Homemade chocolate-covered strawberries just got cuter! Follow along to learn how to easily make these adorable bear strawberries in under an hour, perfect for Valentine’s Day.
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About these cute chocolate-covered strawberries
Chocolate-dipped strawberries are always a crowd-pleasing dessert. They’re a bit tangy, sweet, and super refreshing. Plus, they’re quite simple to make, especially if you’re crunched for time. It should only take about 30-60 minutes to whip them up, including any designs you decide to make.
tip: if you’re short for time, only decorate a few into bears, and do simple designs on others!
reasons you’ll love this recipe <3
- Quick and easy to make: This recipe, along with any decorations, should take about 30 minutes to an hour. Plus, the chocolate is heated in the microwave. No double-boiler necessary.
- Unique: In my opinion, unique designs make a homemade gift even more special. After all, who wouldn’t love to receive bear strawberries?! So cute.
- Versatile: You can decorate them with so many different things and play around with a bunch of textures, designs, and flavors. For example, you can drizzle on different chocolates or add sprinkles, nuts, shredded coconut, crushed candies, and more.
- Great for hosting: Chocolate-covered strawberries are always amazing to have at a party! And since it’s quick & easy to whip up, you can make a bunch of them at once.
And if you’re looking for more design inspo, check out my froggie matcha-covered strawberry recipe!
Equipment
- Toothpicks: I like to skewer the tops of the strawberries. This creates a handle so I can easily dip them in melted chocolate.
- Knife: I used a knife to drizzle on melted chocolate for that stripe effect.
- Microwave-safe bowls: These will be used to heat the chocolate wafers in the microwave. Use as many bowls for as many colors you have.
- Small silicone spatulas: For stirring the melted chocolate. You can always use spoons or knives!
- Wax or parchment paper: For lining the baking tray. This is where you will let the strawberries dry.
- Baking tray
Ingredients
- Ghiradelli melting wafers: In terms of ease, taste, and quality, I truly believe that this is the best chocolate for chocolate-covered strawberries, especially for beginners. For this recipe, I used both white and dark chocolate.
- Food coloring: This is optional, in case you want to add blush to the bears. Oil-based food coloring is best so the chocolate doesn’t seize. But if you don’t have it, you can add a bit of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) to smooth out seized chocolate.
- Toppings: Feel free to add on finely chopped nuts, shredded coconut, sprinkles, etc.
How to make chocolate-covered strawberries
- Skewer strawberries. Insert a toothpick into the tops of each strawberry. This creates handles so the strawberries are easier to dip.
- Melt milk/dark chocolate wafers in microwave. In a microwave-safe bowl, add milk/dark chocolate wafers. Heat in microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until fully melted. Set aside about 1 tbsp and dye this black for the eyes + noses later on.
- Dip strawberries. Hold the toothpick handle and dip the strawberries into the melted chocolate. Either fully dip for regular chocolate-covered strawberries, or halfway to later create the bear design. Gently scrape excess chocolate on rim of bowl. Reheat chocolate in microwave at 15-second intervals as needed.
- Add toppings and decorations. While chocolate is still wet, add any sprinkles, finely chopped nuts, etc. Otherwise, let the chocolate fully dry. Then, drizzle on extra chocolate or use a toothpick to draw on bear ears. Melt some white chocolate and use this to draw on the snouts and inner ears, then dye the rest red/pink for the blush. Draw on eyes and noses with the black chocolate.
- Enjoy!
Tips
- Completely dry strawberries before dipping: If the strawberries are wet, it will be harder for the chocolate to stick. Plus, adding water to the melted chocolate may cause it to seize.
- Use high quality chocolate, melting wafers, or candy melts: I like to use Ghiradelli melting wafers. They’re tasty, melt easily, dry fast, and are no fuss. If using chocolate chips, you’ll need to thin them out with coconut oil. Using melting wafers just make this recipe much easier.
