Chocolate covered strawberries are delicious all year long but become very popular (and expensive) around Valentine’s Day. With just three ingredients, they are easy to make at home. Imagine biting into a sweet chocolate shell and then tasting a tart, juicy strawberry anytime you get a craving.
For our recipe, we opted to use candy melts because they are easy to use and more affordable than other chocolate (they come in cocoa, dark cocoa, and vanilla). Chocolate melts are also found in many different colors allowing you to customize the strawberries for any occasion.
Did you know, only a few specialty stores use real chocolate coating for their strawberries? That’s why you sometimes see them advertised as “dipped strawberries” rather than chocolate covered strawberries. If you want to use chocolate rather than candy melts feel free, the steps are all the same. Just make sure to use high-quality chocolate.
Chocolate covered strawberries make great gifts too (local craft stores sell cute paper boxes in the decorating section). Follow this chocolate covered strawberries recipe and you’ll have a gift that looks professionally made and tastes amazing. Let’s get dipping!
Ingredients
- 10 oz dark chocolate-flavored candy melts or melting wafers, like Ghirardelli melting wafers
- 10 oz white candy melts or melting wafers
- 18 to 24 strawberries (they should be ripe, unbruised, good shape and size)
- Shortening, as needed
- Optional toppings like chopped nuts, mini-chocolate chips, or sprinkles
Instructions
1. Pick the best strawberries and rinse with cool water. You might need more than one container to pick enough that are good for dipping.
2. Dry the strawberries by lifting the leaves and wrapping a paper towel around each one. Give a gentle squeeze. This removes any beads of water that would otherwise cause the candy coating to seize-up and be unusable.
3. Set strawberries on a paper towel to completely dry and come up to room temperature for 30 minutes. (Fresh strawberries will want to weep a little once they are dipped into the warm chocolate. They will weep less if they are at room temperature when dipped).
4. Lay parchment paper on the counter.
5. Pour candy melts into a small glass bowl.
6. Melt the candy melts in the microwave at 30 seconds intervals for a total of 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, stirring between intervals. Once they look almost completely melted, they are done. Stir and stir until smooth. (If they seem too thick to dip easily, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of shortening and stir until it smooths out.)
7. With leaves lifted, dip half of the strawberries in the dark chocolate melted wafers.
8. Let it drip for a few seconds. (If the chocolate becomes too cool to continue dipping, just pop the bowl of chocolate in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds and stir. It will be ready for dipping again.)
9. Set the strawberries on the parchment paper to set. If you would like to sprinkle on toppings, do it now before the chocolate sets.
10. Take a gallon-size resealable bag and place in a glass folding the edges over the outside.
11. Take the white candy melts and place them in a bowl. Melt in the microwave for 30-second intervals until smooth. Once melted, pour it into the bag and make a small snip in the corner.
12. With a quick back and forth motion, drizzle the strawberries with the white chocolate. At this point, dip the remaining strawberries into the melted white wafers and drizzle them the remaining dark chocolate.
13. When they are set, put each strawberry in a cupcake liner. The cupcake liners will help to catch any drips from weeping.
14. Store the chocolate covered strawberries in a gift box or resealable container in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
