls it his "beaver bark" and the last time I made it he ate almost the whole pan by himself. Try to show a bit more restraint, will you? Now, this recipe is NOT vegan because I've yet to find a reasonably priced alternative to white chocolate chips. That being said, if you find one, give it a try and then drop me a line to let me know where I can find it.

When I was first experimenting with my new fondue pot, I messed up my first batch of white chocolate. I didn't realize I needed to grease the bottom of the pot with my coconut oil. As a result, the chocolate stuck to the pan and browned. So I had white chocolate with light brown flecks. My initial thought was, "oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm going to throw out a whole pot of chocolate. That's e'spensive!"

What a depressing thought. I sat there staring at the little brown floaties and started noticing that it kind of looked like bits of graham cracker. It clicked and I decided to try to make something edible out of it. After all, not burned!

I dug through the pantry looking for anything I could use. Fortunately, I had two brown packages of Honey Grahams. I also found a bag of sliced almonds in the freezer. This will work!

To get started I lined a large 10 x 15-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Then I put all the graham crackers in a large 2-gallon Ziploc bag. Don't ask why I have those. A one-gallon would probably work fine, I just happen to have a bunch of the bigger size on hand. I closed the bag, threw it on the floor a few times to break up the crackers and then I used a rolling pin to grind the chunks into powder.

Once I'd finished cracker genocide, I grabbed a tub of room-temperature non-dairy butter and scooped some of it into my hands. I didn't measure exactly, but I'd say about 1/4 cup will do. Start small and add more as needed. I just reached my hand into the Ziploc bag and worked the butter into the cracker bits until it turned lumpy and there were more dough bits than loose bits. Then I dumped the mixture into the baking dish.

I grabbed the fondue pot, unplugged and brought the still-warm-chocolate over. I spooned it onto the baking dish with the graham cracker mixture. Using my moistened fingers, I worked the chocolate into the graham cracker dough. I got a small bowl of water and used it to dip a spatula in as I pressed the mixture onto the bottom of the pan. I spread it about a quarter inch thick. It's important to keep it thin so it won't be tough to bite through.

After spreading out the mixture, I sprinkled almond slivers on the top and used the spatula again to press them into the surface of the bark. Use a pizza cutter to divide the bark into squares. Put in the refrigerator to cool.

Once it's cool, bring it out and easily lift the pieces off the parchment paper to stack them on a serving dish or put them on plates. The best part is the easy cleanup. Throw away that yucky parchment paper, or save it for next time and slip your clean pan back into the cupboard.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Almond Bark

Makes 24 Pieces

Takes 15 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 Teaspoons Coconut Oil
• 
  
• 2 Cups White Chocolate Chips
• 
  
• 2 Packages of Honey Maid Graham Crackers
• 
  
• 1/4 Cup Butter (of choice)
• 
  
• 1/4-1/2 Cup Sliced or Slivered Almonds

Directions:

1. Prepare a 10 by 15-inch baking dish by lining it with parchment paper.
2. Put two teaspoons of coconut oil in the fondue pot and turn it on low heat.  3.5 or 4 usually works well for me.  Watch to see if it is melting.  Once it melts, spread it around so that it thoroughly coats the bottom of the pot.  Add the white chocolate chips.  Keep an eye on it to make sure the chips are melting slowly.  Melting to fast means the heat is too high.  
3. Empty both packages of graham crackers into a large freezer bag.  Close the bag and smash the graham crackers until pulverized.  Using your hands, work four to six tablespoons of butter into the cracker bits until a sticky mixture is formed and most of the bits stick together.  Dump mixture in the prepared pan.
4. Pour the heated chocolate in with the graham cracker dough.  Work the chocolate into the dough and then press into the pan with a moistened spatula. 
5. Sprinkle sliced almonds over the surface of the bark and press into the dough with the moistened spatula.  Refrigerate for about a half hour before serving.