The Tantalizing History of the Chocolate Pecan Pie

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While chocolate pecan pie is definitely delicious, you might be surprised to learn that the dessert’s ingredients also have a unique and fascinating history. Knowing the secrets of the pie’s past may not make it more delicious but it can be a great way to break the ice at a party or to strike up a conversation.

The History of the Chocolate in Chocolate Pecan Pie

Chocolate, in particular, has an impressive history, especially in North America. The Aztecs had been drinking chocalatl, a warm chocolate liquid drink, since the late 15th century. The drink was a favorite of Emperor Montezuma who was said to have consumed more than 50 cups worth a day and even served it to the Spanish explorer Cortez in gold goblets.

The Spanish took it back to their country and decided the bitter drink would be even better with a bit of sweetness and a few spices so sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla were eventually added. The drink became a hit and the country’s monks were charged with processing the beans. Eventually, the monks spread the news throughout the rest of Europe.

Not until the mid-19th century did eating chocolate come into vogue. Then les than three decades later, milk chocolate was devised in Switzerland and the rest of the story can be enjoyed as one of the luscious layers of a chocolate pecan pie.

The Pecans’ Past & Role in Chocolate Pecan Pie

Like chocolate, the pecans in your tasty chocolate pecan pie have a long history in North America, too. In fact, the pecan tree is the only nut tree that grows on this continent naturally. The word “pecan” actually comes from a Native American word which referred to the need to use a stone to crack open these delectable treats.

Lone before colonists arrived on the continent, Native Americans were already big fans of pecans which were also a major food source in the fall. Some say the nuts were even used in an alcoholic drink known as Powcohicora, the origin of the word hickory.

Pecan trees were first deliberately grown by the Spanish in northern Mexico in the early 18th century but quickly spread throughout the colonies along the Atlantic Ocean. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were believed to grow pecan trees in their gardens.

Before Chocolate Pecan Pie

You can’t have chocolate pecan pie without first knowing the history of pecan pie. Interestingly, it wasn’t the Spanish who discovered this ingenious use of the nuts but the French who had settled in New Orleans. Native Americans in the area taught them about pecans, and it is believed they began experimenting with recipes. However, the oldest known pecan pie recipe dates back to about 1925.

Pecan pies themselves were popularized by the company who made corn syrup, the primary ingredient (besides the nuts, of course) in the pies.

The Modern Chocolate Pecan Pie

The good news is all of this delicious history has finally combined in one amazing treat: the chocolate pecan pie. Remember that the next time you are savoring a piece.

Tanner’s Pecan is owned and operated by Danny Fox and Michelle Parks and offers great chocolate pecan pies. Visit Tanner’s Pecans today for the best selection of Chocolate Pecan Pie and Pecans.

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Health Benefits of Raw Organic Chocolate

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The health benefits of chocolate were discovered by the Aztecs, a Mexican empire that flourished in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. Organic Raw Chocolate is a healthy superfood that is chock-full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Raw chocolate means that the cacao has not been heated or processed allowing it to preserve all of its rich nutrients. Organic chocolate means that there have been no chemicals, fillers, and preservatives used in the production of the chocolate.

Processed chocolate that includes dairy, sugar, and chemicals, results in blocking the antioxidant and health benefits.

Processed chocolate also contains fat, wax, fillers, and preservatives. When pesticides, antibiotics and growth hormones from the processed chocolate ingredients are added to its production, processed chocolate becomes a food with no health benefits.

Over 300 Healthy Properties

More than 300 minerals and properties have been identified in raw organic chocolate. Cacao contains copper, manganese, zinc, sulphur, and is rich in B -vitamins that includes niacin.  Because there is no sugar, raw organic chocolate is a great treat for children.

“Cornell University discovered that Cocoa has twice the antioxidants of red wine, and up to three times those found in green tea.”

