Have you heard the good news? Dark chocolate is actually beneficial to your health. What are the benefits? How about:

People who eat dark chocolate have a lower risk of heart disease. Why? the flavonals in chocolate reduce cholesterol and lower blood pressure.

Polyphenols in chocolate improved insulin sensitivity even in people who did not have diabetes.

Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, which is the same chemical that your brain creates when you feel like you’re falling in love. Who wouldn’t want to feel that good?

So indulge yourself! We have some great cookbooks featuring chocolate.

 Chocolate : from simple cookies to extravagant showstoppers / Nick Malgieri.
A primer on basics and every kind of chocolate from cocoa to chips and white chocolate (and why it isn’t really chocolate in the strictest sense) to big dark slabs of the world’s favorite luxury food and the many, many ways to enjoy it.

 Chocolate : 90 sinful and sumptuous indulgences / by Elisabeth Johansson.
You can never have too much chocolate—or too many chocolate recipes! From Mocha Squares to spicy Aztec Pralines and Fudge Cake with chocolate-caramel icing, this big, bold, beautiful volume features more than 90 treats that will tempt any chocoholic.

Chocolate from the cake mix doctor / by Anne Byrn.
Starting with versatile supermarket cake mixes and adding just the right extras-including melted semisweet chocolate bars, chocolate chips, or cocoa powder, a baker at any level of experience can turn out dark, rich, moist, delicious chocolate layer cakes, time and again. Not to mention sheet cakes, pound cakes, cupcakes and muffins, cheesecakes, cookies, brownies, and bars.

The essence of chocolate : recipes for baking and cooking with fine chocolate / by John Scharffenberger.

More than 100 spectacular — and often simple — recipes. It is divided into three sections: “Intensely Chocolate,” in which the sumptuous flavor of chocolate is the star; “Essentially Chocolate,” with lighter chocolate desserts; and “A Hint of Chocolate,” with recipes that use chocolate’s spicier qualities to their best effect.

Chocolate and the art of low-fat desserts / Alice Medrich.

Featuring more than eighty recipes from the author whose name is synonymous with chocolate desserts, this cookbook offers such delights as Triple Mousse Cake, Chocolate Walnut Torte, and Chocolate Truffles–all with lower fat and fewer calories.

 

The Search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie / [compiled] by Gwen Steege.

Over 100 delicious and inventive variations of the original Nestlé Tollhouse Chocolate Chip cookie recipe–from all-chocolate extravaganzas to tempting add-ins such as macadamia nuts, Amaretto, maple syrup, granola, and peanut butter–have been collected here from cookie chefs across the country.

Chocolate-covered Katie : over 80 delicious recipes that are secretly good for you / Katie Higgins.
Katie shares over 80 never-before-seen recipes, such as Chocolate Obsession Cake, Peanut Butter Pudding Pops, and Ultimate Unbaked Brownies, that use only real ingredients, without any unnecessary fats, sugars, or empty calories. These desserts prove once and for all that health and happiness can go hand-in-hand-you can have your dessert and eat it, too!

Maida Heatter’s book of great chocolate desserts / Maida Heatter.

Chocolate creators know they can turn to Maida for tantalizing confections, cookies, cakes, pies, puddings, and sauces that transcend the ordinary and make for memorable dining experiences.

 

The Ghirardelli chocolate cookbook : recipes and history from America’s premier chocolate maker / photography by Leigh Beisch.
The recipes range from simple sweets to show-stopping desserts, while a special section on hosting a chocolate party comes just in time for holiday baking and entertaining.