Peppermint Bark, Cleanest Spinach Dip of all time & Electric Kettle for Drinks.
Prepare for this dessert to be gone in no-time. The Cleanest spinach dip will soon become a favorite staple - plus, its cheese-less. Where to find the best electric kettle for your drinks.
Peppermint desserts are a go-to favorite during the holidays. One of the simplest recipes to satisfy that peppermint craving is peppermint bark. Mix some semi sweet chocolate, white chocolate, peppermint, and crunchy candy cane pieces, and you’ve got yourself a delicious treat! Where could it go wrong?
Wake Up and Read the Labels doesn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but you may want to think twice before making your peppermint bark with the usual chocolate and candy cane pieces. Don’t worry, as always, there’s a way to make it work. Let’s dive in.
What’s Usually In Peppermint Bark?
Peppermint bark may only call for a few ingredients, but when you break down what’s in the chocolates and candy canes, you may think twice about choosing your typical items from the grocery store. Wake Up and Read the Labels is here to explain why this is important.
Maybe you’re buying something similar to Nestle’s Semi Sweet Chocolate Morsels for your chocolate later. Before just throwing the bag into your shopping cart, read the ingredients. “SUGAR, CHOCOLATE, COCOA BUTTER, MILKFAT, SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL FLAVORS.”
Moving your eyes to another shelf with the white chocolate, you pick up Nestle’s Premier White Morsels. They’re premier, so that sounds good, right? Let’s read the ingredients. “SUGAR, FRACTIONATED PALM KERNEL OIL, MILK, NONFAT MILK, HYDROGENATED PALM OIL, SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL FLAVOR.”
We’re not off to a great start, but let’s see what’s in the typical Brach’s peppermint candy canes. “CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, PEPPERMINT OIL, RED 40, RED 40 LAKE.”
Goodness, there are some alarming ingredients that need to be broken down. We won’t cover every single ingredient below, but let the record show that the only Wake Up and Read the Labels approved ingredient out of these three products is peppermint oil. Yikes!
Soy Lecithin
Soy Lecithin is a food additive that’s often used as an emulsifier. It comes from soy, which is often genetically modified and should be avoided. It’s just a food additive, so it’s not offering any type of nutrition. Just say no.
Natural Flavors
Natural Flavors may seem harmless, but flavor manufacturers can get away with calling added preservatives, synthetic solvents, and other additives that are not actually natural. There’s just not much natural about them!
Corn Syrup
Corn Syrup is an unnecessary added sweetener that’s derived from corn. Corn that’s not organic is genetically modified and can lead to many health risks.
Food Dyes
There are so many health related issues to food dyes like hyperactivity, depression, asthma, tumor growth, and more. We wrote an article on the risks of food dyes recently, and it’s one you should read. Food dyes and artificial colorings are added often, and they’re unnecessary ingredients that just do way more harm than good.
What The Wrong Peppermint Bark Could Do To Your Body
So many health risks involved with these ingredients, and this is just one tiny portion of what you may eat per day!
These ingredients are found in so many products. When you’re constantly feeding yourself foods with artificial ingredients, your body starts to feel the effects.
Chronic inflammation, heart disease, obesity… These are common health problems that are very related to the food we eat.
Have no fear. Wake Up and Read the Labels has sourced all the clean products that are made with REAL ingredients.
Peppermint Bark
Serves 6-8
12 oz clean Semi Sweet (or dark) Chocolate (brands listed below)
16 oz clean White Chocolate Bar, chopped (brands listed below)
1 tsp peppermint extract