Make your own vegan Valentines treat for your loved one with this easy chocolate bark recipe. Grab your favourite chocolate bars and top them with seasonal sprinkles, chocolate chips and vegan marshmallows and you are good to go! Quick and incredibly easy to make with my fail-safe chocolate melting method. Perfect for any occasion and easy to adapt to suit multiple allergies.
Why I Made This Recipe
I’ve been following the chocolate bark trend on Instagram and wanted to try out the oven method for melting chocolate. Seriously, I am SO impressed and love how easy this bark is to make. This may just be my new favourite treat to make as I love that it is no mess and ridiculously easy to customize as well.
Why You Need This Recipe
Homemade gifts for Valentines are just the best and this recipe is so quick and easy to make. No double boiler or microwave is needed to melt the chocolate. And if you have kids, they will just love adding all of the toppings to the bark. This recipe proves that allergy-friendly recipes can still taste and look amazing with minimal effort. Trust me, you will not regret making this chocolate bark.
Ingredients and Substitutions
This is a vegan recipe as I am using plant-based chocolate and vegan-friendly marshmallows and sprinkles. Read on for more food allergy tips and suggestions.
Chocolate: I am using the Cadbury Salted Caramel Plant Bar as the base of the bark. See my full review of this chocolate bar here. Sub with your favourite chocolate bar or mix and match a few different ones.
White Chocolate: I love using at least two types of chocolate in my bark. The white chocolate chips add a great colour contrast and add creaminess to the bark. Not sure what white chocolate to use? Check out this review of my favourite brand.
Marshmallows: I adore playing around with different textures in my bark and marshmallows are a great addition. Dandies are my favourite go-to vegan brand of marshmallows and they are also gluten-free. You can also cut up larger marshmallows if you can’t find mini ones.
Sprinkles: for an instant pop of colour, add seasonal sprinkles to the bark once it has melted. There are many vegan sprinkles available. Check out my Amazon storefront for recommendations.
Candy Hearts: to add a fun crunch to the bark. I found these at a local bulk store. Always check the ingredients of candies to ensure they fit your allergy requirements.
How to Make Chocolate Bark
Did you know that you can melt chocolate in the oven? Yes, that’s right. I was so amazed when I saw this method trending on Instagram and just knew that I HAD to try it out with vegan chocolate. Set up all of the toppings that you want to add to your bark and line a cookie baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the 4 chocolate bars on the paper.
Chocolate Melting Tips
Don’t feel intimidated at the prospect of having to melt chocolate for this bark. No need to learn how to temper, no double boiler method needed, and no risk of overheating it in the microwave (and potentially seizing the chocolate!). My easy oven method is so simple, it’s ridiculous! Seriously once you learn how to melt chocolate in the oven, you’ll never look back.
Set your oven to the lowest temperature. Mine will only go as low as 175F but if yours will go lower, follow the same steps but allow more time for the chocolate to melt. Keep an eye on the chocolate while it starts to melt. You will notice that the pieces of chocolate start to relax and lose their definition.
Carefully jiggle the pan or use a cake tester or toothpick to check it. It took approx 12 minutes for this chocolate to reach the correct stage of meltiness (if that’s even a word!).
Remove the pan from the oven and swirl the chocolate to ensure it is fully melted. I recommend using a spatula for this stage but a spoon will work just as well. Notice the bits in the chocolate? That’s the salted caramel and it’s going to add such a great texture back into the bark once it firms up again.
Let’s Add Toppings
Start placing your chosen toppings on the bar. I started out with the mini marshmallows and white chocolate chips. The key is to add them quickly to the bark so that they will melt slightly and soften up. Top Tip: If you wanted to create a marbled effect with the white chocolate chips, add them part way through the melting process then swirl them together once the pan is removed from the oven.
Then finally add sprinkles and candy hearts. This looks so good already and I can’t wait to try it! Carefully place the tray in the fridge until it has completely set. This tray took about an hour to firm up.
Once the chocolate has set, remove the tray from the fridge, peel back the parchment paper and break up the bark into pieces, as large or as small as needed. Honestly, this is just so easy and is a great no mess recipe as well. My kids had a blast helping with this recipe.
Vegan Valentines Chocolate Bark with Marshmallows
And there we go. This is probably the quickest and easiest Valentine’s treat you can make. I mean who doesn’t love chocolate topped with colourful sprinkles, candy hearts and marshmallows? This recipe gets a big thumbs up from our kids and we hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do.
Common Bark Questions
Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. If you are gifting the bark, place it in cellophane bags. There is no need to refrigerate the bark once it has set unless you live in a very warm climate which may compromise the chocolate. If in doubt, store it in the fridge and bring it to room temperature before eating as the sprinkles will be very hard.
Honestly, the possibilities are endless with homemade chocolate bark. If you are adding sprinkles, pick colours that match the season or holiday. You could also add gold leaf, crushed pieces of oreos, freeze dried fruit, pretzel pieces, nuts and much, much more.
Yes. Double check the ingredients of the chocolate and toppings that you are using. The Cadbury Plant Bar is gluten free. Many sprinkles and marshmallows contain gluten so skip them if you can’t find a gluten free option. Dandies brand of vegan marshmallows are gluten free but do contain soy.
More Valentines Favourites
If you are looking for more Valentine’s ideas, check out these sweet treats:
- Red Velvet Donuts
- Funfetti Heart Cookies
- Menorcan Sugar Cookies
- No Bake Vegan Truffles
- Heart Shaped Welsh Cakes (Dairy Free)
You can also view my personal favourites in this Valentines Day web story.
Vegan Valentines Chocolate Bark with Marshmallows
Ingredients
- 4 Plant Based Chocolate Bars
- Vegan White Chocolate Chips
- Vegan Marshmallows
- Vegan Sprinkles
Instructions
- Set your oven to the lowest temperature (mine is 175°F) and line a cookie baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place 4 chocolate bars on the baking sheet and place in the oven. Keep an eye on the chocolate while it starts to melt. Carefully jiggle the pan to check. Mine took approx 12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and swirl the chocolate to ensure it is fully melted. Add sprinkles, white chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and candy hearts.
- Allow to set in the fridge then break up into pieces. This tray took 1 hour to set.
Video
Notes
- The time it takes for the chocolate to melt will depend on the lowest temperature that your oven will let you select. Mine is 175F and the chocolate took approx 12 minutes to melt.Â
- Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. If you are gifting the bark, place it in cellophane bags. There is no need to refrigerate the bark once it has set unless you live in a very warm climate which may compromise the chocolate. If in doubt, store it in the fridge and bring it to room temperature before eating as the sprinkles will be very hard.
- To make gluten free bark, double check the ingredients of the chocolate and toppings that you are using. The Cadbury Plant Bar is gluten free. Many sprinkles and marshmallows contain gluten so skip them if you can’t find a gluten free option. Dandies brand of vegan marshmallows are gluten free but do contain soy, if that is a concern for you.
- Topping suggestions: Honestly, the possibilities are endless with homemade chocolate bark. If you are adding sprinkles, pick colours that match the season or holiday. You could also add gold leaf, crushed pieces of oreos, freeze dried fruit, pretzel pieces, nuts and much, much more.
We just tried this and it turned out amazing! I will never use the double boiler to melt chocolate for bark ever again!
Loved making the chocolate bark for Valentines- so easy and soooo delicious !!