Red White and Blue Bark Recipe - Meatloaf and Melodrama (2024)

Red white and blue bark is a super easy no bake dessert recipe that is perfect for patriotic holidays like Memorial Day and Fourth of July. You can make this festive candy bark in just a few minutes, and it's the perfect treat for summer cookouts and potlucks or sharing with friends and neighbors!

The kids and I have been making this patriotic candy bark for years. We always make peppermint bark at Christmas, Bunny Bark at Easter and Halloween Bark in the fall. So of course, we have to have patriotic colors for July 4th and the summer holidays.

One of the best things about this no bake dessert recipe is that it only takes a few minutes to prepare. And, no hot oven to heat up the house! Plus, you only need a few ingredients to make this red white and blue candy bark recipe!

Having a cookout? Serve this red white and blue dessert with Patriotic Popcorn, Red White and Blue Pretzels and Red White and Blue Poke Cake!

Patriotic Bark Ingredients

You only need 4 ingredients to make patriotic bark recipe, plus extra decorations if you want. They should be easy to find in your grocery store, craft store or online.

• Semi sweet chocolate morsels -- forms the base of the bark
• Blue candy melts -- add red candy melts if you like
• White chocolate chips -- or white candy melts
• M and M's
• Red white and blue sprinkles or jimmies -- look for patriotic sprinkles or star sprinkles in blue or white or red.

Since candy melts alone would be a tad too sweet, even for me, I decided to use semi-sweet chocolate as a base for the bark. This worked really well, and I love the way all of the colors look together!

How to Make Red White and Blue Bark Recipe

First, pour the chocolate morsels, white chocolate and blue candy melts into separate microwaveable bowls. Then, line a baking sheet with wax paper. Start by melting the the semi sweet chocolate in the microwave.

Follow the directions on the bag for melting chocolate in the microwave. Or, just heat the chocolate in 30-second intervals until it's mostly melted, stirring gently in between intervals.

Pour the melted chocolate on the lined baking sheet. Then, gently smooth it into a rectangle. Make sure it's not too thick -- around ⅛th inches is good. Pop the tray into the fridge for a few minutes to set faster.

Next, melt the white chocolate or white chocolate candy melts. Pour about half of the melted white chocolate on the semi sweet chocolate, and smooth it into a thin layer.

Finally, melt the blue candy melts. Pour over the white chocolate layer and spread it gently into a thin layer using an offset spatula or knife, Pour the rest of the white chocolate over the blue, and use a toothpick or knife to create a swirl effect.

I found that it's easier to get the swirl effect by letting the colors firm up just slightly before adding the layers.

Just don't wait too long! You want the layers to stick together, but you still want them soft enough to blend.

Add red, white and blue M and M's over the top layer. Tip -- If you can't find red, white and blue candies, you can just pick out red and blue from a regular bag.

If you want, you can also add some festive seasonal sprinkles or jimmies to this patriotic chocolate bark.

When you're done decorating the bark, pop the tray into the fridge until the candy firms up.

If you're in a hurry, you can even freeze the bark for a few minutes! Just don't keep it in there too long. When the bark is firm, cut or break the bark into smaller pieces.

How to Store Red White and Blue Chocolate Bark

Store this easy patriotic bark in an airtight container in a cool place. You can keep it in the fridge if your house is too warm to store at room temperature. It lasts about a week, if it lasts that long!

Actually, I keep it in the garage refrigerator to discourage the kids and me from foraging -- those little pieces are so tempting.

Recipe Tips

Let the melted candy coating cool slightly before swirling to get gorgeous swirls of color.

If you can't find red, white and blue m&m candy, pick out the colors you need from a bag of regular m&m's.

Freeze or refrigerate the bark for a few minutes to speed up the drying process if you are pressed for time.

And, I have to say that a pizza cutter does an awesome job of making neat slices, which is a good thing when you're trying to show off that amazing blue and white swirl.

Recipe

I hope you enjoy this easy patriotic dessert as much as we do.4th of July bark the perfect addition to any Fourth of July celebration!

If you try this easy recipe, please leave a star rating and/or comment.

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Recipe first published in 2015 and updated in 2023