Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries - Dairy Free
Cook together. Eat together.
A perfect and easy treat to make for your Valentine.
February. Winter seems to be staying overlong, and yet it’s also a month of noticeably increasing daylight, gifts of chocolate, and strawberries coming into season.
I remember when Rebel was little and discovered chocolate covered strawberries. We were out to dinner with my parents and Mom splurged. Rebel thrilled at the fancy dessert — eye popping and no forks needed.
Chocolate dipped strawberries remain one of her favorites. So we thought we’d make some this year and test different kinds of dairy free chocolate.
If winter still has its clutches on you, let these dark chocolate dipped strawberries lift your spirit — fun to make and eat. They make an extra special gift or dessert for Valentine’s Day. Treat yourself or someone you love.
Taste Test Kitchen
I’ve dipped strawberries many times before using chocolate chips and sometimes adding a dab of shortening, sometimes not. I never took the time to test different options. Rebel and I decided to do a test, which always makes for an interesting adventure.
We tried dark chocolate chips versus bittersweet baking chocolate. To some we added shortening. For all of the tests we used Guittard brand for its great flavor and because it’s dairy free. We used the dark chocolate chips and Bittersweet Chocolate Organic Wafers 74%.
From the ingredients list on the label, we discovered chocolate chips have more additions than the bittersweet chocolate. More sugar for one, which you’d think could be a plus. And emulsifiers. We had to do a bit of research.
Turns out, emulsifiers help the chocolate chips keep from separating and keep their shape while baking and some also act as thickeners (such as lecithin). When we tested how the two chocolates melted and cooled, you could feel the difference in texture and almost taste the emulsifiers in there.
Also, the chocolate chips were too sweet. Paired with good quality, ripe strawberries, the bittersweet chocolate was a perfect match. We also liked the addition of a bit of shortening because it helped the chocolate set up nicely and have a little crispness in the bite.
For the white chocolate, we’ve found King David brand vegan White Choco Chips before and used those in our Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate Chip Cookies and our White and Dark Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. So far we have not found nondairy mini chocolate chips, so we used dairy full ones. That was just fine with my husband who loves white chocolate.
We had success using a small icing bottle to drizzle the melted bittersweet chocolate over the coated strawberries. You can also partially fill a plastic sandwich bag, cut one corner to create a tip, and squeeze out the chocolate. The white chocolate didn’t cooperate so well. It clogged the icing bottle, so we used a fork to drizzle it.
Send us your pictures of chocolate dipped strawberries on Instagram and hashtag them #BTFBrecipes. We’d love to see your creative inspiration!
~ Lee
Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries - Dairy Free
ingredients:
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) white chocolate chips (dairy free)
- 8 ounces (1 cup) bittersweet baking chocolate or dark chocolate (dairy free)
- 3/4 + 1/2 teaspoon shortening
- 1 quart (16 ounces) fresh, ripe and unblemished strawberries (or more, see notes)
- Chocolate nibs, mini white chocolate chips or other decorations for dipping
instructions:
How to cook Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries - Dairy Free
- Prepare the strawberries by washing them in very cold water. Keep the green leaves intact. With paper towel, blot them dry completely so that the chocolate will stick to the fruit.
- In a small, deep bowl, melt the dark chocolate and 3/4 teaspoon shortening in the microwave at 50% power for one minute and stir. Continue to heat 30 seconds at a time at 50% until almost melted. There should still be a few small, visible pieces. Stir at this point and the remaining pieces should melt in. It’s important not to overheat the chocolate or it will lose its smooth texture and may burn.
- In another small bowl, heat the white chocolate chips at full power for one 1 and then stir. Continue to heat for 1 minute at 50% power, stir, and then at 30 second intervals at 50%, stirring between each. Add 1/2 teaspoon shortening and heat an additional 10 seconds at 50% and stir.
- If either chocolate begins to set up while dipping the strawberries, reheat at 50% power for a few seconds.
- Have a silpat mat or wax paper ready for the dipped strawberries.
- Hold a strawberry by its leaves, being careful that they don’t fall out. Alternately, you can poke a toothpick through the leaves into the center of the fruit and hold onto the toothpick. Dip the strawberry nearly to the top of the fruit while still allowing some of the red to still show. Rotate to coat evenly with chocolate. Remove and let excess chocolate drip into the bowl. You can tap your arm or hand gently to help the excess drip faster.
- If desired, dip the coated strawberry in chocolate nibs or mini white chocolate chips.
- Place on the mat or paper and slide forward about 1/4” to keep the chocolate from pooling at the tip of the berry.
- For strawberries that you don't coat with decorations, drizzle with white or dark chocolate using a fork or icing bottle. After drizzling side to side, another option is to drag a toothpick down from the top 4 times, meeting at the tip. This creates a marbled affect.
- Continue to dip and decorate each strawberry. Let strawberries rest at room temperature for 1-2 hours until the chocolate sets. Coated berries can be refrigerated briefly to help them set – not more than 15 minutes. Refrigerating makes the strawberries soggy and moisture condense on the chocolate causing white spots and the texture to deteriorate.
- Strawberries are best eaten within a few hours of dipping. Do refrigerate any leftovers.
