Clean Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Nothing says Valentine's Day like chocolate covered strawberries!  But, my thoughts turned to the sugar laden chocolate for dipping and I knew I had to make it processed free.  This recipe is just in time for your special day - you might even have all the ingredients already in your kitchen like I did.  Here is what you need:

1 Tblsp. coconut oil
1 Tblsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. pure maple syrup
1/4 tsp. vanilla
8 - 10 strawberries

Optional toppings:
ground walnuts
unsweetened shredded coconut

Heat the coconut oil and maple syrup.  Then add the cocoa powder and vanilla.  Stir until smooth.  I chose to hold the strawberry by the green top and spoon the chocolate over as I turned it to get a nice even coating.  This also allowed me to give it a second coat after a couple seconds.  Then place the strawberry on a sheet of wax or parchment paper to set.  When you have dipped all of them, put them in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate even more and keep them fresh.  Eat them within three days.  But, let's be serious - these don't last even three hours at my house!

I chose to add two toppings.  For the first one, I took some walnuts and put them in my mini food processor to grind them up, but be careful to not process them too long or you might get butter.  Then sprinkle them over the freshly dipped strawberry before the chocolate hardens.

The second topping I used was unsweetened shredded coconut.  Again, I just sprinkled this on the strawberry right after it was dipped.  I have to admit, this is my favorite of all the dipped strawberries.  If you like coconut, you will love this!

Now, who wouldn't want to enjoy a nice plate of these on Valentine's Day.  This recipe is really easy to double or triple and adjust to your own tastes too.  I like the chocolate how it is - not too sweet to let the natural sweetness of the berries come through, but if you want it sweeter, just add small amounts of more syrup until it suits you.  Enjoy!

Update:  You can make these completely sugar free (even natural unprocessed sugar free) by substituting the maple syrup for 2-3 drops of liquid chocolate stevia.  It will have a slightly different taste, but there will be absolutely no effect on blood sugar because stevia is an herb.  Give it a try.