Chocolate

I'm one of those people who love chocolate, so I am delighted that chocolate lends itself particularly well to natural sweeteners. Of course it would, as chocolate itself is a very healthy food (for more on the benefits of chocolate, see Choosing Healthy Chocolate).

Chocolate can be eaten entirely unsweetened in the form of cacao nibs. These are the meat of the roasted cacao bean with the husk removed, broken into bits. They are as close as you can get to the whole, complete cocoa bean in its natural state. I found them in a refrigerated case in my local natural food store, and you can also order them online. I was hesitant to try them because I thought they would be bitter, like unsweetened chocolate, but surprisingly, they are not. They are crisp and crunchy, more like a nut with a slight chocolate taste. One tablespoon has 5 grams of fat and 4 grams of carbs, but I actually don't eat more than four or five nibs at a time. After eating quite a few the first time, I found they contain a lot of caffiene. Eating two or three gives me the same pick-me-up as a whole cup of coffee, and after eating so many the first day, I couldn't sleep that night. So even though nibs are a whole food in it's most natural state, watch to see how your body responds to them. It's not like eating a chocolate bar where cocoa is only a percentage of the ingredients!

Because of the strong flavor of chocolate, it can withstand being sweetened with sweeteners that have their own strong flavors, and it will cover up the aftertaste of sweeteners like xylitol. In fact, I actually prefer chocolate sweetened with natural sweeteners that have their own flavor because it adds an interesting depth to the chocolate.

The two chocolate staples I have on hand in my kitchen all the time are "grain-sweetened" chocolate chips (which are sweetened with barley malt) and unsweetened cocoa powder. With these, you can make a variety of recipes.

There will be more chocolate recipes coming. As I said, chocolate is a very healthful food. While you can purchase some chocolate bars sweetened with organic evaporated cane juice, most chocolate products contain refined sugars. With these recipes, you'll be able to choose chocolate favorites sweetened with natural sweeteners.