Health benefits of raw organic chocolate include:

  • Lower blood pressure
  • Increases energy, alertness, creativity, and improves mood.
  • Containing very little caffeine, raw organic chocolate is a major source of magnesium which helps your heart.
  • Rich in Flavonoids which has a cancer-fighting antioxidant result
  • Promotes healthy blood flow thereby reducing the risk of strokes, blood clots, and heart attacks
  • Rich in Antioxidants thereby decreasing damaging free radicals
  • Increased Longevity: Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that those who eat chocolate up to three times each month live almost a year longer than those who overindulge or eat junk food.
  • Cocoa is reported to help brain function.  The magnesium is essential for maintaining brain function.  Raw chocolate is also composed of brain functioning elements such as tryptophan and anandamide
  • Recently, the Theobromine in cocoa has been noted as calming the coughing reflex thereby helping to stop coughing.
  • Can reduce cholesterol by 5-10 percent
  • Decreases menopause and PMS symptoms
  • Helps control appetite and supports weight loss

Eating chocolate is a pleasure that almost everyone loves. The availability of raw organic chocolate and fair trade chocolate is steadily increasing. Due to popular demand, supermarket chains, specialty stores, health food stores, and online health companies are now providing raw organic chocolate. Consumers now have the ability to enjoy the health benefits of this delicious treat.

Solay Wellness http://www.natural-salt-lamps.com hand crafts and imports fair trade earth friendly lifestyle products including Salt crystal lamps, gourmet Himalayan salt products, organic skin care, natural hair care, SLS free oral products, natural pet products, salt pipes, salt therapy aids and more. Read our blog for quality health information at www.solaywellness.blogspot.com. Enjoy our 90 day guarantee.

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What is Your Best Chocolate Dessert?

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The Best Chocolate Dessert, Which is it?

What could be considered as the best chocolate dessert? Wow, how does a person answer that question? Maybe, the way we do it is by analyzing what we mean when we say best chocolate dessert. The Key here is chocolate. A lot of desserts may have chocolate in them, but it is a secondary flavor. A true chocolate dessert has chocolate at the heart of the whole thing. It is the base item from which the rest of the dessert is built. So, ther you have it, that is the criteria for this article.

We have to eliminate desserts that do not feature chocolate as the main ingredient - it is only fair. Chocolate that is used to add to the flavor in desserts, but is not the main source, must be eliminated. Ice creams, donuts, unless completely chocolate, sauces, fruit dishes with chocolate sauces, cakes with the frosting, etc, would not be considered as best chocolate desserts. I have one for you, though, I think I only finished one whole piece in one setting, only once, it was so rich.

I know there are many desserts that could jump up and say they are the best chocolate dessert, but find themselves voted out of the contest, because chocolate is not the main ingredient. It has to be chocolate in its origin, and through the whole creative process, and stand alone as a chocolate heavyweight contender. In its finest ingredients, cocoa powder, sauce, shavings, toppings, flavorings, it must be chocolate. Ok, I am tired of repeating myself, let’s get to it!

Ok, so here is my choice. It is called Chocolate Suicide. If we want to consider the chocolate of all, for me, it is Chocolate Suicide. It is a triple layer deep chocolate cake, with chocolate cream, like fudge, but creamier, between each layer, and topped with the same, and, if that’s not enough, a wedge of chocolate bar in the top of each piece. The text messaging people would now write OMG! I mean chocolate to the core! But, oh, so good, believe me. The cake even had chocolate chips in the frosting. Whoever made this thing was crazy!

This wins for me as the best chocolate dessert. I have tasted many chocolate desserts in my lifetime, believe me, but I am yet to find anything that represents pure, unadulterated chocolate to this day. Perhaps there is some lonely chocolate dessert waiting for me to discover it somewhere in the frontiers of the chocolate world, but until I sail across the ocean, or endure a harsh desert, or climb a topless mountain, to find it, I will have to wait.

So, all fun aside, what is your best chocolate dessert? It’s tough, I know. I mean there’s everything from e-clairs to ice cream, to pastries, to gourmet dessert dishes with some foreign concoction never heard of or seen by human eyes and ears. There is so much, but, we all have our favorite, that is certain. It may be great grandma’s chocolate brownies or fudge, but we all have one. So, again, what is yours?

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The Allure of Gourmet Chocolate

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Nothing beats the taste of a truly divine chocolate that is made with the finest and purest ingredients. For the chocolate connoisseur, only gourmet chocolate will do; chocolate that is surely no 50-cent treat but a luscious indulgence that is meant to be savored and cherished like good wine and good food. In recent years, more and more chocolatiers are putting up chocolate shops, creating hand-made chocolate and confections that contain higher cacao levels than those mass-produced chocolates you can buy at the grocery store.

