1. Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper and spread the broken oreos, pretzels, and about ¾ of your M&M’s onto the baking sheet.

I felt like a little kid evaluating my Halloween loot while I dispersed all of my colorful treats across the pan. To crush the oreos I placed 8 cookies in a plastic bag and broke them up using the bottom of a cup, don’t worry about creating fine oreo powder, just oreo chunks if fine. I used mini pretzel sticks for just the right amount of salty and sweet, but I would recommend breaking them in half so they don’t stick out and break off of your bark later on.

2. Place white chocolate in a glass container and microwave for 30 second increments, stirring in between, until it is completely melted and smooth.

My packs of white chocolate came divided in rows of four, like a Hershey’s bar, so I broke those into pairs of two to aid the melting process. I had to repeat the microwave step three times to get it completely melted, and then once more for good measure to even out any remaining lumps.

3. Pour the melted chocolate over the cookie/candy mixture, spreading with spatula if needed to coat completely.
Per usual, the combination step was the most stressful. Initially, my method of slowly drizzling the white chocolate seemed to leave a lot of gaps, so I switched to scooping large heaps of chocolate and strategically dumping them. I used my spatula to spread such clumps, but the mix-ins began to stick to my chocolate-coated spoon. Eventually I was able to spread the chocolate over most of my candy, cookie, and pretzel mix by tilting the pan and letting gravity do its thing.

4. Sprinkle the rest of the m&m’s as well as red and green sprinkles over the still wet chocolate. This won’t work if it has hardened.

I forgot to snag holiday sprinkles at the store, so all I had to decorate the top was more generic, un-festive m&ms, but some assorted primary colors are better than nothing.

5. Place cookie tray into refrigerator until set and firm. Remove and gently break bark into small pieces.

The biggest test of self-control: waiting for a delicious concoction to set. I left my bark pan in the fridge while I tried to distract myself with homework. That lasted about fifteen minutes. Luckily the bark was plenty firm by then and I was able to break it up into various sizes to share with my wonderful newspaper staff.
Since it only took about 20 minutes to prepare, this project was definitely much easier than my previous adventure with chocolate lasagna. I would highly recommend this treat for anyone looking for a quick and tasty way to surprise and impress friends or family this holiday season.