Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

 Farmers Wife Original.

Late night cravings... We all get them at one point or another. And I don't know about you, but I tend to go for the sweet stuff late at night, what can I say? Sometimes a great glass of milk and some cookies really does help you sleep better! ;-) Growing up, having sweets before bed was typically something I only did at Grandma and Grandpa's house (sorry Mom, but they spoiled me!!), and I remember back then thinking to myself "When I grow up I'm going to eat cookies every night before bed!" haha! Oh the things we thought as kids... As an adult I honestly only do this on a rare occasion, typically if I want something I'll grab an 80 calorie yogurt or some granola. But a little over a week ago, we were relaxing and I suddenly wanted something sweet and wandered into the kitchen and decided to make chocolate covered strawberries. I know, I'm crazy for attempting something like this late at night, but you know the saying "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!", it was pretty fitting for that night! So I quickly made these up, and we were very pleased with them! Now if you have a ton of time, you can do tuxedo dipped strawberries, with dipping them in white chocolate first and then after they harden dip in the dark and decorate, and I want to attempt these soon. But for this I went basic, good ole' chocolate and some drizzled with white chocolate. This is simple, easy, and a great late night snack!

Ingredients:
1 lbs. Strawberries, rinsed and dried
16 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate (Alternatively you can use white, milk, or dark, I actually did a combo of semi and dark)
Parchment Paper

Directions:

Put the chocolate into a heatproof medium bowl. Fill a medium saucepans with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat; set the bowl of chocolate over the water to melt. Stir until smooth, very important, do not let the chocolate boil as this will cause it to burn and it will change the taste. (Alternatively, melt the chocolates in a microwave at half power, for 1 minute, stir and then heat for another minute or until melted.) Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, remove from the heat. Line a sheet pan with parchment or waxed paper. Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the fruit into the dark chocolate, lift and twist slightly, letting any excess chocolate fall back into the bowl. Set strawberries on the parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries. If you want to drizzle white chocolate, make the chocolate sauce the same way you made the dark chocolate sauce, then using either a piping bag, or a fork, drizzle the white chocolate onto the cooled strawberries. For the Tuxedo finish, dip them in the white chocolate first, then set in the fridge for 10 minutes to cool, then dip only the sides in the dark chocolate, leaving a triangular space of white chocolate in the center. Set aside and then using a piping bag pipe the bowtie and buttons on. Set the strawberries aside until the chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.

Review:
Best. Late. Night. Snack. EVER!!! This not only felt a little less sinful than eating cookies because the strawberries are good for you, but it was sweet and yummy! I actually did the sauce in the microwave to save time since it was late, but they turned out fabulous! 4.5 star.