Chocolate Covered Strawberries

May is the beginning of local strawberry season in the valley, and we receive carton upon carton of local strawberries. This dessert recipe perfectly highlights the sweet and tart flavor of fresh strawberries, with the delightful contrast of rich chocolate. It may seem simple, but we have some tips and tricks to make this classic recipe even easier. 

 

Ingredients:

1 pint of strawberries

1 cup of dark chocolate chips 

1 T coconut oil 

Sprinkles for decoration (optional)

 

Instructions:

Prepare a large baking tray with parchment paper. Set within reach of your stove. 

Wash and dry your strawberries. Don’t cut off the stems, as you’ll want to use them to hold onto your strawberries when dipping them in chocolate. 

Melt your chocolate using the double boiler method. To create a double boiler at home, you’ll need a pot and a heat-safe bowl that fits on top of the pot without falling inside of it. Take the large pot and fill it up halfway with water. Bring it to a boil and place the heat-safe bowl over the pot and add your chocolate and 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to the bowl. Bring the heat down to medium-high and make sure to stir the chocolate often to prevent it from burning at the bottom of the bowl. The chocolate will melt and once melted, you can reduce the heat to low and stir occasionally to keep it from solidifying again

We added 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to keep the chocolate from solidifying, as it takes a little while to dip all your strawberries into the chocolate. The coconut oil also gives the chocolate a glossy sheen once it’s cooled and set, in addition to keeping the chocolate from falling off all at once when you bite into the strawberry. 

Once your chocolate is ready, dip each strawberry and roll it in the chocolate until it’s completely covered. You can hold it by its stem and leaves if they’re still on the strawberry, but if not, you can hold it by sticking a fork or a toothpick into the top. 

As you go, set each finished strawberry onto the baking sheet. Add sprinkles to them if you desire. Repeat until you’ve dipped each one

Set your strawberries in the fridge and allow them to cool for at least 3 hours. 

Transfer them to a plate or a container with a lid. They will last up to a day in the refrigerator before they start leaking strawberry juice, although they’re so good they may all get eaten in the first hour!