Chocolate and Nut Butter Caramel Bark

Directions

1. Chop the chocolate into smaller shards and set aside.
2. Temper the chocolate. I like to use the metal bowl over a sauce pan method. In a small saucepan over high heat, bring some water to a boil. (I generally fill the saucepan up halfway, but it depends how deep your metal bowl is.) Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down so that the water is at a simmer and place a wide, shallow metal bowl over the top—it should nest right into the saucepan without touching the water for this to work well. Add the chocolate and stir at regular intervals until it is fully melted.
3. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, pour the melted chocolate in one 1/4-inch tall layer. Set aside as you prepare the peanut butter caramel.
4. In a shallow saute pan over medium heat, melt the sugar by simply lifting the pan and swirling it around as the sugar melts. You don't want to mess with it using a utensil too much.
5. Once the sugar has mostly dissolved, add the cream. Do this carefully, as it will almost be guaranteed to bubble and splatter as you do so. Whisk the cream and sugar together constantly to make a caramel. While you whisk, you'll probably notice a bump of hardened sugar develop on the whisk—that's ok. You'll want to work on melting this as you incorporate the sugar and cream. It's important to to fully mix the sugar in with the cream so when you add your nut butter it doesn't split.
6. Once the sugar has dissolved into the cream, add the nut butter. Whisk constantly so that you fully incorporate the nut butter with the caramel. Once it's all one mixture, remove from heat.
7. Take a spoon to the caramel and drizzle all over the chocolate. Place the baking sheet with chocolate and nut butter caramel drizzle into the refrigerator to set. I like to leave mine in there overnight so there's no doubt it will be hard as a rock. When you're ready to eat, remove and give it a bunch of cracks so it breaks up into chunks for easy snacking.