Is Chocolate Good For You?

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The benefits of chocolate have been debated for a long time. Some experts say you can get the same vitamins and minerals from foods with fewer calories, but if you watch your portions, you can get the best of both worlds.

For many of us, chocolate is something we enjoy every day, including in some of our favorite baking mixes. In one version or another, the chocolate chip cookie is top of many lists when it comes to favorite desserts to eat.

To learn more about the possibility of healthy chocolate, as well as some of our favorite chocolate baking mix recipes, keep reading.

Let’s Talk About Dark Chocolate

Studies show that dark chocolate may be better for your health than other kinds of chocolate. This is because there are so many cocoa solids in it. Dark chocolate has between 50 and 90% cocoa solids, while milk chocolate has between 10 and 30%. Since white chocolate is only made of cocoa butter, it can’t be used to treat anything.

If you eat more of the cocoa solids in dark chocolate, your health may improve in a noticeable way. Cocoa solids have minerals and antioxidants, but cocoa butter does not.

Dark chocolate has a lot of minerals and polyphenols like antioxidants and flavonoids. Epicatechin and catechin are two flavonoids that are found in chocolate, along with anthocyanins and phenolic acids. All of these substances help reduce the inflammatory response of cells, improve cognitive function, and improve the health of the immune system and heart.

Studies show that the flavanols in chocolate can help lower blood pressure and improve blood flow, while the antioxidants in dark chocolate can help lower bad cholesterol levels and stop plaque from building up on the walls of arteries. If you eat dark chocolate in moderation, it can make it less likely that you will get heart disease. It can also lower the amount of inflammation in the body.

Dark chocolate also has theobromine, which boosts energy and mood in the same way that caffeine does. It makes you feel better and makes you more alert.

What About Milk Chocolate?

Isn’t milk chocolate good? Milk chocolate has less cocoa than dark chocolate, but it still has the antioxidants that cocoa powder has. Flavonols, which come from plants and are found in cocoa powder, are the secret ingredient. Antioxidants protect your body from damage to cells, which has been linked to a number of physical and mental health problems.

Since milk is used to make milk chocolate, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it has a lot of calcium. In very small amounts, you’ll also get zinc, iron, potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin K.

The key is to eat chocolate and everything else in moderation. If you are watching how much you eat, you can enjoy your chocolate chip cookies as well.

Recipes that Use a Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Most of us have our favorite chocolate chip baking mix. But did you know that you can take your baking mix and turn it into more than just chocolate chip cookies? In fact, chocolate chip baking mix is quite versatile. Continue reading for just a few recipes using Lehi Mills chocolate chip cookie mix.

If you like chocolate chips and cheesecake, the first recipe is one you’ll want to save. You might want to make more than one batch.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookie

Ingredients:

For the cookies with chocolate chips:

2 1/2 cups of chocolate chip cookie mix from Lehi Mills

1/2 cup of softened butter

3 spoonfuls of water

For the filling of the cheesecake:

1 8-ounce package of softened cream cheese

1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar

Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup

1 teaspoon of extract vanilla

a little salt

1/2 cup whipped cream

Directions:

Turn the oven on to 350F.

Mix the cookie mix, butter, and water together in a medium bowl. We’ve found that a kitchen mixer with a wide paddle works best, but if you don’t have one, you can mix everything together with your hands.

Make cookie dough balls that are 2 inches in diameter and hollow out the middle to make a bowl-like shape. Place these bowls of cookie dough on a cookie sheet that has been greased or lined.

Put the cream cheese, powdered sugar, Greek yogurt, vanilla, and salt in a separate small bowl. Whip until the mixture is smooth, then add the whipped cream.

Put a dollop of the cheesecake filling in the middle of each cookie dough bowl. Cover with more cookie dough, and keep doing this until all of the cookie dough is used. (If you want to freeze the cookie dough at this point, you would put it in bags, take out the air, and freeze it.)

Put the cookie sheet in an oven that has already been heated for 12 to 15 minutes.

Take off the chocolate chip cheesecake cookies and eat them plain or with a glass of milk.

You can make a chocolate chip cookie cake if you want to try something different. This is a great choice for someone who doesn’t like cake as much as they like chocolate chip cookies. You can even decorate it with icing to make it look more interesting.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Made from a Mix

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of Cookie Mix with Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup of softened butter

3 spoonfuls of water

M&Ms or more chocolate chip cookies

Directions:

Set the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Mix all of the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Use a spoon or your hands to stir until everything is well mixed.

Spoon the dough into a pie or cake pan that has been greased, and bake for 30 minutes (or until brown).

Once it has cooled, you can take it out and eat a warm slice of chocolate chip cookie cake.

Summary

Whichever side of the research you fall on, always eat your chocolate in moderation and enjoy some experimentation. Grab a bag of chocolate chip baking mix today and see what you can come up with. The recipes above are just the tip of the iceberg. Before long, you’ll have recipes with your mix for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. After all, you only live once!

Lehi Mills has a variety of baking mixes for you to choose from, including the chocolate chip cookie mix. Visit the website at lehimills.com to learn more about all our options. Happy baking!