Chocolate – Rise and Shine

Do you love chocolate? 🙂 WE DO!
Today, we celebrated the history of this sweet treat and shared some tips on how to make your chocolate habit healthier.

The history of chocolate goes back around 2,500 years. The Aztecs loved their newly discovered liquid chocolate. Cocoa seeds even acted as a form of currency.
Chocolate took a turn and went sweet in a 16th Century Europe.

Cadbury began in England by 1868. And then 25 years later Milton S. Hershey, purchased chocolate processing equipment at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, he is now one of the biggest and world-known chocolate creators in the world.

Click HERE to see a more complete history of Chocolate and some fun facts to share with other chocolate lovers.

Did you know that chocolate can be good for you? We found 10 Ways to Make Your Chocolate Habit Healthier from AARP. Click HERE to access the full article. You should be intentional about your choices, but hey! Let’s eat some chocolate and feel good about it!

1. Pay attention to ingredients

2. Look for at least 70 percent cocoa or cacao

3. Be aware of good — and bad — additions

4. Opt for lower sugar

5. Seek out higher fiber

6. Pay attention to serving sizes

7. Know the buzzwords

8. Consider the origin of your chocolate

9. Learn to love dark chocolate

10. Go beyond the bar

Today, we are celebrating “Bittersweet Chocolate Day”!

(Picture and information from www.daysoftheyear.com)

History of Bittersweet Chocolate Day
The first thing to know about Bittersweet Chocolate Day is precisely what kind of chocolate it celebrates. The most common type of chocolate in the United States is milk chocolate, synonymous with brands like Hershey’s and Ghirardelli’s most popular lines of chocolate. These are made with lots of sugar, and a healthy dose of milk, bringing about the flavor most people know and love.

Bittersweet Chocolate, with one variety also known as Dark Chocolate, takes a different approach. Fat and sugar are added to cocoa, without the milk to even out the bitterness. It tends to be harder, richer, and a common ingredient in baking, and is one of the foundational flavors in the richest chocolate drinks, especially Mexican chocolate, which is made with a hint of Cayenne.
REAL Bittersweet, however, is a lightly sweetened chocolate. Oddly, this is the kind of chocolate most commonly used in baking, including the American Favorite, chocolate chip cookies.

How to Celebrate Bittersweet Chocolate Day – do some baking!

Bittersweet Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from www.daysoftheyear.com)

10 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup + 3 tbsp packed light brown sugar
½ tsp sea salt
1 egg
7 oz bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped, get 70% if you can find it!

INSTRUCTIONS
Melt the butter in a saucepan, and heat it until it begins to create a light foam and take on a nutty smell, that’s when you need to stir in the vanilla extract! Take the heat off, and let it cool for 10 minutes.

While it’s cooling, combine the dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl, pour in the butter mixture, add in the egg and mix it up a few moments, and mix in the chocolate, and mix until it’s all evenly mixed.

Start scooping out ¼ cup scoops of the cookies onto a cookie sheet, and sprinkle them with more sea salt. This next step is vital, be sure that you let them refrigerate for anywhere between 1 hour, and 3 days. The longer you let them sit, the better they’ll taste when you cook them.

When you’re ready to bake, heat the oven to 400 degrees, and then get them in the oven while the dough is still cool, and bake for 10 minutes! Voila! You’ll have an amazing treat that’s ready to eat!

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