Bunny Bark

When a holiday rolls around, it’s always good to have a quick and simple no-bake treat at the ready. As Easter hops closer, we return to this festive bunny bark recipe. Year after year, it’s one of our favorite easy Easter desserts, and we know you’ll love it too.

This bunny-riffic bark comes together in a matter of minutes with a few bags of your favorite candy melts, a few drops of food dye, colorful sprinkles and an assortment of your favorite Easter candies. No special candy-making tools are required!

If you have children in your life, let little hands help make this bunny bark recipe. With older kids, you might even find that this is a recipe children can make themselves. They’ll love selecting the colors of the swirls and sprinkling their favorite sprinkles and candies over the surface of the bark—with a healthy amount of sampling in between. This bark is sure to be a welcome addition to any Easter basket. But you better hop to it; Easter is almost here!

Bunny Bark Ingredients

• Vanilla candy melts: For this bunny bark recipe, you’ll need 24 to 30 ounces of white vanilla-flavored candy melts. These candy wafers are easy to melt smoothly in the microwave or on the stovetop, and can be dyed any color of the rainbow.
• Gel food coloring: When you’re gathering ingredients for this recipe, go for the gel type of food coloring. It will let you add the perfect pastel touch to portions of the vanilla candy melts so you can swirl soft colors through the bunny bark.
• Assorted sprinkles: Choose from an array of different sprinkles and edible cake decorations in varying pastel hues of green, orange, yellow, pink, blue or lavender for a festive finish.
• Toppings: Grab a bag of Cadbury mini eggs, jelly beans, marshmallow Peeps, Easter M&M’s, malted milk Robin eggs or any other Easter candy you enjoy to decorate your bunny bark. Pretzel pieces, sliced almonds, green-dyed shredded coconut and bunny-shaped graham crackers are great non-candy toppings to include.

Directions

Step 1: Melt the wafers

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Line a 15x10x1-inch sheet pan with parchment and set it aside.

Add the candy melts to the top pan of a double boiler. Position the pan over a few inches of gently simmering water and melt the wafers over low heat, stirring until completely smooth, two to three minutes. Remove from the heat.

Editor’s Tip: Do not allow the water to come to a full boil. Doing so will melt the wafers too quickly and may cause them to seize, depending on the brand you are using.

Step 2: Add color

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Divide 1/2 cup melted wafers between three small bowls. Add 1 small drop of food coloring to each. (We opted for green, blue and purple for our bunny bark.) Stir the dye into each portion of melted wafers, gradually adding more dye as needed until the desired pastel hue is reached.

Editor’s Tip: It’s difficult to lighten dye once it has been added to melted wafers, so add only a tiny drop to start and gradually add more until the perfect pigmentation is reached.

Step 3: Spread and swirl

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Spread the remaining melted white candy wafers onto the prepared parchment-lined sheet pan into an even layer about 1/4-inch thick. Next, scatter spoonfuls of each color of melted wafers over the surface. Using a sharp knife or offset spatula, begin to swirl the colors through the melted white candy until it appears well-marbled.

Editor’s Tip: We recommend you drop about 1/2 teaspoon of colored melted candy wafers at a time.

Step 4: Decorate with toppings

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While the bunny bark is still tacky, sprinkle the surface with assorted sprinkles, candies and other toppings of your choice. Transfer the sheet pan to the refrigerator until fully set, at least 30 minutes.

Editor’s Tip: If your candy begins to set before you have a chance to add toppings, place the sheet pan in a low-temp oven for about five minutes to soften the bark. Alternatively, you may preheat your sheet pan ahead of time so it is slightly warm while you’re spreading and swirling to buy you a little extra time to add toppings.

Step 5: Break into bark

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Once the bunny bark has fully set, break the candy into large pieces and serve.

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Bunny Bark Variations

• Swap in white chocolate for the white candy melts: While white candy melts may look and taste like white chocolate, technically they are different since melting wafers do not contain cocoa butter. That said, this bunny bark may also be made as white chocolate bark if you prefer.
• Turn it into chocolate bunny bark: If you’re a chocolate lover, you can make bunny bark with melted chocolate instead. Choose from a milk, dark or semisweet type of baking chocolate and prepare the bark as directed, omitting the colorful swirls.
• Make tuxedo bunny bark: Want the best of both worlds? Use melted chocolate as the base for your bark and add swirls of melted white candy melts. You could leave the melted wafers white or dye them with pastel colors of your choice.
• Use colored candy melts: If you would rather purchase colored candy melt wafers for this recipe instead of coloring them yourself, feel free. However, since only a small amount of colored candy is needed, dying white melts is a bit more practical. If you opt for colored candy melts, make these Easter cake pops with the extras.
• Decorate the bark for other holidays: This bunny bark recipe can be easily adapted for other holidays and celebrations. Opt for red and green swirls with Christmas candies for a Christmas bark, or try a combination of black, orange, green and purple swirls with candy corn and trick-or-treat candy for a spooky Halloween bark. The possibilities are endless.

How to Store Bunny Bark

Like many of our other favorite homemade Easter candy recipes, bunny bark should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. If your home is on the warm side, you may wish to store the bunny bark in the refrigerator.

How long does bunny bark last?

Bunny bark will stay fresh for up to one week.

Can you freeze bunny bark?

Yes. As with many bark and brittle recipes, this bunny bark may be stored in the freezer for up to six months. To stop freezer burn and absorption of odors in the freezer, wrap the bark tightly in storage wrap and then store it in an airtight food storage container or freezer bag. Thaw it in the refrigerator before enjoying.

Bunny Bark Tips

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What’s the best way to melt chocolate?

Candy melts are best melted using the same methods for melting chocolate. Melting chocolate on the stovetop using a double boiler is the best method, but you may also microwave candy melts and chocolate at reduced power in short intervals.

How should you serve bunny bark?

Bunny bark makes the perfect Easter treat to serve on a tray alongside other festive Easter desserts like an adorable bunny cake and colorful marshmallow Easter eggs. Bunny bark also makes a wonderful treat to pack in small cellophane bags tied off with colorful ribbons. Tuck these little bunny bundles into your child’s Easter basket or deliver them to friends and neighbors as a thoughtful Easter gift.