Strawberry- Oh, Lovely Strawberry!

Okay- so if you've seen one chocolate covered strawberry, you've seen them all, right? Not so! Some have dark chocolate. Some have white chocolate. Some have drizzles of both. And what a decadent treat, right? The tangy sweetness of fresh, ripe strawberries with the creamy warmth of smooth chocolate....
ah, the cravings are getting to me already. How about you? Okay- go...get your strawberries. I'll wait.

waiting.............

waiting...........

Got them? Okay. Now. I'm going to tell you something that will change your life forever. Are you ready for it? Here it comes-

Strawberry S'mores.


Yes! Hallelujah and sing to the sky, you have been saved from boring strawberries!

Oh.My.Goodness! Doesn't that look divine? And just absolutely mouth watering, sweet and savory and seriously? Better than sex. Okay, not really because sex is pretty grand. But these are close.  These are redemption on a stick. These are surprise your boss at work to get a raise. These are finding all the matches to your socks in the same load!
Yes, they are that fabulous.

I bet you can't wait to hear how I did this, right? Well, it was a labor of love. No, really...okay. So that's not entirely true. It was basically being tired of plain ol' chocolate covered strawberries and needing something to take to a superbowl party. I know it's traditional to take food, mini-meal kind of thing. But I thought, why not do a dessert? Why not make something light and refreshing and then smother it with hundreds of fattening calories! Yes!

So I did. And the result of my invention is the Strawberry S'more on a Stick!
Behold- the goodness- Love the berry- Savor the chocolate- Crunch the marshmallow!

And to be plainly honest- they were a breeze to make. A tad time consuming. But easy. And the best part? My father is writing a cookbook- and asked me to come up with recipes so I made up this dessert for him!  He's going to feature it in his book! How awesome is that?

Strawberry S'mores on a Stick
2 pounds Fresh Strawberries (small to medium sized)
1 package Semi-Sweet Special Dark Chocolate Chips.
2 Tbs Shortening
1 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs (in shallow bowl)
1 Jar Marshmallow Fluff stuff
Toothpicks
Wax paper
Blow torch or gas burner stove

Begin by placing toothpicks into the stem ends of your strawberries.

Place chocolate and shortening together in microwave safe bowl.  Zap on medium-high for 30 seconds. Stir and zap for another 30 seconds and stir. Continue until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Dip strawberries into chocolate.

Shake off excess chocolate, then dip into graham cracker crumbs:

Then place on waxed paper to set up (about 2 hours):

Once set up, grab your spoon and cover the tip of your dipped strawberry in the marshmallow fluff- Don't try to dip the strawberry into it....the fluff just steals all the chocolate and graham crumbs. Trust me.
Use a spoon, and then wet your finger and smooth the marshmallow around your strawberry:

Immediately hand your strawberry to your partner and have him blow torch the marshmallow. No partner? That's okay- you can use the torch yourself (watch your digits! Don't burn them!) or use the gas burner on your stove. You get the same result:

Once you torched your strawberry, place it on clean waxed paper to set, once again.

Now, you might think about skipping the marshmallow part. And that's okay, too. You can. Your berries will look like so:

And they are perfectly tasty like that.
But trust me when I say that adding the marshmallow and toasting them just pushes this treat over the top. It's like doing something you didn't think you could adrenaline rush GOOD!

You do it any way you wish. Don't let me influence you....
But a word of caution- once you chocolate dip the strawberries - do not refrigerate them. The coldness might cause condensation on the chocolate, and or when you take them out of the fridge, the chocolate could go soft and not re-harden properly. Unless of course, you plan to eat them cold. Then I guess it wouldn't matter.

And don't do the marshmallow torching until just before you plan to serve these little red jewels, because the marshmallow 'sinks' in a way. And you want these babies to be bright, and perky and gorgeous for the unveiling of your talent! Seriously. You are good. Take the compliment. :)

Have fun with it.
And look for my father's cookbook to be out in about a year. I'll let you know when it's on the shelves!