These master chocolate makers use natural flavors and some unusual ingredients like chili peppers and grated lime to make your chocolate experience even more interesting. But because they make custom and gourmet chocolates, you can also expect gourmet prices, as much as seventy dollars for a pound of chocolate! But don’t worry. There are also gourmet chocolates sold for less than ten dollars—fairly affordable and a good investment for the true chocolate lover. Below are some of the best gourmet chocolates in town.

Ganache Chocolates

Former corporate pastry chef of the Ritz Carlton, Norman Love, together with partner Judy Limekiller founded Ganache, a chocolate store that serves visually stunning and delicious chocolate. Their chocolate molds are air brushed or hand-painted with a candy-coating and filled with imported chocolate from France, Belgium, and Switzerland. They also add various fresh ingredients to their chocolates such as hazelnuts, bananas, raspberries, and even ginger.

La Maison du Chocolat

When it comes to luxuriousness, nothing can beat La Maison du Chocolat. La Maison chocolates come in an exquisite presentation of colored leather boxes that is elegant enough to hold jewelry. They offer decadent delights such as mendicants (chocolate lavishly sprinkled with nuts, dried fruits, or orange peel), marrons glaces, and dark and milk chocolate truffles. Their ganache fillings are not made of milk fat but of pure cocoa butter.

Dagoba Organic Chocolate

Organic chocolate used to be boring and tasteless and left chocoholics gravely disappointed, but thanks to inventive chocolatiers such as former chef Frederick Schilling, owner of Dagoba Organic Chocolate, organic chocolate will never be the same again. This time, you can drown in decadence with the exciting varieties and flavors Dagoba has to offer such as chocolate roseberry (raspberry and rosehips), hazelnut, chocolate mint and rosemary, chai (milk chocolate with anise, cardamom, black pepper, clover, and cinnamon) lime and macadamia nut, and the conventional milk and dark chocolate. Schilling buys only handpicked, organic cacao beans from co-ops in Central America and the Dominican Republic, and pays the farmers full price getting Dagoba a Fair Trade certification.

Garrison Confections

Former pastry chef of the upscale La Cote Basque in New York made a line of colorful and elaborately designed chocolates to serve the restaurant’s patrons after their meals and continued on to create Garrison confections, his very own chocolate company. His signature chocolate is couveture, chocolate for making truffles and pastries such as molten chocolate. It is very popular among pastry chefs across the country. Other specialties include chocolates flavored with honey and fresh herbs; almond, macadamia and hazelnut praline; and mint-flavored mojito.

Chris Alleny writes about various subjects including food. For more information on fine homemade gourmet chocolates visit www.ultimatechocolateshoppe.com

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How to Make No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

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No Bake Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies are a great easy cookie recipe that’s perfect anytime of year, especially during the summer when it’s too hot to turn on the oven. They stir together in minutes using a handful of common pantry ingredients.

This recipe for no bake cookies was part of my childhood and may have been part of yours too. It’s an old-fashioned recipe that has been around for decades, goes by many different names, and has lots of variations.

Some recipes endure and these no bake oatmeal chocolate cookies are a perfect example. It’s amazing how just reading a recipe can transport you back to the past.

Many versions of this recipe call for 2 cups of sugar, which I find to be too sweet. This version uses 1 1/2 cups instead.

Although this recipe for no bake cookies is quick and easy, a few helpful hints are in order. First, be sure to follow the directions exactly, boiling the mixture for 1 1/2 minutes. If you don’t boil the sugar mixture long enough the cookies may not get firm and if you boil it too long they are apt to be grainy and dry. And I’ve had success making these with both quick cooking and old-fashioned oats, so you are safe using whichever is in your cupboard.

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups rolled oats, uncooked

Directions

Clear an area on your counter and line it with waxed paper for dropping the cookie mixture on. Alternatively you can line a cookie sheet with waxed paper or a silicone mat.

In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine the cocoa, sugar, butter, and milk. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue to cook for 1 1/2 minutes while stirring constantly. Make sure the mixture is boiling vigorously (with bubbles all over the surface) before beginning to count the time.

Remove pan from the heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until creamy and well blended. Add the oats and stir until thoroughly combined.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the waxed paper or lined cookie sheet. I like to use a small cookie scoop when making drop cookies - it speeds up the process and gives the cookies a uniform appearance.

Let cool until firm, about 1 hour. You can speed this up by transferring the cookies to the refrigerator.

