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" American Chocolate Week is finally upon us! (Technically it IS in March, but let&amp;#039;s #RealTalk here: every week is chocolate week.) That means you \u2014 and everyone you know \u2014 can pretend to be in that Chocolat (Sho-ko-la) movie when Johnny Depp was still hot and all the characters were rubbing chocolate sauce all over their faces. We&amp;#039;ve all been there. Before coating everything you possess in ganache, some tips on melting chocolate: 1. Make sure your chocolate is chopped into even pieces. Melting one bar will not only takes forever but some bits will probably become lumpy or grainy as the texture degrades when heated too much/for too long. 2. You can technically do this in the microwave since you&amp;#039;re just dipping your food into chocolate and not doing anything too complicated like tempering. However, you have more control if you put a large metal bowl over a simmering pot of water and melt the chocolate slowly. 3. Your heat should be low as chocolate is a dainty creature and will become a grainy dumpster mess if you have it on too high of a setting. 4. Stir the chocolate frequently; chocolate retains its shape when melted, so just keep touching it. 5. NEVER LET IT COME INTO CONTACT WITH WATER. It will ruin the chocolate, and your tears will only make it worse.  Here are 10 things you should be dipping in the good stuff. Your week is about to get a whole lot better. 1. Potato Chips  The perfect combination of sweet and savory; take your favorite potato chip and dip half of it in your favorite chocolate, such as Ghiradelli Bittersweet Baking Chips. Once you dip your chip into the chocolate mixture, set on a baking rack to cool, and sprinkle with your favorite nuts, or more salt. Not trying to be healthy here. 2. Cookies (duh)  What&amp;#039;s better than a chocolate chip cookie? Two chocolate chip cookies sandwiched together with Nutella, then dipped in chocolate! Take two of your favorite brand of cookies, sandwich them with Nutella in the middle, and then just dunk in milk chocolate. 3. Peanut Butter Pretzels:  Pretzels and chocolate are a given, but put some peanut butter in there and it&amp;#039;s a whole new world. Pretzel crackers are incredibly convenient for sandwiching; just use the peanut butter to glue the pretzels together, dip in chocolate, and sprinkle with toppings like almonds, walnuts, or pistachios. 4. BACON  OK, this might be a little intense, but give it a chance. Maple bacon is already delicious on its own, but drizzled in chocolate? It&amp;#039;s divine. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet, arrange your bacon so it does not touch, then bake for 12-18 minutes or until the fat has rendered. Carefully remove from the oven and brush with maple syrup (use the pure stuff \u2014 it tastes so much better). Continue baking until the maple syrup browns, and the bacon is a sticky, delicious mess. Drain on a baking sheet and once cooled, dip in chocolate. You can take flaked coconut and sprinkle on top for extra flair. 5. Cream Cheese Frosting Stuffed Cookies  Cream cheese frosting is delicious and the easiest thing to make, ever. Take half a cup of butter at room temperature, 8 oz of cream cheese, 2 cups of powered sugar, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract and blend together with a mixer. Take that mixture and sandwich it between your favorite cookies \u2014 such as MI-DEL&amp;#039;s Gluten Free Ginger Snaps or MI-DEL&amp;#039;s Vanilla Snaps. Dip half of the cookie in dark chocolate. 6. Almond Butter and Banana Pretzels  Take two pretzel crisps and spread an almond butter like Justin&amp;#039;s Classic Almond Butter on both pretzels, sandwiching thinly sliced banana in between them. Carefully dip half the pretzel in chocolate without crushing the banana. Sprinkle with toppings of choice; almonds are a nice touch. 7. Waffles and Nutella  Waffles and Nutella is classic combination that needs little in terms of betterment. However, taking two waffle cookies, spreading Nutella in the middle, dunking in chocolate and coating the whole thing in coconut flakes might just make everyone change their minds about the classic combination. 8. Buttered Toast and Jam  Switch up your boring toast with jam breakfast routine and add a little chocolate. Take brioche, cut into 2 inch x 1 inch strips, toast until crisp around the edges, and butter and jam the pieces. Sandwich your brioche, jam, and butter mixture and thinly coat in milk chocolate, setting aside your toasts on a baking rack to dry. 9. S&amp;#039;mores  One of the only treats that makes marshmallows relevant (sorry/not sorry, I&amp;#039;m a hot chocolate purist), turn your s&amp;#039;mores inside out. Sandwich your marshmallows between graham crackers and instead of putting the chocolate in between, dunk the little guys in milk chocolate. Coat in flaked coconut, or cinnamon, for extra flavor and texture. 10. Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches  La pi\u00E8ce de r\u00E9sistance: peanut butter banana sandwiches. Similar to the buttered toast and jam, take brioche or any fluffy bread, toast in the oven until crispy, and cover both sides in peanut butter. Take thinly sliced banana, sandwich between your two pieces of peanut buttered bread, and dip in chocolate. Inhale. Follow Charlotte on Twitter and Pinterest.  RELATED: 20 Delicious Donuts You Need Immediately 14 Ways To Have Chocolate For Breakfast 11 Cheese and Cracker Recipes That Will Change Your Life Photo credit: Charlotte Palermino "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/food-cocktails/a6014/chocolate-covered-recipes/>