Healthier Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup quinoa flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon hemp seed powder (use your coffee grinder)
1 teaspoon wheat germ
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup raw agave nectar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, blend together flours, baking soda, hemp seed powder, wheat germ, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, mix agave nectar, brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients until you create a batter.
5. On prepared cookie sheet, place cookie batter in balls that measure about 1 tablespoon. Cookies should be about 2 inches apart. Do not press down.
6. Cook for approximately 8-10 minutes, until light golden brown around the edges.

Makes 20 to 25 cookies.

Source: The Organic Family Cookbook

Marble Chocolate Tartlet with Kahlua

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sifted cocoa powder
1 cup flour
4 oz white chocolate, chopped
5 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup Kahlua

Method

1. In food processor, combine butter, sugar and vanilla. Process until cream.
2. Add cocoa; process until smooth.
3. Add flour, pulse to combine.
4. Press onto bottom and sides of twelve 3-inch tartlet pans. Chill 1 hour.
5. Pierce bottoms well with fork. Bake on baking sheet at 375ºF, 8 minutes.
6. Pierce again: bake another 4 minutes. Cool.
7. Place chocolates in separate bowls.
8. In saucepan bring cream to boil. Add Kahlua and bring to simmer. Pour 1/3 cup cream mixture over each chocolate. Stir each until smooth.
9. Remove crusts from pans. Fill each about 2/3 full with dark filling. Pour 3 small pools of white filling onto dark filling. Marble by pulling tip of knife through fillings. Chill before serving.

Makes 12 servings.

Source: The Best of Kahlua

Sweet Samosas with Chocolate

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ripe bananas, sliced
1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
2 sheets of phyllo pastry
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

1. Melt half the butter in a skillet, add the banana slices and sugar, and saute for about 4-5 minutes, or until the bananas have caramelized, turning them over halfway during cooking.
2. Cut the pastry sheets in half. Place banana slices and a good sprinkling of chocolate and cinnamon toward one end of each pastry sheet, then fold up to resemble a triangular “samosa” shape.
3. Heat the remaining butter in the skillet over medium heat, add the pastries, and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown all over. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 pieces.

Source: Chocolat

Chocolate Truffles with Almond Butter

Ingredients

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons raw almond butter
2 tablespoons raw coconut nectar
3 packets monk fruit extract
salt
1 no-sugar-added dark chocolate bar

Method

1. Mix the almond butter, coconut nectar, and monk fruit extract in a mixing bowl until smooth. Season with a pinch of salt.
2. Form the mixture into 8 equal-sized balls, stick a toothpick in each ball, and place on a piece of wax paper on a plate. Transfer to the freezer and chill until very firm, about 1 hour.
3. Place three-quarters of the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and cook on high until the chocolate has just melted, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
4. Add the remaining chocolate and stir smooth and still warm.
5. Remove the almond butter balls from the freezer and, using toothpick as an aid, roll a truffle to coat with the chocolate until covered. Set on the wax paper-lined plate to cool. Repeat with the remaining truffles. Place back in the freezer to set, about 5 minutes and serve.

Tip

You can roll the truffles in 1/4 cup of chopped almonds before they set for a prettier presentation and extra negative calorie power.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: Negative Calorie Foods

French-style Sweet Omelet Souffle

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups fresh mixed berries, such as raspberries, red currants, or blueberries
2 teaspoons raspberry preserves
1 ounce semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 egg yolk
1-1/2 tablespoons superfine sugar, plus an extra 2 teaspoons (or the same quantity of granulated sugar processed in a food processor for 1 minute)
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
2 egg whites
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Method

1. Put the berries and preserves into a saucepan and cook over medium heat for I minute, or until the berries start to puff up. Remove from the heat and put aside.
2. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the surface of the water does not touch the bowl.
3. Put the egg yolk, the 2 teaspoons of superfine sugar, and the vanilla into a bowl and mix together, then stir in the chocolate.
4. In a clean, dry bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, adding the remaining superfine sugar a little at a time. Fold one-quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate to loosen the mixture, then fold in the remaining whites.
5. Melt the butter in a small 6-1/2-inch diameter flameproof nonstick skillet over medium heat, and meanwhile preheat the broiler to medium-high. Spoon the chocolate mixture into the skillet, making sure it is an even layer, and cook for 2-3 minutes, then place under the broiler for 1 minute, or until set, making sure it does not burn.
6. Spoon the berry mixture over one half of the omelet. Fold the omelet over to enclose the filling, then dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately.

Tip

Use egg whites at room temperature to get the most volume when whisking.

Makes 1 serving.

Source: Chocolat