- If you’re crunched for time, only decorate a few into bears. Do simple designs on the rest—sprinkles, nuts, etc.
Storage
How long do chocolate-covered strawberries last? Unfortunately, not too long. 🙁 They’re best eaten fresh, day of.
If strawberries are left out for hours at room temperature, they will start to sweat and become soggy. Keep this in mind when making them for a party or hosting. I do not recommend leaving them at room temperature for more than 6 hours.
how to keep chocolate-covered strawberries from sweating
For longer storage, arrange the cute chocolate dipped strawberries in a single layer in a container. Top strawberries with paper towel, which will help absorb any moisture. Close airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. They still may sweat, but there will be WAY less moisture than if you skipped this step.
When removing from the fridge, let the container come to room temperature (about 15-20 minutes) before opening. This step will help prevent the chocolate from sweating.
freezing
Do NOT freeze the strawberries because when thawed, they will become a mushy mess! There is sadly no way to keep them longer than 3 days.
FAQs
When refrigerating, I recommend adding a sheet of paper towel on top of the strawberries to absorb any extra moisture.
For more info, check the section above on how to store chocolate-covered strawberries.
Finely chopped nuts, shredded coconut, crushed graham crackers, pieces of your favorite chopped candies, sprinkles, and more!
Other strawberry desserts
I really hope you enjoy this recipe. If you make these Valentine’s chocolate-covered strawberries, I’d love to see them. You can tag me at #bitesbybianca / @bitesbybianca on Instagram. Enjoy! 🙂
Video tutorial
📖 Recipe
Bear Chocolate-covered Strawberries
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Equipment
- 1 knife, for drizzling chocolate
- 3 microwave-safe bowls, 1 medium, 2 small
- 3 small silicone spatulas, or spoons or knives to stir chocolate
- wax or parchment paper
Ingredients
For the chocolate-dipped strawberries:
- 12 (12) strawberries, rinsed and completely dried
- 10 ounces (283.5 g) Ghiradelli milk/dark chocolate melting wafers
- toppings, finely chopped nuts, shredded coconut, sprinkles, etc.
For bear decorations:
- 2-3 pieces (2-3 pieces) Ghiradelli white chocolate melting wafers
- pink/red and black food coloring, oil-based is best, but see steps if you have regular food coloring
Instructions
For the chocolate-dipped strawberries:
- Line baking tray with wax/parchment paper.
- Insert toothpicks in the top of each strawberry and line up the strawberries on your tray. The toothpicks will be your handles for dipping.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, add 10 oz of Ghiradelli milk/dark chocolate melting wafers. Heat in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until fully melted.
- Set about 1 tbsp of melted chocolate aside in a small microwave-safe bowl. Dye with black food coloring. Save this for later.If using oil-based food coloring, the chocolate will not seize. If using regular food coloring, the chocolate may seize and thicken. You can reverse this by stirring in ½-1 tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) until it smooths out.
- For bear chocolate-dipped strawberries, dip halfway into milk/dark chocolate, gently scrape excess chocolate off rim of the bowl, then set on lined tray to dry at room temperature.
- For regular chocolate-dipped strawberries, fully dip into milk/dark chocolate, gently scrape excess chocolate off rim of the bowl, then set on lined tray.If using toppings, add while chocolate is still wet. If drizzling chocolate on top, let chocolate on strawberry dry first. Then, use a knife to lightly drizzle extra chocolate on top. Let chocolate harden at room temperature, which should take about 5 minutes.
For bear decorations:
- Use a toothpick dipped in the melted chocolate to draw ears on all of the bears.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt 2-3 pieces of the Ghiradelli white chocolate. Dip a toothpick in it and use this to draw on snouts and inner ears. Dye the remaining pink using pink or red food coloring. Use this for blush.
- Draw on the eyes and snouts using the black chocolate from earlier. You may need to reheat it in the microwave at 15-second intervals if it hardened.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- See post for proper storage information.
