Bunny Bark

Here’s my thing: Saturday mornings are for being lazy, slow starts and easy everything. That’s our routine.  I don’t want complicated breakfasts, no crazy morning rushes and we stay in pajamas until we need to leave the house.

It’s also one of the reasons it’s my boys favorite morning of the week. We have breakfast unhurried and together—sometimes at the table, sometimes not. Sometimes eating on the sofa watching their favorite cartoon and, most recently, eating our new favorite cereal from Annie’s.

There is just something about cereal and Saturday mornings that go hand-in-hand. I think it’s the nostalgic feeling it evokes for both Matt and me. And now as parents, we are always trying to create those special memories for our own kids. The bunny bark is one of them. The boys always have a hand in making it. Once it’s set and we break it up, it’s a free all—we stand around the kitchen counter with a glass of milk and enjoy it until we can’t eat anymore.

We are big fans of Annie’s Organic Cereal and I can feel good about feeding my family a fun breakfast that’s delicious and made without artificial flavors, synthetic colors, preservatives and artificial sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup. In fact, all of their cereals contain whole grain oats as the first ingredient. These are alsothe reasons why I don’t mind it when my boys eat this cereal by the handfuls or in my fun new recipe for Bunny Bark.

Bunny Bark is a fun snack I love making with kids because it’s so easy—just a few ingredients, minimal work and the payoff is huge! The boys go crazy for it. Of course they love the chocolate, but the other part is the little bunny shapes that are so fun for them to play with. I tried to convince the kids to do a bark with Annie’s Organic Frosted Oat Flakes too, but apparently when the time to came to do so, someone had eaten the majority of the box . . .. ahem Matt.

Annie’s has three Organic Cereal varieties and each of my boys have a favorite: Cole, my fruitarian, loves the Berry Bunnies. He especially loves the strawberries, so he will cherry pick his way through the box sometimes just to get and handful of the naturally flavored pink ones. It’s works though, because I will happily snack on the blueberry ones. Of course there’s my dessert loving toddler, Connor, who would happily eat the Cocoa Bunnies for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I let him. And if he could reach the caramel, I’m sure he would drizzle it over his cocoa bunnies as a topping. As for Matt and me, we reach for the Frosted Oat Flakes it has all the flavor from one the classic cereals we loved as kids but we can feel good about it because Annie’s is made with 23g whole grain. Yay, to tasty cereal that’s made with better!

I’d love to hear what you and your family Saturday morning routine is, so be sure to share it in the comment section below, or on social using #cerealstory.

Bunny Bark

Yield: Makes 2 13x9 slabs

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Ingredients

• Mixed Berry Bunny Bark
• 9 oz. dark chocolate
• 9 oz. white chocolate
• Annie’s Organic Berry Bunnies
• Peanut Butter Cocoa Bunny Bark 9 oz. dark chocolate
• 9 oz. white chocolate
• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• Annie’s Organic Cocoa Bunnies

Instructions

Preparation: Line 2 baking sheets (per flavor) with parchment paper.

 

To Mixed Berry Bunny Bark: Melt dark chocolate on stovetop in a small saucepan over low heat, while stirring continuously. Alternately, melt chocolate in a microwave save bowl at 50% in 5-7 second bursts, stirring in between each bursts until chocolate is fully melted. Repeat with white chocolate.

 

Pour dark chocolate onto parchment paper and drizzle white chocolate on top. Use a knife and drag it through both chocolates to create a marbled effect.

 

Sprinkle Annie’s Organic Berry Bunnies on top. Transfer pan to a refrigerator to chill and set for 30 minutes. Remove from refrigerator. Use a knife and break up bark. Store bark in a sealed container and place in refrigerator until ready to eat.

 

To make Peanut Butter Cocoa Bunny Bark: Melt dark chocolate on stovetop in a small saucepan over low heat, while stirring continuously. Alternately, melt chocolate in a microwave save bowl at 50% in 5-7 second bursts, stirring in between each bursts until chocolate is fully melted. Repeat with white chocolate. Stir peanut butter into white chocolate (for a darker shade, stir in a little dark chocolate to the mixture).

 

Pour dark chocolate onto parchment paper and drizzle white chocolate mixture on top. Use a knife and drag it through both chocolates to create a marbled effect.

 

Sprinkle Annie’s Organic Cocoa Bunnies on top. Transfer pan to a refrigerator to chill and set for 30 minutes. Remove from refrigerator. Use a knife and break up bark. Store bark in a sealed container and place in refrigerator until ready to eat.