White Chocolate Cashew Bark with Cranberries & Apricots

White Chocolate Cashew Bark with Cranberries & Apricots is one scrumptiously tasty festive little treat that's amazingly simple to make.  This recipe is perfect for easily whipping up a batch {or several} for holiday gift giving & entertaining!

It's that time of the year when lots of gifting and entertaining goodies are flowing out of our kitchens.  Yes indeed, the holiday season is the time for an abundance of sweet treats.  And when it comes to making treats for gift-giving in bulk? ... There's nothing easier than chocolate bark.

In the past when I've made bunches of little goody bags to give away, I've baked several varieties of holiday cookies and bars, like Christmas Chocolate Layer Bars, Gingerbread Magic Cookies, or Molasses Crinkles, and packaged them up.  But you know what?  That's a very  time consuming little project!

And I'm all about saving some time while still whipping out scrumptiously tasty festive little treats.

I've found that chocolate bark is the perfect answer. ... Like this White Chocolate Cashew Bark with Cranberries & Apricots, for example.

The process of making chocolate bark is amazingly simple, and truly takes a fraction of the time baking multiple batches of cookies and bars takes.

To make chocolate bark, just melt your chocolate of choice ... milk, dark, or white {I recommend using melting wafers or almond bark that's "specially" formulated for melting}, ... stir in some tasty mix-ins, spread in a parchment-lined pan, and sprinkle some more of your mix-ins of choice on top.  Set the chocolate bark aside to harden, and you're good to go!

Once the chocolate bark sets, all you have to do is break it into pieces.

See?  Amazingly simple, right?

I love that chocolate bark can be so versatile in flavors, too.  You can truly stir in just about anything to make different variations ~ if you think something tastes great with chocolate, there's a great chance it would be wonderful in a bark!  Nuts, dried fruits, crushed candy canes, broken pretzels, crumbled cookies ... you name it.

In this particular white chocolate bark version, at the recommendation of a friend, I chose cashews, dried cranberries, and dried apricots.  And I must say, my friend's recommendation did not disappoint.

So if you're looking for a wonderful homemade treat for gifting or entertaining this holiday season that's not too cumbersome to make in bulk, give White Chocolate Cashew Bark with Cranberries & Apricots ... or any other chocolate bark variation ... some consideration.  It's one scrumptiously tasty festive little treat that's amazingly simple to make.

White Chocolate Cashew Bark with Cranberries & Apricots
Source:  A Tracey creation
(Printable recipe)

Ingredients

• 16 oz. vanilla candy coating, almond bark, OR white chocolate for melting/baking
• 1 c. cashews
• 1/3 c. dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 c. coarsely chopped dried apricots

Directions

1. Line a 10 x 15-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Melt candy coating/white chocolate according to package directions. Stir in half of the cashews, cranberries, and apricots.
2. Pour into prepared pan and use an offset spatula to spread into an even layer. Sprinkle remaining cashews, cranberries, and apricots on top and press lightly with the palm of your hand to help them adhere in the white chocolate.
3. Set aside for several hours, or refrigerate for about 20 minutes, to fully harden. Break into pieces.

Enjoy!

Please enjoy these other white chocolate treats from The Kitchen is My Playground ...

Quick & Easy White Chocolate Peppermint-Pretzel Bark

Dark & White Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Cookies

White Chocolate Birthday Cake

Christmas White Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods

Birthday Cake Oreos