Easy Way to Make Homemade Chocolate

I learned a few years ago that even though it looks impressive, homemade chocolate is quite easy to put together. So easy, in fact, that no one believes me. Did you just say to yourself, "Ya right" when I told you that it was simple? Trust me, I get that a lot.

What I am talking about here aren't truffles. Those ARE complicated. The steps are easy to execute - there are just a lot of them. No, what I am referring to as being simple are those chocolate bites that involve things like nuts, crushed candy canes, and dried fruit. There is one recipe that will help you make all of these - all you need to do is adapt it to fit your mood.

This is the method that I use when I want to make my own chocolates.

1. Choose your chocolate. You can choose any kind of chocolate you want - white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, etc. I use dark chocolate most of the time because I like it better.
2. Melt chocolate. I use a double burner. Just fill a small saucepan with water and put a metal mixing bowl on top. Chop the chocolate and put it in the mixing bowl. Set heat to medium and stir every now and then until it melts.
3. Add-ons. After the chocolate is melted, I always stir something in like nuts, coconut, or dried fruit. For example, the last time I made chocolates I stirred in peanuts.
4. Parchment paper. I like parchment paper better than wax paper but both will work. I use parchment for other things so I don't see the point to buying waxed paper as well. I just drop the chocolate mixture one teaspoon at a time on the paper.
5. Let it set. I either let it set in the fridge or just leave it on the counter. Once it's set I either eat it or package it up for gift giving.
6. Gift giving. If you choose to give them away, you can package it up in a pretty way. My favorite is to put the chocolates in decorative bags and tie them with ribbons.