Looking for a fun activity to do with family or friends this holiday season? We discovered a quick “no sweat” dessert to make! 

Flipping through different magazines to find a simple holiday treat to make, we stumbled upon these festive reindeer berry treats that took a little over an hour to complete. The recipe required a few ingredients and materials, including: 

• 1 lb fresh strawberries (washed, dried, leaves removed)
• 1 ½ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 ¼ coconut oil
• 1 cup of small pretzel twists
• 40-50 candy eyes
• 20-25 M&Ms (red, brown, and or green)
• 1 microwave-safe bowl
• 4-6 toothpicks
• 1-2 baking trays
• Parchment paper

To start off, we began by breaking the pretzels to create reindeer antlers and washing and cutting the strawberries. Breaking the pretzels was not an easy task, as the shape they had to be was difficult to achieve without cracking every pretzel into multiple fragments. We then placed the chocolate chips and coconut oil into a microwave safe bowl and placed it into the microwave in 20 second increments, stirring the chocolate in between. 

Next, we took the washed strawberries, and one by one, we stuck a toothpick into them

 and submerged them into the chocolate. After that, the berries were placed in rows on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, and we crafted reindeer faces using candy eyes and M&M’s for the nose. The final step of this process was to set the berries in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes to let the chocolate harden.

Although the recipe was very simple, we do have some critiques and issues: 

First, the recipe tells us to use toothpicks in order to dip the strawberries in the chocolate. This quickly became a problem due to the strawberries constantly falling off the toothpick. In order to avoid this problem, we recommend using a fork or a more sturdy utensil to hold the berry in place while dipping. 

Second, we were instructed to put the pretzels in the strawberries before dipping them into the chocolate. Despite seeming like a good idea at first, it quickly became a burden when they would fall out of the strawberry due to the chocolate. It was also very difficult to dip the berries into the chocolate without getting the pretzels covered in chocolate. Our suggestion would be to dip the strawberry first and then stick the pretzels in the side after. The chocolate was able to hold onto the pretzels very well until it fully hardened. 

Third, the chocolate kept hardening into a gloppy texture before we could finish dipping all the strawberries. It was a little annoying to deal with, but was an extremely easy fix. Just popping it in the microwave for another thirty seconds melted it back to the smooth dippable consistency that we needed. 

Even though we did have a few bumps in the road, this recipe overall was very easy to follow and ended up creating a delicious snack that’s perfect to bring to any holiday party. We recommend you make these treats with friends or family for the best experience. Although our reindeer didn’t come out picture perfect, we had a blast turning this recipe into our own!