This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #TasteTheSeason #CollectiveBias

Every year our friends host a Christmas party and our favorite recurring theme is, of course, an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party! We love to host our fair share of parties, too, and have some tips on how to throw a great (EASY) party. To get you started with your holiday party, I’m sharing some free printables for an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party, party planning tips, and a Holiday Bark recipe! Find more great recipes from Kraft here.

We live like 2 minutes from Walmart so I always run there for quick shops, like when I get the urge to do some holiday baking 😉 This Holiday Bark recipe is SO EASY and you can change it up based on your favorite ingredients. Head to the baking aisle to find your Baker’s Chocolate (I mix semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate) and your Jet Puffed Marshmallows (use the mini ones).

I wanted to add peanuts to my Holiday Bark and I was thinking maybe some dried cranberries, too, for an extra festive touch. On my way to find the aisle with peanuts, I saw a huge aisle display of Planters! And there was the PERFECT mix called Planters Harvest Medley. It has peanuts, raisins, chocolate candy pieces, chocolate covered peanuts, almonds, cashews, AND cranberries. YUM! Just right for some Holiday Bark.

I melt my white chocolate and my semi-sweet chocolate in different bowls in the microwave. Then I add in handfuls of my “extras:” marshmallows and the Planters peanuts mix. Stir them up.

Then take a cookie sheet (covered in wax paper) and put on spoonfuls of your chocolate mixes. I just plop them on, alternating semi-sweet spoonfuls and white chocolate spoonfuls so once they’re all on there, you can kind of swirl them together for pretty Holiday Bark 😉

Yes, you could just mix your Bakers Chocolates together OR you could make a layered bark by spreading out one of them on the cookie sheet first, putting it in the refrigerator for about 10-15 minutes, and then spreading the other chocolate on top of it. I like the swirl!

Holiday Bark

 

Print

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

EASY and festive Holiday Bark

Author: Emily @ Baby Dickey

Recipe type: dessert

Ingredients

• 2 bars (4 oz.) semi-sweet Bakers Chocolate
• 2 bars (4 oz.) white Bakers Chocolate
• ~1 cup Jet Puffed mini marshmallows
• ~1 cup Planters harvest medley mix (or just Planters peanuts, etc.)

Instructions

1. Chop your Bakers Chocolates into pieces for easier melting. Melt them in separate bowls in the microwave (careful not to burn).
2. Add half of your marshmallows and half of your Planters nuts into each bowl of chocolate.
3. Drop spoonfuls of your mixes onto a wax paper covered baking sheet. Alternate spoonfuls of semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate and then swirl them together with a knife.
4. Cool in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. Break into pieces and ENJOY!

3.2.2885

Easy Party Planning Tips:

• Plan ahead: don’t spend too much time stressing, but it helps to have the grocery shopping done early, dishes made in advance (if possible), the house clean the day before, and any helpers you need assigned their tasks to help out on the day of the party!
• Food: ask your guests to bring their favorite dish! Fill in the holes yourself as the host and do your shopping early, make the food ahead of time, or even order food. Recipes like my Holiday Bark are super easy and fast, but are delicious and festive!
• Ask for help: have friends come over early to help decorate or pick up. Have others hosted a similar party before? Ask to borrow some decorations or party supplies!
• Set the mood: light some candles and put on some holiday  music. Those two things alone will make your party seem well planned, festive, and prepared! You can keep things easy (and cheap)–cut snowflakes from paper and roll out some wrapping paper across your table as a cover or runner!
• Games: having an Ugly Christmas Sweater themed party sets half of your games for you! Below you can find some free printables to award the Ugly, Uglier, and Ugliest Sweaters and the cards to nominate them. Do a white elephant “under $5” gift exchange. Play charades with holiday movies and songs or go caroling. You don’t have to put a lot of time (or money) into holiday party games!

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party FREE Printables

Click through on each image to get access to the high-res full image that you can print at home. Use the awards above to cut out and give to the top 3 winners! Ugly Sweater, Uglier Sweater, and Ugliest Sweater. I am sure they’ll be worn proudly 😉 Use the card below to hand out to all your guests so they can fill out with their nominations for the top 3 winners!

Are you hosting an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party this year? If you are, share some pics!!! My favorite so far is a holiday sweater that said “fruit cake” on it, ha. Share to my Facebook page!

If you need more inspiration, check out the Cooking Up Good website. It has recipes, sweepstakes, loyalty programs, coupons and more! What’s not to love? If you’re looking for a new dinner idea or a chance to win some awesome prizes, be sure to check it out!

What are your best holiday party planning tips?

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #TasteTheSeason #CollectiveBias