Frugal Chocolate Fondue

Since Valentine's Day fell on a Thursday, My Vet had to work late. Yep, we filled up our kids with chocolate after bed time.

I looked at some recipes online, and then true to form, I didn't follow them. Most called for expensive chocolates, liquors, and nuts. I just used what I had around the house. I was inspired by Rachel Ray to add hazelnuts, but I did it my way.

Chocolate Chip Fondue
1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips*
3/4 cup half and half **
2 Tablespoons Hazelnut flavored coffee syrup
Arrange cubes of sponge cake, shortbread cookies, potato chips, marshmallows, strawberries, pineapple, oranges, or any other seasonal fruit on a tray

Sorry for the bad lighting
It really WAS late.

Heat half and half and coffee syrup get really hot, but do not boil. I like to use the microwave. Stir in chocolate chips and continue to stir until melted. You can microwave in 30 second intervals if you didn't get the milk mixture hot enough initially. I found that the hazelnut syrup really enhanced the flavor of the chocolate. I will always be adding that in the future.

You will want to serve this right away.

*the bitterness of the semi-sweet is perfect for this dish. I used store brand and it was really good. I've also tried various brands of milk chocolate, and have not been happy with the results. Stick to semi-sweet or dark.
**I had some half on half on hand, typically recipes call for heavy cream so you could use that instead.