Make it a Chocolate Dipped Valentine’s Day

If you’re looking for a fun Valentine’s Day activity to do with your kids, consider a little dip through chocolate. Everything‘s good dipped in chocolate, right? My 15 year old, ever aware of a chance to eat chocolate, volunteered to help with this project. He could easily have done it all by himself, but in this case I melted the chocolate; he did all of the dipping. This is super easy to do and doesn’t take long at all.

Melt about 1 cup (no need to measure; just eyeball it) of chocolate chips in a pot over low heat. All of the professional chefs will insist you need a double boiler for this step, but I say nonsense. As long as you keep the heat low, you won’t have any problem. Stir the chocolate chips constantly, for about 5 minutes or until they’re completely melted. Avoid getting any moisture in the chocolate; even a drop of water will ruin it.

Remove the chocolate from the heat and start dipping. Check your cupboards for possibilities: apricots and other dried fruit, pretzels, graham crackers, cookies, little cubes of cake, granola bars, or even – if you’ve got a little more time – some wonderful homemade marshmallows. Place your dipped items on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Add sprinkles if you’d like. When you’re done dipping, or it seems like there’s not enough chocolate to do anything else with, throw in a handful of nuts and stir until they’re coated. We used almonds to make almond clusters. Set your cookie sheet in the refrigerator until the chocolate hardens.

Want more chocolate for Valentine’s Day? Who can blame you!?

• Jennifer D. shared her recipe for homemade truffles the other day and here’s another truffle recipe – both look great
• Bake a single serve chocolate cake in a coffee mug in just 3 minutes
• Cake pops are all the rage – Judy’s book review might inspire you to make some of your own
• Try my famous fudge recipe