Gluten Free SemiSweet Fruity Chocolates

Here's another candy making experiment of mine.  My first try at being a Chocolateur used white chocolate, mixed nuts and a handful of cranberries.  This one steers clear of nuts and focuses on being nice-n-fruity. All you need is a bag of semisweet chocolate chips and around 2 cups of chopped dried berries.  I used a combination of dried strawberries, blueberries, cherries and cranberries. 

These chocolates were much more popular than the white chocolate candies I made. I could tell how good they were by the way people tried to hoard them, or how they would force themselves to eat only a few a day in order to savor them:).  Regarding proportions... use about 1/2 cup more chocolate chips than fruity bits, and you can't go wrong.

Ingredients

• 1 bag of semisweet chocolate chips (about 2-2/12 cups)
• 2 cups of mixed dried berries
• Cocoa powder (for dusting)
• Non-stick baking sheet or wax-paper

Directions

1. Chop your dried berries up as fine as you're able.  These chocolates work best if filled with lots of tiny fruity bits, and not large chewy chunks.
2. Melt and stir your semisweet chocolate chips in a double boiler, or in 30-second microwave bursts, until  nice and creamy.
3. Add the chopped berries and stir until completely incorporated.
4. Let cool until the consistency of thick molasses. 
5. Spread some wax-paper out, or use a non-stick baking sheet, and spoon small globs of fruity-chocolate about 1-inch apart.  
6. Let the chocolate cool for a while before dusting your chocolates off with cocoa powder.
7. Once completely cool, dig in and smile big:)