We were in the mood recently for something a little chocolaty and a little minty: peppermint bark! It’s a great treat that is easy to portion, and if you have any events you are going to or parties you are hosting, it makes for a festive, decorative treat to lay out as a snack.

So what’s the easiest way to make this treat? We wanted to make it in as few steps and with as little cleanup as possible. It’s so easy to get melted chocolate everywhere, and trying to wash all those dishes can be a pain. One very simple way we found to avoid a big mess was to line our baking pan with parchment paper. And forget using a double-boiler to melt the chocolate, we instead opted to use the microwave to melt the chips. Keep reading below to see how we made this festive winter treat…