Makes about 3 dozen No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies Variations:

  • Use crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth for added crunch.
  • Stir in 1/2 cup shredded coconut with the oats.
  • Stir in 1/2 cup chopped nuts with the oats.
  • Stir in 1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins with the oats.
  • To make larger flatter cookies, drop by tablespoons and then flatten slightly with the back of the spoon or your damp fingers.
  • For cookie bars, press the mixture into a well greased 8-inch square pan. When firm, cut into desired size and shape bars.

Martha McKinnon is an avid home cook and cooking instructor who loves sharing everything she has learned through her years in the kitchen with all who are interested.

Her website, http://www.best-ever-cookie-collection.com is dedicated to publishing the best cookie recipes

and her blog, http://www.simple-nourished-living.com explores easy recipes, tips, and hints.

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How to Make Homemade Chocolate

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all types of chocolates
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The easiest way to make chocolate is to buy cooking chocolate from your local supermarket, melt it down, and pour it into molds. Cooking chocolate usually comes in four different flavours: milk, white, dark, and caramel. You do not, however, have to restrict yourself to these flavours as any store bought chocolate can be melted down and used. Now, we will take a look at the different steps used in making your chocolate.

  • Break or chop up the chocolate and put it into a bowl; this makes it easier to melt. Next, place the bowl into a microwave oven and put it on high.

    Another method is to place the broken up chocolate into a ceramic or glass bowl, which is then placed over a pot of boiling water. The aim is to use the steam to melt the chocolate, so never let the bowl touch the boiling water.

  • If the chocolate retains its original shape - thereby slowing down the melting process - one can stir it, with a wooden spoon, halfway through the process. This will keep it from overcooking. Note: different kinds of chocolate melt at different rates. White chocolate melts the fastest, while dark chocolate takes twice as long. Cooking chocolate, on the other hand, is the slowest melting chocolate of all three.
  • If the melted chocolate is too thin to use for decorating, add glycerine, as this thickens its consistency.
  • Once the chocolate is melted, pour it into a mold and leave it to harden. Generally, molds can be brought at your local supermarket; for more variety, you might want to go to a catering supply store. Alternatively, you can make your own molds by using aluminium foil or hygienic non-toxic plastics. If you are on a budget, ice trays can make good mold. You should not, however, use copper as it releases a poisonous residue that can be harmful.
  • For variety, one can melt two or three different types of chocolate and pour them into the different sections of the same mold. For example, if you have a mold of the Easter bunny, you could pour white chocolate into the mold of his head, milk chocolate into his body, and dark chocolate into his legs. Mixing different kinds of chocolates into the same mold will give you a unique looking chocolates and a variety of tastes. Another idea is to fill the mold almost to the brim with milk chocolate then, while it is still in liquid form, pour white chocolate in a spiral into the same mold, creating a beautiful whirl effect. The possibilities are endless! Bon appetite!

Ant Coe runs the information website How To Make Chocolate (http://www.how-to-make-chocolate.com), which contains recipes for making chocolate, chocolate milk, cookies and other chocolate products.

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Have You Ever Tried to Make Your Own Chocolate Pecan Pie?

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So, the question is, have you ever tired to make your own chocolate pecan pie, from scratch? The task is a little more challenging than it may seem, but I’m sure you’re up for it. First, I’m going to walk you through a freebie recipe for Chocolate Pecan Marshmallow Cake.

Can you say “Out of this world!”? Because this is one of my favorite desserts. This baked treat is sure to leave folks wishing for more, and definitely begging you for the recipe.

Are you ready? I’ll go over the recipe in the following steps:

Chocolate Pecan Marshmallow Cake:

* 6 ounces butter (3/4 cup, 1 1/2 sticks)
* 1 1/2 cups sugar, 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
* 3 eggs, 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
* 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 6 ounces miniature marshmallows, about 3 cups.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in cocoa. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour, nuts and vanilla; mix well. Pour batter into greased and floured 9×13x2-inch baking pan. Bake chocolate marshmallow cake at 325° for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and place miniature marshmallows on top of hot cake. Let marshmallows melt then frost with icing (below) while still warm.

ICING:

* 1/4 cup butter
* 1 lb confectioners sugar (about 3 1/2 cups un-sifted)
* 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* milk for consistency.

Mix all ingredients together, adding milk until desired spreading consistency is reached; spread on warm chocolate marshmallow cake. Cool chocolate marshmallow cake thoroughly before serving.

