St. Patrick's Day Chocolate Mint Cookie Bark

   I stumbled across this yummy recipe for chocolate mint cookie bark and thought it would be fun to make with my son. We always bake something festive together for St. Patrick's Day and this recipe combined all of my favorite things! It's a great recipe to involve your child in because of all of the little jobs you can give them while you're melting the chocolate (like sorting the M & M's, crushing the Oreos, etc.). I hope you'll enjoy it!

St. Patrick's Day Chocolate Mint Cookie Bark

Ingredients
    •    12 ounces semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
    •    12 ounces white chocolate chips
    •    2 tablespoons vegetable shortening (like Crisco), divided
    •    20 chocolate sandwich cookies (I used regular Oreos)
    •    1 cup Andes mints broken into bits
    •    1 cup green M&Ms (I used regular)
    •    Green sprinkles
 
    1.    Line a large jellyroll pan or cookie sheet with wax paper. Roughly chop sandwich cookies into quarters.
    2.    Pour semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon shortening into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute; stir chocolate well. Microwave for another 30 seconds; stir until chocolate is smooth. (If necessary, microwave in additional 15-second increments, stirring between each one, until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.)
    3.    Spread melted chocolate in a thin layer onto wax paper. Sprinkle with chopped cookies and Andes pieces, pressing them down into melted chocolate in a single layer.
    4.    Melt white chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon shortening in a clean bowl by repeating the above process, but microwave for only 15 seconds after the initial 1 minute since white chocolate melts more quickly than regular chocolate.
    5.    Carefully drizzle white chocolate over cookie layer and spread in an even layer. Sprinkle with M&Ms, pressing them down into the white chocolate, and then fill in any bare areas with green sprinkles.
    6.    Refrigerate until chocolate is hard. Carefully break into large chunks and enjoy!

Everything ready to go in the refrigerator!

Once the bark has cooled, break it apart into pieces.

We put some in a little bag and attached the recipe as a gift for my son's teacher.