Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark Just Hit Shelves For The Holidays

Full offense at white chocolate, but it's basically flavorless solidified sugar — and while I respect it, I draw the line at voluntarily consuming it. The one exception I have made throughout the years is Williams Sonoma's iconic Peppermint Bark, which transcends decades-long war against white chocolate by pairing it with things so delicious that my brain refuses to process it. That said, the holiday dessert is getting one hell of a makeover this year with the release of Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark, which is already available to buy, digest, and presumably hoard from your family members despite originally buying them as "gifts."

True Peppermint Bark stans know that the makeup of it is traditionally a layer of dark chocolate topped with a layer of white chocolate topped with crunchy peppermint candy, a ratio that can be surprisingly easy to mess up (looking at you, places that put in peppermint shards big enough to break your teeth). But Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark throws the careful balance of light and dark out the window completely, offering instead a version with "layers of Guittard premium semisweet and bittersweet chocolates" that the site describes as "luscious" and "intense." (You can read the rest of the description at your own risk; I thoroughly embarrassed myself by being more attracted to it than I have by any Tinder bio I've seen this year, so I'm personally out.)

Unsurprisingly, given is reputation for Peppermint Bark, Williams Sonoma has a ton of other twists on the treat available this year as well. The first I will mention because it is my favorite and I doubt any version will hold a candle to it so long as I live is the Salted Peppermint Bark. It's essentially Peppermint Bark, with a little dusting of salt on it that packs a ridiculously delicious punch. I wish I were less dramatic of a candy consumer, but a tiny tear almost fell down my cheek when I tried it. I do have a favorite child, and her name is Salted Peppermint Bark.

You can also get some gift-giving out of the way this year with the Peppermint Bark Advent Calendar and the Personalized Peppermint Bark Tin if you happen to have someone in your life who, like me, is unrepentantly obsessed with all things Peppermint Bark. (In lieu of acknowledging the Gregorian calendar, for me it is either "Peppermint Bark Season" or "Not Peppermint Bark Season.") There are plenty of other versions you can get, of course, because this is Peppermint Bark's world and we're all just living in it, but I trust you to take this journey for yourself — even if this year, it leads you into the (chocolate) darkness.