Whether the holiday season is approaching and you want something festive to put out after dinner or you've got some fruit & nuts lying around in your pantry that you want to use up, this elegant chocolate bark recipe is for you! Chewy, crunchy & melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

How To Make Dark Chocolate Bark:

Homemade chocolate bark is one of our favorite things to make all year round. It makes the perfect low-budget tasty gift and you can adapt the ingredients based on the person receiving it to make it extra personal. Guaranteed to be a gift that no-one wants to share.

Steps for making chocolate bark:

1. Chop up your desired toppings: Start by chopping up whatever nuts & dried fruits you're using to top your chocolate. Here we've chopped the hazelnuts and the apricots but left the pumpkin seeds & pecans whole for a more elegant look.
2. Toast your nuts & seeds: Place your nuts and seeds onto a baking tray and and toast them for about 6 to 9 minutes at 350°F watching carefully so they don't burn. Note: You can use store bought roasted nuts here if you need to save time, however freshly roasted is always best!
3. Melt your chocolate: Place your desired chocolate in a heat proof bowl and melt over a saucepan.
4. Assemble the bark: Line a large baking tray with parchment. Pour the melted chocolate on it and using a spatula, spread the chocolate out into a thick slab. Sprinkle the nuts, seeds & dried fruits evenly over the chocolate.
5. Refrigerate or let cool & harden: Place the pan in the fridge to harden for about 15 minutes or let the chocolate cool at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours.
6. Break it up!: Once the chocolate is completely hardened, use your hands to break it into pieces.

What To Put On Your Dark Chocolate Bark:

Chocolate really is a blank canvas for your own creations but a great chocolate bark starts with good quality chocolate, interesting ingredients and if you like a sweet & salty combo, a sprinkle of flaky sea salt! 

We've chosen hazelnuts because well, what nut goes better with chocolate than hazelnuts? We've also added pecans for that deliciously buttery taste they bring and pumpkin seeds for a crunch and splash of color. The chewy texture of dried apricots is great paired with the crunch of the nuts. We'd also recommend dried goji berries, slivered pistachios, rose petals, dried cranberries or whole chopped almonds..

Here are some of our other favorite chocolate bark recipes:

• Sweet N' Salty Chocolate Bark
• Dark Chocolate Bark with Strawberries & Pistachios
• Coconut & Macadamia Nut Dark Chocolate Bark

What Kind Of Chocolate To Use To Make Chocolate Bark:

We wanted to keep this chocolate bark relatively healthy so we've used dark chocolate, also because dark chocolate is delicious! If you're not a fan you can use milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate, you can even drizzle the finished bark with some melted white chocolate for extra decadence! 

The moral of the story here is that there's no one set recipe for making chocolate bark. You can simply use up whatever baking ingredients you've got or you can set out on a mission to make the most extravagant looking chocolate bark known to man, guaranteed they'll both be just as delicious!