It’s probably pretty obvious by now but I love fresh herbs.  I use them in dishes both savory and sweet, put them in beverages and bake them into cookies.  I’ve never made herb sugars before but now that I have I can’t wait to experiment with some new ideas. This recipe will yield some leftover sugar and it would be delicious sprinkled on top of cantaloupe or watermelon, or stirred into some lemonade or iced tea.

I had a hard time waiting for these to firm up in the fridge before I started devouring them.  I can see a lot of these in my future when my strawberry patch starts producing in a few months. 

You can always find me at www.scalingbackblog.com during the rest of the week!

White chocolate strawberries with basil sugar

Ingredients:

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup fresh basil

6 ounces high quality white chocolate, chopped

16 large ripe strawberries

Place the basil and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the basil is finely ground and the mixture is well combined.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Stir chocolate in small bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from over water.

Holding 1 strawberry by stem end, dip 2/3 of berry into chocolate; shake excess back into bowl. Turn berry dipped end up and sprinkle with basil sugar. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining berries, chocolate, and sugar. Chill until chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.