Life

11 Healthy (& Damn Delicious) Chocolate Recipes For Any Occasion
My idea of heaven involves eating chocolate at every meal. Also, in this little daydream, none of the chocolatey treats have any calories. Unfortunately, we live in the real world where that much cocoa would spell doom for my blood sugar levels. What’s a chocolaholic to do? Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to craft healthy chocolate recipes for almost any occasion.
Now, you may be wondering what I mean by healthy. To to be honest, I define healthy kind of broadly: anything without loads of butter and sugar is a good start in the right direction, yes? And making use of ingredients like fruit, avocados, and chia seeds are even better. The beauty of homemade chocolate treats is that you have some control over how much sugar and fat go into your baking, and you can feel free to use healthier alternatives for butter or even some sugar substitutes to lighten them even more (leaving you free to chow down with abandon.)
From mousse to truffles, there’s a healthier chocolate treat for everyone. And with wholesome ingredients, these are the chocolaty treats you can feel good about eating. So the next time a chocolate craving strikes, consider one of these healthy chocolate recipes.
1Chocolate Protein Truffle
These delectable chocolate protein truffles from A Cozy Kitchen have healthy ingredients like raw cocoa powder and almond butter. Plus, just look at the beauties.
2Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
These vegan chocolate chip cookies from Ari’s Menu takes the classic baked good and makes it vegan with ingredients like almond milk and apple butter. With a little sea salt sprinkled on top to round out the flavor, you won’t even miss the animal ingredients.
3Paleo Hot Chocolate Pops
Appropriate for any season, these paleo frozen hot chocolate pops via A Spicy Perspective are made with coconut milk and other wholesome ingredients. They even have a ‘marshmallow’ layer made from paleo gelatin and honey.
4Chocolate Avocado Mousse
Normally, mousse is made from heavy whipping cream and other calorically dense ingredients. But Adventures in Cooking’s chocolate avocado mousse from just calls for healthy ingredients such as dark chocolate, coconut milk, and of course the avocados, which provide a richness to the flavor.
5Miracle Chocolate Chip Cookies
Averie Cooks presents these aptly named healthy oatmeal chocolate chip miracle cookies. These vegan treats are super tasty and provide an awesome chocolate fix.
6Chocolate Chia Pudding
How do you make chocolate pudding cups with only healthy ingredients? Chia! These chocolate chia pudding cups from Back to Her Roots use the gel-like consistency of chia seeds to make a good-for-you chocolatey snack.
7Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Bananas and chocolate? Yes, please! These banana chocolate chip muffins from Big Girls Small Kitchen would be a great addition to any brunch spread.
8Chocolate Chip Quinoa Cookies
Quinoa in a cookie? Yep! Quinoa, Kale, & Exhale’s chocolate chip quinoa cookies are a lighter dessert. It’s also a great way to use up leftover quinoa.
9Dark Chocolate Bark
Doesn’t this superfood dark chocolate bark from Hello Natural look amazing? It’s vegan and gluten-free, and it contains tasty ingredients such as hazelnuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds.
10Chocolate Cake
Fo Reals Life’s chocolate cake uses sweet potato as a base. Bonus: with no eggs to worry about, you can safely eat the batter.
11Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars
Mmmm. Few flavors pair as well as chocolate and peanut butter. And these peanut butter chocolate bars from Lunch Box Bunch are even vegan.
Images: Courtesy of Adventures In Cooking; A Cozy Kitchen; Ari’s Menu; A Spicy Perspective; Adventures In Cooking; Averie Cooks; Back To Her Roots; Big Girls, Small Kitchen; Quinoa, Kale, & Exhale; Hello Natural; Fo Reals Life; Lunch Box Bunch