Are you pining for the holidays, or are you ecstatic to have moved on from them? Well, either way, we have a fun surprise for you today!
Many of you chimed in when we wrote about the Pecan Maple Bark featured in the Canada Pavilion during Holidays Around the World. Hands down, it was our favorite snack during the holiday season!
Well, the tree may be down and the bows stored away for another year, but we had to share this recipe. It was so good, we can’t wait to make it at home.
Pecan Maple Bark from the Canada Pavilion
Need a handmade gift for someone special? This candy, a cross between a bark and a toffee, would fit the bill perfectly!
Pecan Maple “Bark” Brittle
Canada Pavilion, Holidays Around the World
Makes a 15″ x 10″ Cookie Sheet
Ingredients:
Maple Brittle
2 cups butter (4 sticks)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup maple sugar
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons maple extract
Chocolate and Pecans
12 ounces, about 2 cups, high-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped, or chips, divided
1 cup chopped pecans, divided
2 teaspoons sea salt, divided
Instructions:
For Maple Brittle:
1. Line two 15″ x 10″ cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine butter, sugars, water, and maple extract in 4-quart saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture registers between 270-290° F (soft-crack stage).
3. Pour mixture onto 1 cookie sheet and quickly spread as close to the edges as possible before brittle sets. Cool until hard at room temperature.
For Chocolate and Pecans:
1. Place ice in bottom of large bowl and cover ice with a kitchen towel. Set aside.
2. Bring water to a gentle simmer on bottom of a double boiler over medium low heat. Add 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips to top of double boiler and place over heat, making sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Stir continuously until about 3/4 of the chips are melted.
3. Remove from heat and place on towel in ice bowl and let sit for 20 seconds. Remove from ice and gradually add 1/4 cup chocolate chips, stirring continuously, allowing the residual heat to melt remaining chocolate.
4. Evenly spread melted chocolate onto cooled brittle. Immediately sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans and 1 teaspoon sea salt evenly over chocolate. Allow to harden either at room temperature or refrigerated.
5. Using care, flip the brittle over onto the other lined sheetpan, so that the brittle side is exposed. Repeat Steps 2, 3, 4, with remaining chocolate, pecans, and salt on second side of brittle.
6. Allow to completely harden either at room temperature or in refrigerator; break into pieces and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Cook’s Notes: Maple sugar and maple extract can be found online or in specialty grocery stores.
Wishing You Could Recapture the Magic of the Holidays?
Whether it’s January or July, the holidays at Walt Disney World are the most beautiful time of the year! We love flipping through photos to relive the best moments of the season…and planning everything we want to do for next Christmas!
And if you’d like to reminisce and plan right along with us, then order your copy of the DFB Guide to the Walt Disney World Holidays today!
Our full color guide offers detailed descriptions and photos of every holiday event and activity that happens at the Parks and Resorts. Comprehensive listings with color photos of Disney Resort holiday decor and gingerbread displays make you feel like you’re right in the middle of the magic!
There’s also a full chapter dedicated to all that was new for 2014 — events, dining options, and activities, including highlights at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, The Celebrate the Magic Castle Show, and the Epcot Candlelight Processional.
And with its handy e-book format, your DFB Guide to the Walt Disney World Holidays is instantly downloadable to all of your electronic devices immediately! Pick up your copy today and enjoy a look back at one of the best holiday seasons ever.
Will you be making some Pecan Maple “Bark” Brittle at home? Leave us a comment and tell us what you think!
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I couldn’t find this guy when I was there in early December. Where in the pavilion was it sold? I checked the beer cart/kiosk thing and the shop up the stairs.
Maple extract? Don’t think that it’s permitted here in VT! Also, I don’t recall seeing it here.
They sell it at the Popcorn/Beer Cart in Canada. However apparently it is the equivalent of gold because we were there about two weeks after they started the Holidays Around the World and they were already sold out, so bummed!
We had some yesterday and were surprised that maple was not listed in the ingredients. Just chocolate, pecans, sugar and salt. (You’d think they’d list it as maple sugar.)
It did have a nice maple smell but unnoticeable in the maple flavor.
I plan to try this for Christmas. One thing about this recipe, though: it mentions using 2 cookie sheets, but never mentions the second cookie sheet in the instructions. That may be confusing to people who don’t bake a lot. Baking is my hobby, and even I had to read it a few times before i just assumed the second cookie sheet is for flipping the brittle onto halfway through to repeat the chocolate process on the second side. Thank you for posting this recipe.
Traci — Thanks for alerting us to the oversight. I’ve made the correction. Let us know how it turns out!
I did try this at the holidays, and it came out great. My first-ever attempt at candy-making. We thought it tasted very “maple-y.” It’s now my father’s favorite candy. Once you break it into pieces, there’s quite a lot of it. We still have some in the freezer. Great recipe.
Traci — That’s so great! Thank you so much for coming back and sharing your experience with us! 😀
Maple and Pecans… hard not to love that combo! Also, I use Ghirardelli chocolate chips and fresh pecans from an orchard in Texas (MillicanPecan.com) to really make this recipe a winner! Be sure to immediately spread the pecans and sea salt over the melted chocolate before it cools.