Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Chocolate Covered Strawberries are a simple dessert that takes a ripe, juicy strawberry dipped in melted chocolate and drizzled or dipped in various toppings to make a sweet treat. Melt someones heart with this decadent dessert! 

I love strawberries and dessert! Put them together and enjoy these strawberry desserts for any occasion you are celebrating: No Bake Chocolate Strawberries and Cream Pie, Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars with Strawberries or Frozen Strawberries and Cream Dessert.

Chocolate covered strawberries with drizzle or specialty toppings.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Who doesn’t love a fresh and juicy strawberry covered in chocolate?! These strawberries are a weakness of mine! Fruit plus chocolate equals pure happiness for me. Every bite is filled with a juicy and chocolatey strawberry that just melts in your mouth and gives you that fresh strawberry taste with a crisp chocolate coating. It is the perfect Valentine’s Day gift or treat to celebrate the special occasion.

These chocolate covered strawberries are simple to make and come together quickly. With a few steps you will be able to impress your friends and family with this decedent dessert plus save you money with the same delicious treat you can buy at the store. My kids are always excited when I make these chocolate covered strawberries. Now that my girls are a little older they love to help me dip and add all the toppings they can on them. It makes for a special memory and one that we can enjoy for special occasions. These chocolate covered strawberries will not last long and will be a huge hit during the Valentine’s Day.

What you need to make Chocolate Covered Strawberries:

When purchasing strawberries, you will want to buy the largest strawberries that you can find. Smaller strawberries will work as well but it is always nice to find those big, juicy strawberries for presentation and more to indulge on. Once you pick out the best looking strawberries, choose the type of chocolate you are wanting to melt. It can be as simple as chocolate chips or candy melts. Make this as simple as possible and save money while doing it!

  • Semi-Sweet Chocolate or White Chocolate 
  • Shortening
  • Strawberries

Optional Toppings:

These are just a handful of ideas for toppings. Get creative and surprise your family and friends with their favorite toppings or leave them as it. These chocolate covered strawberries are delicious any way you make them!

  • Sprinkles
  • Mini Chocolate Chips
  • Chopped Nuts
  • Crushed Candy Bars
  • Crushed Peppermint 

How to make Chocolate Covered Strawberries:

An easy and simple recipe that is prepared in minutes. You do not need a double boiler for melting chocolate. A microwave or stove top works perfectly making this easy and less mess.

Make it easy and melt your chocolate by microwaving it. It is so easy to do and will only take a minutes time. Use a glass bowl and add in the amount of chocolate that you are melting. Start with 30 seconds in the microwave on High. You do not want to over cook but you also need to start the melting process. Remove your bowl and stir together. Repeat on High for only 15 seconds. Continue to stir in-between each 15 second interval until your chocolate is completely melted without over cooking. If you are melting chocolate on the stove top, melt the chocolate on low setting stirring it constantly until it is melted.

  1. Melt Chocolate: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a small microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate of choice and shortening. Melt and stir after every 30 seconds until chocolate is completely smooth.
  2. Dip Strawberries: Dip the strawberry so that it completely covers and lay on parchment paper to set. If using toppings, immediately put on the top.

What is the Best Type of Chocolate to Melt?

This is a great question and can usually be answered with what you chocolate you prefer. Most chocolates can be melted and most chocolates melt very evenly and smoothly for that creamy texture. Chocolate chips and candy melts are usually my go-to melting ingredients because they are easiest, still have delicious flavor and are smooth chocolatey texture. Try using a specialty chocolate like Ghirardelli or Guittard for a little more chocolatey flavor. You can find them in any baking isle at your local grocery store. They have an assortment of milk, dark and white chocolate chips. These are easy to melt and taste delicious!

The process of melting chocolate in a glass bowl then dip the strawberries in.

How to Decorate Chocolate Covered Strawberries:

Make these even more decant and beautiful by decorating the chocolate layer with extra special toppings or drizzling another layer of chocolate or sauce over top. These chocolate covered strawberries are so fun to make and look ever prettier when done. Impress your friends and family with these special chocolate covered strawberries this Valentine’s Day.

You do not need anything fancy to make the chocolate drizzle. Simply place your drizzle in a ziplock bag and squeeze to one of the bottom corner. Cut a small hole in the bottom corner and squeeze softly using it like a tip for drizzling.

Once you have dipped your strawberries in the chocolate, let them harden in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes before decorating your chocolate covered strawberries. If you decorate too soon the drizzle won’t stick to the outside.

If you are adding toppings over top of the chocolate you will want to do that before the dipped chocolate strawberries are hardened. After dipping the chocolate covered strawberries, simply dip or roll your strawberry in another layer of topping, then let harden in the refrigerator.

Drizzle Over Top: Do this after the chocolate covered strawberries have been hardened.

