Category Archives: Chocolate

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By Lisa, February 13, 2024 Posted in Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts, Vegan Recipes

A Little Bit of Chocolate, Anyone?

If you want something sugary with just a bit of chocolate for this Valentine’s Day, you will love these Maple Sugar Cookies with Chocolate Glaze — gluten-free and vegan. Sometimes a little chocolate goes a long way, as it does perfectly when these cookies are drizzled with an easy vegan glaze. If you prefer, you can cover each cookie with chocolate frosting to match the Valentine’s Day mood. Either way, these Maple Sugar Cookies are quite delicious while they easily can be categorized as healthy (or at least healthier) comfort food.

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By Lisa, February 7, 2023 Posted in Chocolate, Holiday Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegan Recipes

A Chocolate Valentine’s Menu

In the spirit of my periodic tribute to the 2000 movie Chocolat, today I offer readers this divine recipe for Roasted Root Vegetables with Chocolate Glaze. It’s just one in a series of dishes I’ve been developing over the years to imitate the chocolate-themed meal in one of movie history’s great food scenes!

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By Lisa, February 6, 2022 Posted in Chocolate, Desserts

Chocolate Decadence for Special Occasions

As my regular readers know, I always make space in my healthy and delicious life for special occasion decadence, which is why I’m excited to share a recipe for Gino’s Flourless Chocolate Cake.  What could be more perfect for Valentine’s Day!

This recipe was inspired by the most delicious flourless chocolate cake I ever tasted, which was at a restaurant whose chef, the late Gino Izetta, was my friend and cooking mentor. Although this was many years ago, I still remember the euphoria that accompanied each bite! The cake featured wonderfully rich dark chocolate, just sweet enough but not overly sweet. It was perfectly smooth and creamy, and it melted in my mouth.

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By Lisa, February 7, 2021 Posted in Chocolate, Desserts, Gluten-Free Desserts, Vegan Recipes

Vegan Valentine 2021

Today I decided to try making a Vegan Dark Chocolate Pudding, in case my readers are looking for a new dessert on February 14—the joyful (if commercial) holiday of chocolate love. I had never tried making pudding from scratch, the exception being rice pudding (which is also divine). So, I asked Annapurna, the goddess of food and nourishment, to be my coach. The first try was oh so good and I’m happy to share the recipe with all of you!

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By Lisa, December 22, 2020 Posted in Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts, Gluten-Free Desserts, Vegan Recipes

Chasing Perfectionism with a Cookie Update

Perhaps I’ve mentioned that I have a tendency to chase perfectionism. For this very reason, I’m updating my OMG Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe to make it easier for vegans and anyone who avoids eggs.

Just to be clear, this recipe is different from the one I first published during this blog’s infancy in February 2015. Ever since, I’ve played with the ingredients, revising it more than once. You’ll find a slightly different version in my 2018 book, Sacred & Delicious: A Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook. Then, just last week, I was baking and packing thank-you cookies for several amazing healthcare practitioners who are helping bring my injured hand back to life. I decided the recipe needed one more tweak to make it more accessible for readers.

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By Lisa, February 12, 2020 Posted in Articles, Chocolate

A Chocolate Lover’s Confession

Dear Readers,

I have a confession. I’d never read about the horrible working conditions of cacao farmers who provide cacao beans as a commodity crop to the largest industrial chocolate manufacturers. Until today.

This essay is not meant to be a downer just before Valentine’s Day, when so many of us revel in all things chocolate! I am, however, sharing my personal wake-up call, and I was inspired to save you some time searching for the best chocolates that are guilt-free.

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By Lisa, February 4, 2020 Posted in Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts, Vegan Recipes

Chocolate Indulgence for Valentine’s Day

Today’s joyful offering is a recipe for vegan and gluten-free Double Chocolate Chip Cookies. With this dish, I offer my salutations to the Goddess of Chocolate and my gratitude to the chocolatiers of yore who infused an ancient pagan holiday with the chocolate tradition!

Who doesn’t love an excuse to revel in Mother Nature’s finest flavor? Whether you prefer extra dark, semi-sweet, or milk chocolate, February 14th gives you full permission to indulge your chocolate fix—yes even on the Ayurvedic path. Made with almond and oat flours, and sweetened with unrefined coconut sugar and dark chocolate chips, these cookies fit my guilt-free version of desserts…when eaten in moderation, of course!

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By Lisa, February 11, 2019 Posted in Chocolate, Desserts, Gluten-Free Desserts, Vegan Recipes

All Things Chocolate for Valentine’s Day

Today, dear friends and fellow chocolate enthusiasts, I offer you an incredibly delicious gluten-free and vegan chocolate cake with which to tempt your sweetheart on the occasion of Valentine’s Day. When Sacred & Delicious was first published in October 2018, Biblio Reviews wrote this: “The vegan Dark Chocolate Layer Cake was the best vegan cake I have ever made!”

I’ve adapted the book’s large sheet cake recipe to create a smaller cake you can bake in a heart-shaped pan or as a traditional 9-inch layer cake. Yes! A gluten-free and vegan cake that is moist, not overly sweet, and still delicious enough to make having seconds hard to resist. Just ask my husband!

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By Lisa, February 6, 2018 Posted in Chocolate, Desserts, Easy Recipes, Gluten-Free Recipes, Vegan Recipes

Bring on the Dark Chocolate for Valentine’s Day!

If you love dark chocolate and want to splurge a little for Valentine’s Day, do I have a treat for you and your beloved—perhaps the fudgiest brownies you’ve ever tasted! From a health perspective, the good news is that these are not outrageously sweet compared to standard fare, even though I’m told they are sufficiently decadent to stir the passions of any chocolate lover.

First, let me acknowledge what may be obvious to many readers: chocolate, fudge, and brownies are not part of ancient Ayurvedic cuisine. Nonetheless, I believe in adding some flexibility to my offerings so that people exploring Ayurveda don’t feel constrained by too much austerity. As one of my Ayurvedic mentors often says,

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