Mochi Konpeito Chocolate Bark with Graham Crackers

This mochi konpeito chocolate bark is an easy, shareable dessert that incorporates the flavors of popular Japanese sweets. Simply line a tray with graham crackers, top with melted chocolate, and sprinkle with mini mochi, konpeito, sprinkles, and whatever other fun toppings you’d like! This dessert is great to make with kids and bring to a party.

What is Mini Mochi and Where Can I Buy it?

Mini mochi are tiny mini marshmallow-sized bites of mochi. In case you’re new to my blog, mochi is a glutinous rice cake most famously known from Japanese culture. HOWEVER, mini mochi is not really a common Japanese confection. Japanese desserts are sometimes topped with small mochi dishes like warabi mochi or shiratama dango. But as you can tell by their names, they are specific mochi desserts with specialized cooking techniques and flavors. Not something you buy in a shelf stable plastic package at the grocery store, which is how I find my mini mochi.

The mini mochi in this recipe is probably most well known as a frozen yogurt topping! To be honest, I have NO IDEA how mini mochi bites became a froyo thing. I thought maybe some Asian American thought it up… but then the packs of mini mochi I buy all seem to be from Taiwan or China? So… I just.. I don’t even know where these mochi bites originated from. If you do, please comment and let me know!

Anyway, back to the point. I can find packs of mini mochi at my local Asian market, although they are often out of stock. In a pinch, I can find the same brand sold on Amazon (surprise surprise).

What is Konpeito?

Konpeito is a colorful Japanese sugar crystal candy. Have you ever seen the movie Spirited Away? There’s a scene in that movie where these popular cartoon character dust bunnies, susuwatari, eat Japanese candies scattered on the ground. That’s konpeito!

Konpeito is seen as a more traditional Japanese candy that is sometimes served during holidays like Hinamatsuri. But you can usually find it at the grocery store year round.

I found that konpeito works really well as a substitute for sprinkles! Check out my mochi konpeito cookie recipe to see exactly how!

Melting Chocolate in a Double Boiler vs. Microwave

Back to the chocolate bark – here are some tips on melting chocolate in a double boiler vs microwave. Double boiler is the safest choice for not burning your chocolate. Simply melt chocolate in a heat proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.

However, the CHEATER’S way of melting chocolate is in the microwave. That’s me. I’m a cheater. I am just too lazy to set up a double boiler. Plus, the microwave is faster. BUT it is MUUUUUCH more prone to error. Everyone’s microwave is different, and so microwave times and power setting will differ. In my microwave, I do two 30 second zaps, and then 10 second increments, stirring after each time. I find it’s REALLY easy to overheat microwaved chocolate, and then it’ll seize up and look yucky. So make sure that you stir well after each zap to give the chocolate a chance to melt before zapping it again!

Coconut Oil in Melted Chocolate?

Here’s another melted chocolate tip: I like to add coconut oil to thin out my chocolate. It makes it easier to use chocolate for dipping, like in my Honolulu Cookie Company copycat recipe. It’s also just nice when you want a very thin layer of chocolate, and you’re too lazy to melt your chocolate properly in a double boiler.

I’m that lazy person, in case you couldn’t tell. Coconut oil tends to help me from burning my chocolate in the microwave, as it makes the mixture easier to stir and thin out.

Other substitutes for coconut oil include shortening or other flavorless oils, but I just like coconut oil the best. The only downside to adding oil is that the chocolate doesn’t harden up as quickly or as crisply. If you really like a super SNAP in your chocolate bark, you will want to omit it.

Other Chocolate Bark Variations

This chocolate bark recipe is actually somewhat of cross between chocolate bark and chocolate covered graham crackers. If you’re in the Seattle area, I LOOOVE the chocolate covered graham crackers from Boehm’s chocolates.

But really, this recipe is extremely customizable. Feel free to leave out the graham crackers for pure chocolate bark. Or swap out some of the toppings for whatever you’d like! Gummy bears? Crushed pocky? Oreos? Anything goes! If you come up with a fun flavor combo, take a picture and tag me on Instagram!