This cake has become a family favorite also and like the chocolate pecan pie, it can be served for any occasion and not just for holidays. And the older I got, the more I began experimenting and finding my own recipes. If you don’t already do this, I’d like to suggest that you start. You’ll be amazed the great ideas you can come up with from all your previous baking experience.

I came across this chocolate pecan pie recipe that uses corn syrup like in a traditional pecan pie. It is already cut down to make just one pie and it is no less delicious.

Chocolate Pecan Pie with Corn Syrup:

* 4 ounces semisweet chocolate
* 2 tablespoons margarine, melted
* 3 eggs 1/3 cup sugar , 1 cup corn syrup (light or dark)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 1/4 cups pecan halves
* 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell- homemade or frozen.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a double boiler melt chocolate and margarine. Let cool slightly. Beat eggs lightly in medium bowl. Add sugar, corn syrup, chocolate mixture, and vanilla; stir until well blended. Mix in pecans. Set pie shell on heavy-duty baking sheet and pour in filling. Bake 50 to 55 minutes, until knife inserted midway between center and rim comes out clean. Cool pie on wire rack to room temperature before cutting.

I prefer to use light corn syrup, it seems to give the chocolate pecan pie a lighter taste or in any pecan pie. But the pie is delicious either way, a sweet rich southern dessert. So, go ahead and start your own Sunday dinner tradition… or just any day really. It doesn’t have to be Sunday or even dinner time to enjoy good old southern chocolate pecan pie.

Tanner’s Pecan is owned and operated by Danny Fox and Michelle Parks and offers great chocolate pecan pies. Visit Tanner’s Pecans today for the best selection of Chocolate Pecan Pie and Pecans.

Article Source: ArticleSpan

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Homemade Chocolate Recipes

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Cocoa butter
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Homemade chocolate recipes provide the chocolate lovers not only with a vast variety of choices for delicious, mouthwatering dessert but also with flexibility to substitute some of the ingredients so they will have an enjoyable eating experience while having a healthy dessert.

Chocolate… healthy?

It’s not a secret that chocolate eating is associated with a feeling of guilt - guilt of blowing out weight loss diet or eating unhealthy food.

Well, I have good news. The main ingredient of pure (dark) chocolate, cocoa, actually contains lots of vitamins and minerals.

I don’t think I need to convince anybody to eat chocolate but in case you think it is unhealthy addition to your diet here are some details:

- Among other vitamins and minerals cocoa contains B group vitamins, vitamin E and magnesium. Just do a quick search on the Internet to see the major benefits of these nutrients.

- A research in the United States showed that cocoa contains more anti-oxidants than green tea and red wine!

- Cocoa contains L-Tryptophan that improves the mood and hence can help combat cravings for unhealthy food.

- Cocoa butter is widely used as a cosmetics base in natural and “not-so-natural’ cosmetics industries because of nourishment it provides for the skin.

In order to see the weight loss benefits of chocolate you need to eat a small piece of dark chocolate daily, no more than 200 g per week.

Unfortunately many ready-made chocolate products are very low on cocoa so they actually do not provide any of the benefits mentioned above. They also contain lots of sugar and need to be avoided if you care about your health and healthy weight.

You need to choose chocolate products that contain over 65% of cocoa in order to see the health benefits of cocoa.

Why to make your own chocolate desserts at home?

1) As I already mentioned, homemade chocolate recipes provide you with flexibility to choose your own ingredients and replace some of “not so healthy” ones with healthier alternatives.
Here is a list of ingredients for one recipe, for example:

Chocolate Ice-Cream

2 ½ quarts of cream
1 ½ pint of milk
1 quart thin cream,
2 cupfuls of sugar,
2 ounces of plain chocolate bar,
2 eggs,
2 heaping tablespoonfuls of flour

To make this dessert healthier use dark chocolate, for example, substitute some of the cream with milk, reduce sugar and add vanilla to improve taste. I never tried it with whole wheat flour but this might work too! Imagine the title “Whole-wheat ice-cream for weight loss and health”!

2) You can make your favorite dessert without any preservatives, colorings or other artificial elements added.

3) You can use your creativity and make exquisite desserts for the entire family that will bring your whole family together to enjoy food prepared with love and care.

4) Making chocolate desserts at home will also fill your house with homey, “cozy” aroma that will make the place you live a real Home.

Homemade Chocolate Recipes page provides lots of information on chocolate including recipes. If you are a real chocolate lover visit http://www.homemadechocolaterecipes.com for over 100 delicious, mouthwatering recipes.

