Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Strawberries covered in chocolate seem like a luxury...But as it turns out, they are pretty simple to make. UNLESS you make one simple mistake, like I did, which will leave them a bit lacking in appearance (see below for evidence). The trick to beautiful berries is revealed below.

OOPS! Read on to see why the one on the left looks so much better than the ones on the right.

I never thought to make these before...I'm personally not a fan (gasp!) and the hubs doesn't do strawberries, but I had some leftover chocolate from making chocolate covered pretzel rods from my oldest son's birthday. I also had strawberries. My mother-in-law loves chocolate covered strawberries, and she was in town. So I made her some yummy treats just a few days before Mother's Day. :)

What you'll need:

• 1 Package Wilton's Candy Melts (there are tons of flavors and colors)

• 1 Package of Strawberries (left out at ROOM TEMPERATURE)

• Strainer to clean strawberries

• Microwave-safe dish to melt candies (& microwave, obvi)

• Spoon for stirring

Here's the trick:

Use room temperature strawberries so they don't cool the chocolate too quickly. I goofed at first and used cold strawberries. Take a closer look at the picture above. The first one on the left and the one on the back left worked beautifully, but as I went on you can see the coolness of the fruit chilled the chocolate down so it was hardened by the time I reached the 4th or 5th one. The pic above shows the progression.

Wash/Dry Strawberries

Let them dry to room temperature before melting chocolate.

Microwave Candy Melts

You can find these at Walmart, but I usually pick them up at Michael's or JoAnn's since I always have a 50% off coupon and I'm always there. They are typically $2-3/bag without it. When Strawberries are at room temp, start melting your chocolate. Depending on how many you are doing, you may want to do this in batches so the chocolate doesn't harden. Simply follow the package instructions which state to microwave candy melts at 50% power for 1 minute. Stir, then microwave at 30 second intervals until fully melted, stirring in between intervals.

​​Dip Strawberries

Holding the stem, dip fruit into the chocolate carefully swirling as you go to cover the entire portion you want covered. I tried using a wooden shish kabob stick first, but the strawberry fell into the chocolate. It worked much better to just hold them by hand. Lay them on a piece of parchment or wax paper to cool/harden. Sorry there's not a pic to document. I honestly wasn't thinking of this as a post until I discovered the secret below.

I'm told they were delicious, regardless of their appearance, but next time I will be letting them sit out for a bit. I'd love to see pics or hear if you make these for someone special in your life (including yourself)!

Tag me on Insta @ellimoonshop whether they are picture perfect or not (like mine). ;) Share your secrets in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe.

-kelly :)

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