I take any and every chance I get to focus on the true meaning of Easter during the season, which is Jesus! I was looking for a fun way to incorporate jelly beans and use them with the jelly bean prayer, and I decided to try making “jelly bean bark”. Not only was this super easy and fun for kids, but it’s actually a lot more delicious than I expected it to be! You can find my free legend of the jelly bean printables here. Now let me show you how to make easy jelly bean bark in the microwave!
Guess what? This recipe is now a part of my The Symbolic Holy Week & Easter Cookbook! This cookbook includes 23 recipes that point to the true meaning of Easter. It also includes 29 pages of bonus printables! You do not want to miss this amazing resource.
Ingredients Needed For Jelly Bean Bark Recipe:
- White “candy melts” (you could also use white chocolate chips or almond bark, but I have always found those candy melt things to melt a lot more consistently)
- Jelly Beans (the traditional ones in original colors- not the jelly bellies or any pastel versions if you want it to match up with the jelly bean prayer)
- Sprinkles (this would be optional, but I think the rainbow sprinkles helped mirror the colors of the jelly beans and make this more interesting in the end, so I highly recommend sprinkles)
Other Supplies Needed To Make Jelly Bean Bark:
- parchment paper or wax paper
- a cookie sheet (don’t care if the internet is calling it a “cooking sheet”… I’m too old to change my ways lol)
- spatula
- space in the fridge for your cookie sheet
Melting The White Chocolate
You will want to follow the directions on the bag of whatever version of white chocolate you are using. For our candy melts, it said to heat on medium in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between.
I find that what happens to me is I will do this 1 or 2 times, become frustrated that it’s not melting, then put it in for more time or on a higher power. Do not do that! lol. I have ruined white chocolate that way so many times. If you just stick to the 30 second intervals on half power, stirring, all of a sudden it will be melted, and it will be perfect and beautiful!
I have gotten second degree burns before by melting chocolate with a double broiler, so I’m happy to use my microwave at this point.
Spreading The Jelly Bean Bark
When you have your white chocolate melted without any blobs left in it, you’re ready to make your bark!
First, lay your parchment paper across your cookie sheet.
Then, spread the white chocolate across your parchment paper with the spatula. You want it to be about half of a centimeter thick, spreading it across the sheet.
It will never be perfectly smooth, so you may as well make some swirls with the spatula across the top. Everything that looks intentional looks better than something that doesn’t!
Adding The Jelly Beans And Sprinkles
As soon as you’re done spreading while your white chocolate is still warm, sprinkle the jelly beans across the top. You don’t want to mix them into the white chocolate because then you won’t see their beautiful color.
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When you have sprinkled your desired number of jelly beans, gently push each one straight down into the white chocolate to insure it will be held there when the chocolate hardens.
When you’re finished pushing the jelly beans down, sprinkle the top with your rainbow sprinkles- as many as you like!
Hardening The White Chocolate
To harden your jelly bean bark, place your cookie sheet in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. I was actually surprised how well this worked to harden the candy melts!
Break And Serve!
As you can see here the jelly bean bark is quite sturdy when it’s done, and it will be hardened into one large piece.
Just break that piece apart into random chunks until they are the desired serving size.
Is Jelly Bean Bark Good?
This stuff is absolutely delicious and I ended up loving the texture of the jelly beans with the white chocolate! Check out the finished product.
Don’t forget to check out my free printable jelly bean prayer that goes along with this recipe!
Easy Jelly Bean Bark Printable Recipe
Easy Jelly Bean Bark Recipe
Equipment
- parchment paper or wax paper
- a cookie sheet
- spatula
- space in the fridge for your cookie sheet
Ingredients
- White Candy Melts or White Almond Bark
- Jelly Beans the traditional ones in original colors - not the jelly bellies or any pastel versions if you want it to match up with the jelly bean prayer
- Sprinkles optional
Instructions
Melting The White Chocolate
- You will want to follow the directions on the bag of whatever version of white chocolate you are using. For our candy melts, it said to heat on medium in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between.
Spreading The Jelly Bean Bark
- When you have your white chocolate melted without any blobs left in it, you’re ready to make your bark!
- First, lay your parchment paper across your cookie sheet.
- Then, spread the white chocolate across your parchment paper with the spatula. You want it to be about half of a centimeter thick.
- It will never be perfectly smooth, so you may as well make some swirls with the spatula across the top. Everything that looks intentional looks better than something that doesn’t!
Adding The Jelly Beans And Sprinkles
- As soon as you’re done spreading while your white chocolate is still warm, sprinkle the jelly beans across the top. You don’t want to mix them into the white chocolate because then you won’t see their beautiful color.
- When you have sprinkled your desired number of jelly beans, gently push each one straight down into the white chocolate.
- When you’re finished pushing the jelly beans down, sprinkle the top with your rainbow sprinkles, if you decide to use sprinkles.
Hardening The White Chocolate
- To harden your jelly bean bark, place your cookie sheet in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.
Break And Serve!
- Your bark will be hardened into one large piece.
- Just break that piece apart into random chunks until they are the desired serving size.
