For as long as I can remember, I’ve had digestive issues. As a kid, I’d complain so frequently of stomach aches that my mom thought that I might have an ulcer. Throughout my teens, my digestive tract operated on a hair trigger. And for the last decade or so, I’ve struggled with the opposite problem — motility issues, if you will — and, as often goes hand in hand, intense, near-constant bloating. Though it’s long been top of mind, and has been something I’ve intensely, perhaps even obsessively, researched, it’s not something I’ve ever really talked about here or elsewhere in my writing. In part, I suppose, out of embarrassment, and also because I didn’t have a good answer, or even really an inkling as to what my problem was.
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chocolate
Individual Grain-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookie
Every so often while flipping through a cookbook, I flag a recipe to try not because I think it sounds delicious, but rather because I’m curious and even skeptical about how it’ll turn out. This gluten-and-butter-free, almond-flour-based chocolate chip cookie from Izy Hossack’s The Savvy Cook is a prime example of that. When I first glanced at the ingredient list, I was puzzled, to say the least. Could almond butter, almond flour, honey, vanilla, baking soda, chocolate chunks, and a bit of salt combine into something that pushes the same buttons as a classic chocolate chip cookie? Or, would it bake up like a protein bar or sad diet cookie?
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Cherry-Almond Chocolate Bark
For as long as I’ve been writing about food, I’ve had a dessert idea jotted down; one that combines a trio of my favorite things, and yet, I just got to it this past week. This might say something about my tendencies towards procrastination, or my love of making unrealistically long lists — if only you could see my collection of epic-length Google docs — but the real reason this cherry-almond chocolate bark only now came to fruition is simpler and less personality-trait-related: namely, I hate tempering chocolate.
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Chocolate Chia Pudding
With chocolate I’m usually an all or nothing kind of girl; I’m not interested unless we’re talking deep-dark bittersweet brown. (These brownie-like flourless chocolate walnut cookies are a favorite for exactly that reason.) And yet I was drawn to this decidedly-mild breakfast treat when flipping through Julie Montagu’s Superfoods: The Flexible Approach to Eating More Superfoods. Here, cacao powder (nope, not the same thing as cocoa powder) is used in concert with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger for a flavor that’s less full-blown-brownie-rich, and more like a cozy cup of Mexican hot chocolate. And despite my usual leanings, I’m digging it pretty hard.
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Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies
You’d think I admitted to kicking puppies given the typical reaction to the following: I’m just not that into chocolate desserts. I love a high-quality bar as much as the next person — my favorites are TCHO’s Milk Chocolate “Cacao” 53% and Theo Raspberry — and I have a borderline obsession with Peppermint Patties and other chocolate-mint sweets, but classics like chocolate cake, ice cream, and chocolate chip cookies rarely do it for me. That said, my tastebuds make an exception for super-rich brownies, fudge, and other high-intensity chocolate desserts like these brownie-like flourless chocolate cookies.
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