Carob! Healthy chocolate or Tasteless chocolate?
Easter time! A time for religious thought and personal sacrifices or a time of endless guilt-free chocolate binges and family feasts? No matter what your religious inclination, chocolate is bound to be on the agenda at some point or the other. And it probably doesn’t help that they start selling Easter eggs pretty much as soon as the Christmas trees are coming down!
Now being a devout chocolate lover and connoisseur. I definitely know the difference between the rich, lush, positively sinful, chocolate that melts in your mouth, as opposed to the over-sweet, hard, unsatisfying kind. And as any chocoholic would know, ‘nothing beats quality!’
But while passing my local health food store today (on my way to my daily chocolate fix) I noticed the word ‘Carob’ emblazoned on the window as “The Healthy Chocolate”. Sure, I’ve known about this ‘Carob’ character my whole life, but I couldn’t recall the last time I’d tasted it. And ‘healthy’ too? Well if it’s really that good then why isn’t everyone eating it? I decided to investigate further.
Carob Facts!
Carob it turns out, is the common name for a tree species called Ceratonia Siliqua and also goes by the common names “St John’s Bread” and “Locust”. It is free of the addictive effects of caffeine and theobromine which are found in cocoa, and contains less fat and more natural sugar than cocoa. Carob is also higher in protein and contains several minerals that are hard to get in our diets- Potassium, Magnesium, Barium, Copper and Nickel, as well as vitamins A, several B vitamins and Vitamin D. But the REAL question is, “Does it taste any good?”
I embarked on my Carob taste testing with the exciting prospects of “Carob peppermint swirls”, and while they don’t melt in your mouth, the taste is really quite good! ‘Soy carob buds with no added sugar’ on the other hand, are really an ‘acquired’ taste. No melting and no sweetness results in not much chocolate taste. Indeed, not much taste at all!
And with that I say we return to the dependable ‘Chocolate chip cookie’! Be a Rebel! And mix in some Carob peppermint in with your dark chocolate for a change! Surprisingly your cookies still taste good and you can now even claim that they are Healthy too!
Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Ingredients: 125g butter chopped, 1 tsp vanilla essence, 1/3 cup (75g) firmly packed brown sugar, 1/3cup (75 g) caster sugar, 1 egg, 1 1/2 cups (185 g) plain flour, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, ¼ cup (30g) finely chopped toasted cashews, and 1 cup (190g) of chocolate bits/ carob peppermint swirls
Steps: Preheat oven to 180C. Beat butter, vanilla essence, sugars and egg in a small bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda. Then add the walnuts and chocolate/carob. Drop level tablespoons of mixture about 5cm apart on greased oven trays and press down lightly. Bake for 10 minutes or until browned lightly. Leave to stand for 2 minutes before removing from trays. Makes 20.
Simply delicious when just baked and perfect to go with a cup of tea!
Now being a devout chocolate lover and connoisseur. I definitely know the difference between the rich, lush, positively sinful, chocolate that melts in your mouth, as opposed to the over-sweet, hard, unsatisfying kind. And as any chocoholic would know, ‘nothing beats quality!’
But while passing my local health food store today (on my way to my daily chocolate fix) I noticed the word ‘Carob’ emblazoned on the window as “The Healthy Chocolate”. Sure, I’ve known about this ‘Carob’ character my whole life, but I couldn’t recall the last time I’d tasted it. And ‘healthy’ too? Well if it’s really that good then why isn’t everyone eating it? I decided to investigate further.
Carob Facts!
Carob it turns out, is the common name for a tree species called Ceratonia Siliqua and also goes by the common names “St John’s Bread” and “Locust”. It is free of the addictive effects of caffeine and theobromine which are found in cocoa, and contains less fat and more natural sugar than cocoa. Carob is also higher in protein and contains several minerals that are hard to get in our diets- Potassium, Magnesium, Barium, Copper and Nickel, as well as vitamins A, several B vitamins and Vitamin D. But the REAL question is, “Does it taste any good?”
I embarked on my Carob taste testing with the exciting prospects of “Carob peppermint swirls”, and while they don’t melt in your mouth, the taste is really quite good! ‘Soy carob buds with no added sugar’ on the other hand, are really an ‘acquired’ taste. No melting and no sweetness results in not much chocolate taste. Indeed, not much taste at all!
And with that I say we return to the dependable ‘Chocolate chip cookie’! Be a Rebel! And mix in some Carob peppermint in with your dark chocolate for a change! Surprisingly your cookies still taste good and you can now even claim that they are Healthy too!
Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Ingredients: 125g butter chopped, 1 tsp vanilla essence, 1/3 cup (75g) firmly packed brown sugar, 1/3cup (75 g) caster sugar, 1 egg, 1 1/2 cups (185 g) plain flour, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, ¼ cup (30g) finely chopped toasted cashews, and 1 cup (190g) of chocolate bits/ carob peppermint swirls
Steps: Preheat oven to 180C. Beat butter, vanilla essence, sugars and egg in a small bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda. Then add the walnuts and chocolate/carob. Drop level tablespoons of mixture about 5cm apart on greased oven trays and press down lightly. Bake for 10 minutes or until browned lightly. Leave to stand for 2 minutes before removing from trays. Makes 20.
mmmm...freshly baked!
Simply delicious when just baked and perfect to go with a cup of tea!
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Hey guys!
Cibbuano- the peppermint carob is a definite must try! When I added it to the cookies instead of just plain chocolate bits and gave it to my friends to try, they couldn't even tell it was carob! But i wouldn't eat the soy carob again anytime soon.
Edward- Carob is not exactly calorie free (it still does have calories) so I wouldn't go and eat a truckload of carob just yet, however it does have all those vitamins and minerals so you can definitely claim that it is 'healthier' for you! ;-P