Leanne enjoys researching and writing about different topics that can help others solve problems.

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Why is Dark Chocolate Good For You?

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Marcel Desaulniers' "Chocolate Demise"
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Why is dark chocolate good for you? There many reasons. Let’s start by saying that not all chocolate is created equal. You see most chocolate is heat processed and heat can destroy allot or even most all of things that are good for you, think of it as a raw vegetable verses one that has been cooked. Most people know that a raw vegetable is much healthier than one that has been cooked or over processed.

So let’s get into more information on why dark chocolate is good for you. Cocoa rich flavonoids are being heralded as potential preventive agents for a range of pathological conditions. Cocoa also contains a chemical called of epicatechin, a compound that is so striking that it may rival penicillin and anesthesia in terms of importance to public health. Epicatechin may even improve blood flow and also seems to be good for cardiac health. Cocoa is the major ingredient of dark chocolate. These are just a handful of reasons to eat dark chocolate.

I could go on and on all day about the benefits of eating dark chocolate but you should do your own research. The internet is a good place to start, and maybe even the reason you read this article. There are even several major magazines that have done articles on why is dark chocolate good for you. In closing I would like to say that I’m not a doctor, and you should always consult with your health care provider.

Another word of caution about dark chocolate, many people think they can just run to the local store and start eating a favorite chocolate bar that they like, well my advice to you is just stay home. As of right now I only know of one company that makes a product that answers the question why dark chocolate good is for you. You should do your own research and draw your own conclusion.

Deb Henline is an internet marketer and mother of three. She teaches people how to leverage the internet and work from home. Deb’s website is http://darkhealtychocolate.info/

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My 5 Minute Healthy Chocolate Fudge Recipe - Yes It’s Healthy

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Peanut butter in the jar
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As a Certified Nutrition Specialist, I like to find ways to prepare delicious foods that most people can’t believe are actually healthy for you. If you have a sweet tooth like me, I’m sure you’ve tried to find ways to still enjoy sweet treats, but also try to make them healthier than typical junk food desserts.

The major problem with most so-called “healthy” desserts is that most companies attempt to make them healthier by reducing the fat content and thereby increasing the sugar content or artificial sweeteners… there’s nothing healthy about either of those!

Below is my famous healthy chocolate-peanut-butter fudge recipe that takes only 5 minutes to make and is really simple. The great thing is that I use no added sugars, no artificial sweeteners, and all healthy fat sources. You’ll see why below.

My healthy chocolate-peanut-butter fudge recipe (peanut butter can be omitted if you prefer plain chocolate):

  • Extra dark chocolate bar (3-4 oz bar works well — look for at least 70% cocoa content, between 70-85% — this minimizes the sugar content)
  • 4 or 5 Tbsp of your favorite organic nut butter (almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter all work well)
  • 2/3 to 3/4 cup of organic coconut milk (great source of healthy saturated fats from medium chain triglycerides - MCTs)
  • 2 tbsp rice bran (additional healthy fiber source)
  • 2 tbsp oat bran (more healthy fiber including soluble fiber)
  • 1/2 cup raw pecans, almonds, or walnuts (yes, more healthy fats, antioxidants, and tons of vitamins/minerals)
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins (optional based on your tastes)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • a little stevia to lightly sweeten (stevia is a natural non-caloric sweetener as opposed to harmful artificial sweeteners)

Start with the coconut milk, nut butter, and chocolate bar in a medium saucepan and put it on the lowest heat possible. Continuously stir as the chocolate, coconut milk, and nut butter melts together. Once these melt together add in all of the other ingredients and stir together very well.

Once everything is mixed well together, spread the mixture onto some waxed paper laid out in a baking dish and throw it in the fridge to solidify.

Now you have some of the healthiest chocolate fudge ever known to man!

Keep in mind that you still need to keep your serving portions small because this is still a calorie-dense snack even though it is super-healthy. The good news is that it is lower in sugar and calories than typical fudge and has loads more nutrition than any typical fudge.

Enjoy! Tell your friends that Trainer Mike Geary gave you this recipe.

Check out these 5 tips to Get a Flat Stomach faster with no bogus diet pills or useless “abdominizer” gadgets.

Good luck with your fitness goals!

Mike Geary,
Best Selling Author - The Truth about Six Pack Abs

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