Enlightened Chocolate: More than 200 Decadently Light, Lowfat, and Inspired Recipes Using Dark Chocolate and Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Eat more chocolate--it's good for you. It sounds like a mandate straight from the mouth of Willy Wonka. The good news for chocoholics everywhere is that it's not fiction. Clinical research over the past decade increasingly indicates that consumption of antioxidant-rich chocolate and cocoa is associated with health benefits from improved cardiovascular function to reduced bad cholesterol levels to increased alertness.

 

Alas, don't hold your breath for prescriptions of chocolate ganache cake or daily swims in Mr. Wonka's river of chocolate anytime soon. That's because of one bittersweet barrier in the case for the health benefits of chocolate: it is high in fat and calories. Consider the average chocolate bar: one 1.5-ounce bar alone has about 240 calories and 13 to 14 grams of fat (about half of which are the saturated, heart-clogging kind). This holds true for many favorite chocolate treats, too: one cup of premium chocolate ice cream, for example has 540 calories and 36 grams of fat, 22 of which are saturated.

But a solution to the chocolate fat and calorie quandary exists. Within the pages of Enlightened Chocolate you'll find more than 200 recipes that let you have your chocolate in an "enlightened" manner, namely with less fat, fewer calories, and maximum chocolate flavor. Chocolate cake, chocolate cookies, chocolate snacks, even chocolate for breakfast and dinner--the recipes are all here, and they're all scrumptious.