22 Delicious Chocolate Recipes

While chocolate sales hit a peak on Valentine's Day, this delicious ingredient is great any time of year-and not just as dessert. Whether you're sipping a mug of hot chocolate in the dead of winter, enjoying chocolate ice cream under the sweltering summer sun, or sitting down to a savory dinner of braised beef, chocolate knows no bounds. And if you really need another reason to consume, research has shown that dark chocolate contains antioxidants; who doesn't want to slow down the aging process, even by just a little bit? Incorporate chocolate into your cooking repertoire by using these recipes and tips to create some familiar-and unfamiliar-dishes.

Need help melting and tempering chocolate? Watch our chocolate technique videos.

Recipe Tips:

Is It Really Chocolate?

Technically, white chocolate is not chocolate since it lacks cocoa liquor, finely ground cocoa beans that give chocolate its color and intense smell and taste. If you plan to cook with white chocolate, be sure to purchase a high-quality variety that lists cocoa butter as an ingredient.

Going Dutch

When a recipe calls for cocoa powder, it will usually identify which type: unsweetened or Dutch-processed. Both are unsweetened, but in Dutch-processed cocoa powder the natural acidity of the bean has been neutralized. Scientifically speaking, Dutch-processed cocoa powder will react differently when mixed with certain ingredients and when heated. Generally, unsweetened cocoa powder is used with baking soda, resulting in a rising action. Dutch-processed cocoa powder is matched with baking powder.

Chocolate Pairings

Some of the recipes may have you thinking, "Does chocolate really go with that?" Have no fear: Chocolate works well with a number of different ingredients, ranging from the obvious-strawberries, raspberries, and oranges-to perhaps the more obscure, such as carrots, beans, and beef.

Recipes

Chocolate Classics

• Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Chocolate Brownies

• Milk Chocolate Fudge

• Chocolate Pudding

Decadent and Delicious Desserts

• Affogato Mocha

• Winter-Spiced Molten Chocolate Cakes with Rum-Ginger Ice Cream

• Dulce De Leche and Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding

• Chocolate-Orange Carrot Cake

Unusual Uses

• Chicken in Mole, Puebla Style

• Braised Short Ribs with Chocolate and Rosemary

• Chile-Marinated Flank Steak

• Vegetable and Bean Chili

• Fried Eggs with Coffee-Chipotle Mole

Liquid Chocolate

• Chocolate Milk Shake

• Hot Chocolate with Espresso, Lemon, and Anise

• Brandy Alexander White Hot Chocolate

• Milkie Way Malt

• Black Forest Shooter

White Chocolate, the "Other" Chocolate

• White Chocolate and Lime Blondies

• White Chocolate and Peppermint Cookie Brittle

• White Chocolate Leather

• Strawberry and White Chocolate Mousse Tart

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