Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Trying to decide on a dessert for your guests can be almost as challenging as the main course.  You want to serve something a little sweet, but with everyone snacking on lots of cookies during the season, you might want to serve something that is a little less calorie-dense.  To solve that problem all you need is a little chocolate, and maybe a few pretzel rods and cookies.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries are an easy dessert to prepare and they add a nice seasonal touch of red and green to your buffet.  To make this dessert easy to serve while your guests mingle, place the strawberries and a few coated pretzels on several small decorated plates and place them throughout your living room and dining room.  Just add a stack of cocktail napkins next to each plate and your guests can serve themselves.

The strawberries only take a few minutes to prepare and, if you need a little extra help, this is a great project for kids.

Baker's German Sweet Chocolate, broken into pieces
Fresh Strawberries, rinsed and patted dry
Pretzel Rods, broken in half or thirds
Shortbread Cookies or similar store-bought cookies

Place several pieces of chocolate in a small glass bowl and melt in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring after each 30 seconds, until the chocolate is smooth.  Once the chocolate is melted, allow to cool for just a few minutes, then stir again.

Use a spoon to spread the chocolate onto the strawberries, working in a circular motion.  This same method works for the pretzels, just twist the pretzels to get an even coating of chocolate, making sure not to apply the chocolate too thick.

Place the coated strawberries onto a waxed paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 20 minutes or until set.  The cookies or pretzels will only take about 5 minutes to chill. Enjoy!!