  • White, milk or dark chocolate melts
  • Melted Peanut Butter Chips
  • Butterscotch Chips
  • Caramel Sauce

Toppings: Do this immediately after the strawberries have been dipped and coated in chocolate.

  • Sprinkles
  • Sea Salt
  • Sanding Sugar
  • Mini Chocolate Chips
  • Chopped Nuts
  • Candy or Cookies Finely Crushed
  • Graham Cracker Crumbs

Tips for making Chocolate Covered Strawberries:

  • Picking strawberries: The riper the strawberry the better also the bigger and firmer strawberries are best.
  • Preparing strawberries: Make sure your strawberries are washed, cleaned well and completely dry before you start to coat them with chocolate.
  • How to hold strawberries while dipping: Try to find strawberries with a long stem. Hold the strawberries by the green stem then gently glide them in a bowl rolling it the strawberries in the melted chocolate until covered completely. Using a fork or wooden skewer at the top of each strawberry will also help if the stem is too short.
  • Set up chocolate covered strawberries: It is best to use a sheet parchment paper, waxed paper or nonstick silicon baking mat.
  • Drizzling: Cut the tip of a ziplock bag and carefully squeeze the chocolate out the hole over the chocolate covered strawberries.
  • How to keep chocolate covered strawberries from sweating: Place a paper towel over top of the strawberries when stored in the refrigerator.

What to Make with Chocolate Covered Strawberries:

Make this a complete meal this Valentine’s Day. Turn your chocolate covered strawberries into a sweet dessert after enjoying a night in. This year we are enjoying Valentine’s Day at home and being with our family. They are the ones I want to share my love with and show them by making an extra special evening out of it.

We are going to start off with Mouthwatering Strawberry Spinach Salad or if you are soup lover the Easy French Onion Soup is AMAZING and light! For the main corse I am making both The Best Lobster Tail Recipe Ever and Perfectly Juicy Grilled Steak only because I have two growing boys and a husband. Then for the sides we love Potatoes made any way, Vegetables (preferably green) and Fruit Salad. And for the bread we will be making Copycat Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits. End with an Easy Creme Brûlée or Turtle Brownies for an extra special dessert. This may all look hard and overwhelming but it is not and it is so delicious when made all together. You have a little of everything at your table with those you love around it.

If you are having a romantic dinner for two or a family Valentine’s dinner, here are more special recipes to help celebrate Valentine’s Day with your loved ones:

I love to surprise my kids with fun treats on special occasions and these chocolate covered strawberries always amazes them and makes them feel so special. Showing our friends and family a little extra love goes a long way and this is an easy and quick treat to do that with. Here are 50+ Delicious Valentine’s Treats that will help make your Valentine’e with your friends and family a little more fun this February.

If you are celebrating Valentine’s Day try these sweet treats to make the month of February more lovable:

Chocolate covered strawberry with chocolate drizzle over top.

How to Store Chocolate Covered Strawberries:

It is best to store chocolate covered strawberries in the refrigerator. They do tend to sweat or have tiny water bubbles on top of them. To help avoid those bubbles, place a paper towel around the strawberries or over top of them. This will help reduce those tiny bubbles and the paper towel will absorb the sweat or condensation that is over top of the strawberries. These chocolate covered strawberries are SO simple to make and are a special dessert that everyone loves!

  • Can you make Chocolate Covered Strawberries Ahead of time? Yes, you can make them ahead of time but they will last about 2 to 3 days stored in an airtight container with a paper towel to absorb the sweat or condensation that builds up from the strawberries and chocolate covering.
  • How Long Do Chocolate Covered Strawberries Last? Chocolate covered strawberries last for about 2 to 3 days in an airtight container stored in the refrigerator.
  • Can you Freeze Chocolate Covered Strawberries? It is best to keep them covered in the refrigerator rather than freezing them because of the condensation that will build over top of the frozen strawberries as they are defrosting. The chocolate starts to melt quicker and leaves it a little more messy than a refrigerated chocolate covered strawberry.

More Delicious and Decadent Chocolate Recipes:

Six chocolate covered strawberries with nut toppings, mini chocolate chip topping and white and chocolate drizzled overtop.

 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Chocolate Covered Strawberries are a simple dessert that takes a ripe, juicy strawberry dipped in melted chocolate and drizzled or dipped in various toppings to make a sweet treat. Melt someones heart with this decadent dessert! 

  • 8 ounce semi-sweet chocolate or white chocolate
  • 1 Tablespoon shortening
  • 1 pint strawberries

Optional Toppings:

  • Sprinkles
  • mini chocolate chips
  • chopped nuts
  • crushed candy bars
  • crushed peppermint
  1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a small microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate of choice and shortening. Melt and stir after every 30 seconds until chocolate is completely smooth.
  2. Dip the strawberry so that it completely covers and lay on parchment paper to set. If using toppings, immediately put on the top.



from The Recipe Critic https://ift.tt/3b4LFfi

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