“Hey, Mom and Dad, we wanted to do something nice for you, so we took the organic strawberries you picked up at CostCo and the unsweetened cacao you had in your pantry and the butter and maple syrup from your fridge and, look! We made you chocolate-covered strawberries!
Sorry they’re not that sweet. I like chocolate dark.”
Give me three days at my parents’ house and there I am, 10 years old again, wandering through Walgreen’s with the $5 my mom has given me, looking for something to buy for her for Mother’s Day. (I picked some sort of bath salts. She probably still has them.)
My parents are pretty open-handed with their kids, always outgiving us in every physical way, from putting me through college to paying for my braces to covering my and Tim’s entire wedding costs, right down to the honeymoon that we still talk about once a week.
When we come home to visit them, even as 30-something adults, their kitchen is like a grocery store, filled with food we can play with (and we have).
This July 4th weekend I’ve been thankful for how both my parents and my country have filled my life with a lot of freedom to learn and to grow and to see things that I might not have been able to see without their help. I’m also thankful they are the ones God has given me, specifically, sovereignly, because of nothing I have asked for or done on my own.
These are the strawberries we gave them yesterday, with the ingredients they gave us, and, if we’re being fully transparent, we ate more of them than they did.
Chocolate-covered strawberries feel so impressive and decadent but they are SO quick to make. We’re talking 15 minutes.
You can always just melt your favorite chocolate bar, but we enjoyed making our own in this version. The same chocolate will work well as a topping on ice cream, FYI, and while you may use coconut oil instead of butter, we are partial to the rich flavor butter imparts.
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Quick and Easy Homemade Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: Around 5
Description
Although they taste and look like you’ve expended considerable effort, these easy chocolate-covered strawberries can be made in 15-minutes. Not too sweet but as decadent as a box of Swiss chocolates – they are much better for your waist line.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces cacao (i.e., unsweetened chocolate, like Baker’s)
- 1/2 stick butter
- Organic maple syrup, to taste (start with 3 oz)
- A dash of sea salt
- Up to 1 pint organic strawberries, washed and dried
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt together the chocolate and butter until smooth. Add maple syrup to taste and remove from heat when you like the sweetness level. Add a dash of sea salt.
- Arrange strawberries on a parchment-lined dish or baking sheet. Holding them by their greens, dip into chocolate, rolling to cover around the sides. Lift, let chocolate drip off, and place on parchment.
- Repeat until you’re out of chocolate or out of strawberries, whichever comes first (the size of your strawberries will affect how many you can make).
- Chill in refrigerator until set, about an hour or so. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Fruit
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Dessert
Keywords: chocolate, strawberries, fresh fruit, maple syrup
Did you make and love these too? Let us know your thoughts in comments below and please rate the recipe.
And if you love strawberry recipes, some of these will tingle the tummy:
- Yogurt Parfait
- Healthy Four-Ingredient Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles
- Easy Rhubarb Strawberry Crumble
Photos by Shanna Mallon, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Originally published on July 7th, 2014. Last updated: July 30, 2020 at 17:45 pm.
Nutritional information derived from a database of known generic and branded foods and ingredients and was not compiled by a registered dietitian or submitted for lab testing. It should be viewed as an approximation.
About Shanna Mallon
Shanna Mallon is a freelance writer who holds an MA in writing from DePaul University. Her work has been featured in a variety of media outlets, including The Kitchn, Better Homes & Gardens, Taste of Home, Houzz.com, Foodista, Entrepreneur, and Ragan PR. In 2014, she co-authored The Einkorn Cookbook with her husband, Tim. Today, you can find her digging into food topics and celebrating the everyday grace of eating on her blog, Go Eat Your Bread with Joy. Shanna lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with Tim and their two small kids.
ohmyheavens i love you for posting this!!!!! i took a tour of the mast brothers chocolate factory last week and as they were explaining how to make chocolate, i thought “hey, this doesn’t seem tooooooo difficult to make at home!” and wam, bam, here it is! love love love.
!! a tour of the mast brothers chocolate factory !! that sounds pretty much amazing.
also ps the best part about making your own chocolate is you have total control, which I love, so you can add salt or cacao nibs or cayenne or black pepper… the sky is the limit!
I love that first photo! The strawberries look delicious.
Thanks, Aubrie!
Such a simple summer pleasure. I love these!
Me too! When we came back home last night, I was all set to make more when I realized we were out of both chocolate and cocoa powder (what!), so that obviously needs to change soon.
Thank you Honey, They were delicious, and I too like the darker chocolate ! Costco did have the most beautiful
organic strawberries and blueberries ! We just love when you and Tim come home and bake and cook for us. The
Fruit Galette was so good ! In fact this 4th of July was truly a taste-fest so enjoyed by us all ! All our love…………..
Haha, thanks, Mom!
Can I have your parents? They sound super nice! These strawberries look fantastic! How ingenious to make chocolate with cocoa powder, butter and maple syrup.
Haha! They are super generous. And I know, right? I wish I’d known how easy this is sooner!
Those look delicious.
And your parents like wonderful, wonderful people 🙂
: )
These look like such a treat! Yesterday, I bought 4 pounds fresh, local strawberries at the farmers’ market. Going to make some jam today 🙂 Oh and children stay children no matter how old they are, right?
YUM. And yes! I like that thought.
Ha, I rang my dad last week and asked him to drive across London at 7pm on a Friday night so that he could pick up the anniversary present that I bought for him and my mother. We never really grow up do we?
Haha! I can always count on you to get it. : )
BEAUTIFUL!!! The pictures, your words, and the recipe (i mean, you make your own chocolate??).
Thanks for surprising everytime, and for your kindness in your words.
Your parents must be so proud of you, and I can tell they love you very much.
xoxo, F.
Thanks, F! You’re so sweet. And I swear, if you ever try this, you’ll realize it’s sooooo easy!
your parents sounds wonderful people…and you guys adorable for making such delicious treat.
Aw, thanks, Dixya!
Love the photos in this post, and your mom’s comment. My mom totally starts off her emails with “Hi Sweetheart” and it always makes me smile.
Your parents! I cannot get enough of stories about them!
I loooove chocolate covered strawberries! I’ve never tried to do it myself because there is this amazing place 2 mins from where I live that does prosecco and chocolate-covered strawberries evenings once a week and I always go haha! Defo bookmarking the recipe though cuz I really ought to try it at some point. xx
Ooh, that sounds good! Someone on Instagram just told me to try lime zest on top next time, which is supposed to be a real game changer, and I am in. You def have to try making your own sometime though. It’s so fun!
I always ogle my parents’ pantry as soon as I arrive at their house for a visit too! Glad to hear I’m not the only one.
Haha! I love hearing that.
I do the exact same thing at my parents. 🙂
Yes! I am loving that there is a tribe of us… : )
wow your choc covered strawberries have turned out perfect… mine always end up looking horrible and lumpy – definitely will be trying out this recipe. thanks for sharing Shanna!
Thalia, I’ve had mine turn out that way too (but that didn’t stop me from eating them, haha)… I think the key must be all about the proportions, which worked well here. I hope you enjoy!
Awww that’s so so cute Shanna!! I totally understand cause that’s how me and my hubby’s parents treat us!! We thank god for that every day and hey they must have been delighted with what you guys did with the berries they gave you!!
Haha you’re sweet, Ami!