Prepare your strawberries by rinsing well and then thoroughly patting dry with paper towels. It is very important that you get as much water as possible off of the berries or it could end up ruining your dipping chocolate.

Fill a small saucepan with 1-2 inches of water and find a medium-sized heatproof bowl that fits over the saucepan without touching the water.

Remove the bowl and add your chocolate, but reserve 2 Tablespoons for tempering later.

Bring the water in your saucepan to a simmer on the stovetop. Once simmering, reduce heat to low and rest your bowl with chocolate in the saucepan.

Stir constantly until chocolate is completely melted.

Once chocolate is smooth, remove bowl from heat and wipe the bottom of the bowl. Add reserved 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips and stir until they are melted (this helps keep your chocolate from becoming streaky).

Pat your strawberries dry once more, then dip by holding the berry firmly by the stem and dipping into the chocolate.

If desired, dip in chopped nuts, coconut, etc. while chocolate is still warm and then transfer to a wax paper lined cookie sheet to allow the chocolate to set.

If drizzling with white chocolate, melt the chocolate chips either in a double boiler or in the microwave and then drizzle over the strawberries. For neat drizzles I like to pour the chocolate into a ziploc bat and then snip off a tiny corner of the bag to drizzle over the berries.