Candy Cane Hearts with Chocolate (step by step tutorial)

Candy cane hearts with chocolate combine classic peppermint bark and festive candy canes to create a stunning treat that is perfect for holiday parties, office platters, or as gifts for Christmas and Valentine’s Day.

Keep reading for all the tips we’ve learned from making these through the years, and to grab a special printable label to make your gift extra sweet.

So, we first made these candy cane hearts 5 years ago.

Back then, my oldest was still a ‘little’ kid, and my youngest wasn’t even crawling yet. Now, I’ve got a tween, a moody almost-tween, and a wild 5-year-old.

It’s amazing how things change over time.

But what hasn’t changed is that every time I’ve made candy cane hearts with chocolate, the kids go completely bonkers with anticipation. I can’t tell you how many times I had to say ‘not yet’ when photographing these cuties.

It’s a good thing we’re not doing classroom gifts this year, because I don’t think there would be any left to hand out.

But if you can keep your kids away from them…

I’ve got a fun little printable for you!

I originally created these pretty labels to go along with a giftable bottle of Rosemary Infused Vodka (an awesome idea for adults, btw).

But it seemed like it was time for an update, and now the gift tags/labels are fully editable. Which means you can add your own message and create labels for other fun foodie gifts – like these candy cane hearts.

Here I used a pretty box from a set of 4×6 notecards to hold the peppermint bark hearts. The tag fits perfectly over top. Don’t you just love it when things come together that nicely?

You could also just place the hearts in a treat sack, punch a hole in the tag, and use some twine to hold it all together. Either way, it’s super sweet.

As a fun treat, subscribers can get these labels for free! Just add your name and email address below to grab your copy.

Don’t want to subscribe? You can also purchase the labels for a small price in my shop.

Ready to get baking? Let’s get started!

How to Make Candy Cane Hearts

These are the main steps to creating peppermint bark hearts, with some important tips along the way. (You can also scroll down to grab an easy to read printable version of the recipe)

Step 1: Place the Candy Canes on a Baking Sheet

Arrange candy canes on a parchment covered baking sheet so that the ends are touching and create a loose heart shape.

What if your candy canes are all broken?

It is still possible to make peppermint bark hearts with broken candy canes, but I won’t lie, it’s a challenge.

How do I know? The second time I made this recipe, I only had one intact candy cane out of a box of 100. Frustrated doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt.

BUT I was able to get a few hearts from the box. Here’s what I learned:

1. It’s easiest to work with candy canes that are in two pieces (any more than 3 pieces and it’s too difficult
2. The pieces may not all sit on your sheet in the same way. For example, one piece may fall to the side. This is fine.

As long as the pieces are close enough together you should be able to shape the pieces together later.

Step 2: Gently heat the Candy canes

Place your arranged candy canes in the oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for about 5 minutes.

After the candy canes are warmed in the oven, they will be soft enough to mold into hearts.

How do you shape candy canes?

Immediately after removing the candy from the oven, pinch any open ends together to create a closed heart shape.

Important: You must act quickly, because the candy canes will harden again as they cool.

You can place the candy canes back in the oven for another 3-5 minutes if you find they cool too quickly or aren’t soft enough to mold together.

Step 3: Crush Candy Canes into pieces

While the candy canes are warming in the oven, place about 10-12 mini candy canes in a zip-top bag. Use a rolling pin or meat tenderizer to beat the candy canes into small pieces.

This is a great way to use up broken candy canes that are in too many pieces to use for the hearts.

Step 4: Melt Your Chocolates

While the candy cane hearts cool, it’s time to melt the semi sweet and white chocolate chips.

There are two ways to melt chocolate for bark: double boiler or microwave. I used a double boiler to melt both the white and semi sweet chocolate for these peppermint bark hearts, but you can learn all you need to know about how to melt chocolate right here.

Step 5: Add the chocolate to the inside of the candy cane hearts

I used a small spoon to place semi sweet and white chocolate inside the hearts, and then used the back of the spoon to spread the chocolate out and smooth the top.

We did a mixture of fillings for our candy cane hearts:

• Semi sweet chocolate only
• White chocolate only, and
• Swirled semi sweet and white chocolate

To make a chocolate swirl:

Place about a teaspoon each of semi sweet and white chocolate inside each half of the candy cane heart. Then use a toothpick to swirl the two chocolates together.

Step 6: Sprinkle with Crushed Peppermint

While the chocolate is still warm, sprinkle a few bits of crushed candy cane on top for a pretty effect.

Let the candy cane hearts cool in the refrigerator until firm, about 30-45 minutes.

More Holiday Treats to Love:

• Holiday Truffles with a Boozy Twist
• Orange Vanilla Candied Cranberries
• Easy Candied Pecans
• White chocolate blondies with peppermint

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