Dark Chocolate Macadamia Cherry Bark from Sandi!

When I put out the call for guest posts, Sandi of Fearless Dining asked me if she would like to contribute.  Of course!  I have seen her recipes and loved so many of them, so I just knew she would make something amazing for you guys.  :)

I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but one of my least favorite kitchen tasks is melting chocolate and butter.  I am so impatient that I usually end up burning it and having to start over again.  However, this recipe for Dark Chocolate Macadamia Cherry Bark looks so good that I am willing to patiently wait and watch.  Need I say more?

Take it away, Sandi!

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Are you a choco-aholic?

Don't feel guilty, I am as well :-) .

When my friend, Diane, said she needed some help with guest posts while she was studying, I knew just the post to share with her readers.

I can't help it, give this girl dark chocolate and I am happy as can be. I recently fell in love with these Pound Plus chocolate bars at Trader Joe's. They are available in Dark Chocolate, Bittersweet, or Milk Chocolate. They are only $4.99 for the giant bar, a fabulous bargain. This chocolate is made in Belgium and is really good.

And even better, it melts down really nicely, making it perfect for making candy.


For this recipe, I used just three ingredients:

1. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar
2. Trader Joe's Macadamia Nuts
3. Trader Joe's Tart Dried Cherries

(maybe I should call this recipe a big plug for Trader Joe's.)

I melted half of the pound bar of dark chocolate. Break it into squares and put them in a microwave safe dish. Melt the chocolate in 35 second increments. (I do this to prevent the chocolate from over cooking or burning.) My chocolate was ready by the 4th increment of 35 seconds.) Stir the chocolate.

Add in 1 cup of macadamia nuts and 1/2 cup of the tart dried cherries and stir to blend.

Dump the mixture onto a piece of wax paper in a dish. Put into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.

Break apart and enjoy. You can mix any of your favorite things into this chocolate. This recipe is so
simple, even your kids can make it!

What would you mix in to make your own special bark?

About the Author

Sandi Gaertner is the owner of Fearless Dining. Her family began their gluten-free journey five years ago when first her husband, and later the rest of the family, discovered that they were gluten intolerant. At that time, it was really hard to find gluten free foods that tasted good. They tried to dine out and live a normal life, but found they were often getting sick. This led Sandi to start her blog. Fearless Dining features restaurant interviews, special recipes from the chefs, and gluten free product reviews. Fearless Dining has a database of 645 Bay Area restaurants’ safe gluten handling procedures.

She would love to connect via Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter.

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Happy melting!