Pin it. Do it. Week 12.

Twelve weeks of PINTEREST projects? Wow, I'm a little surprised impressed that I've been on the ball enough to keep this up. It's fun, because it expands my horizons and emboldens me to rely on myself more than, say, the supermarket.

This week's project came out of necessity.  We decided on a kid friendly dessert to get them involved for a Christmas party we were all attending.  Buckeyes are very fun, because they get to roll the balls just like playdoh and then dip them in chocolate. Except, I couldn't find dipping chocolate anywhere. Or paraffin to make my own.  So, to pinterest I turned.

Here's the link to my pinboard, and here is the original recipe .

I tweaked the recipe a little, though.  I didn't need the sweetness of chocolate chips, and I prefer to control sweetness myself.  Instead, I used good baking chocolate and the same quantities:

Homemade Dipping Chocolate

Ingredients
12 oz. baking chocolate 
1 Tablespoon cooking oil (I use olive or coconut)


Directions
Put ingredients in a double boiler, or fashion one yourself by placing a couple inches of water into a large pot and the ingredients in a smaller pot placed inside the larger one. Melt chocolate into oil and whisk to combine.

Dip anything you can think of into chocolate, and refrigerate.  

Or eat immediately if you can't wait.  With a spoon. Or your finger. Messier, but just as tasty.


NOTE: I've read that you CANNOT substitute butter for the oil, or else the consistency will be off. I've never tried it myself, mainly because I didn't have the time to start over if it failed.

That's it.  The coconut oil adds a light sweet and nutty nuance to the chocolate, which is perfect if you are using raw chocolate.

Using a chopstick instead of toothpicks makes it very easy for the kiddos to dip their own.


The best part about this simple-as-it-gets idea? Complete control over the ingredients in your food, with no more effort than it would take to buy pre-packaged at the grocery.