It’s safe to say that chocolate covered strawberries have wiggled their way into the hearts of women (and men) everywhere. Seriously, does anyone not like chocolate-covered strawberries? I mean, some people probably don’t, but for argument’s sake, let’s just say it’s a consensus that they’re delicious. With Mother’s Day around the corner, we wanted to make some for the mamas in our lives, but then we got to thinking, how could we put a twist on the OG recipe?
Then we realized: chips. Yes, you read that right. Chips. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos have been put on everything lately — omelettes, macaroni and cheese, sushi burritos, doughnuts, macarons, bagels, even ice cream. Could chocolate and chip-covered strawberries become the next big craze? Detective Miranda Judd (me) was put on the case.
The first step was to figure out which chips to pulverize into crumbs and sprinkle over melted chocolate. I went to the grocery store with $30 — yup, ballin’ on a budget over here — and went wild in the snack section. People were looking at me like I was having a party and they wanted to be invited. Or maybe they thought I was experiencing an extreme case of the munchies. Either way.
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I decided to pick up 10 different fan-favorite flavors to test the following combinations:
- Chocolate and BBQ chip-dipped strawberries
- Chocolate and Flamin’ Hot Cheeto-dipped strawberries
- Chocolate and salt and vinegar chip-dipped strawberries
- Chocolate and Funyuns-dipped strawberries
- Chocolate and dill pickle chip-dipped strawberries
- Chocolate and pretzel-dipped strawberries
- Chocolate and sour cream and onion chip-dipped strawberries
- Chocolate and Nacho Cheese Doritos-dipped strawberries
- Chocolate and Pizza Goldfish-dipped strawberries
- Chocolate and Chili Cheese Frito-dipped strawberries
Once I was back in the office, I made chocolate dipped strawberries the typical way and then dipped four chocolate-covered strawberries into each chip variety, rounded up coworkers and we taste-tested them out. Yes, I participated in the tasting. I couldn’t subject everyone else’s taste buds to this experiment while saving my own.
The final product was the ultimate (or only?) chocolate and chip-covered strawberries taste-test ever. And you can watch the whole thing go down. It’s pretty hilarious.
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During this quest to find the best chip-dipped strawberry, there were a few surprising combinations along the way. For example, a few of the testers actually really enjoyed the chocolate and BBQ chip-covered strawberry (who would have thought?). And, as was expected, the Flamin’ Hot Cheeto one was a hit, too. I actually shockingly thought the chocolate and dill pickle-covered strawberries were the best. And I don’t even really like pickles. It was weird. Some people also really liked the salt and vinegar combination, but I can confirm that I was not a super-fan.
While each taste-tester had differing opinions about the superior strawberry, everyone agreed that the pretzel-coated chocolate-covered strawberry was the right pairing of salty pretzel, sweet chocolate and fruity strawberry. Typical. Pretzels and dessert combinations are always right.
In the end, it was a fun experiment that you could enjoy trying at home, but a word of advice: Steer away from covering your chocolate-covered strawberries in Funyuns, sour cream and onion (please, just don’t), Nacho Cheese Doritos, Chili Cheese Fritos or Pizza Goldfish. They may have been the worst. But who knows? This test proved that everyone’s taste buds are different. Dip and taste at your own risk.