Seasons Greetings, fellow devotees of fine chocolate.

Creative Ideas for Winter Holidays

Recently, to entertain our grandsons and to sneak a little winter squash into their diets, we made Texas Longhorn Pancakes. We started by adding pureed, bright orange winter squash (hand labeled Bevos Burnt Orange Food Coloring) to pancake batter. Then we rolled out some (chocolate) gingerbread dough and cut it into longhorn shapes (about 1/8 inch thick). We put the longhorns on the griddle, widely spaced, and poured the pancake batter over them. You can, of course, cut the gingerbread into any shapes you like, but for UT fans, Longhorns are the obvious choice. I suppose, if you’re an A&M, fan you could use pureed beets in the pancake batter and use a plain white cookie dough, but I doubt it would taste very good…better to just change your allegiance. Recipes for the pancakes and ginger bread are below. For syrup, we made organic chocolate sauce using Pandora’s Miracle Sauce recipe (Eat (More) Chocolate - Lose Weight (Anyway): The Chocoholic's Survival Guide and Practical Handbook, page 80).

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies Makes about 5 dozen 2 ½” cookies

**** (by the slice) ***(muffins)

This gingerbread recipe is unusual because it is made with fresh ginger. A lot of fresh ginger. Don’t be intimidated by the amount of ginger. It adds piquancy and subtly enhances the mellow flavor of the chocolate.

Preheat oven to 350° F

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together in large bowl.

Peel ginger and chop it up, cutting it first into thin slices, against the grain, then chopping up the slices.In the bowl of a food processor, process the ginger with the white sugar for a minute or so.Add brown sugar and process briefly.

Add the butter and oil and process until smooth. Add egg and process briefly.

Pour ginger/sugar/butter/egg mixture over flour mixture, stir just to mix, with a wooden spoon. Mix dough just until flour is incorporated. Empty dough onto a sheet of Saran wrap and press it into a flat disc. Refrigerate for at least three hours or up to three days. Working with one third of the dough at a time; roll the dough out to 1/4” thickness between sheets of Saran wrap. If dough seems too sticky, knead in a little flour, one tablespoonful at a time. Cut into preferred cookie shapes. Transfer to parchment covered cookie sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes for soft chewy cookies.

If you choose to make Gingerbread men and women; try decorating them with Valrhona Les Perles as eyes & buttons. First, before baking, press a small indentation into the dough where eyes and buttons go, with a blunt stylus or the end of a ten penny nail. Then, after baking, press the glossy little BB sized chocolate orbs into the cookies after they’ve cooled for 2-3 minutes.

Calories (per cookie) 41, fat 1.5 grams, protein <1 grams, carbohydrates 6 grams.

Paul’s Pancakes

Combine dry ingredients. Beat egg. Stir in yogurt, honey and melted butter. Add to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. If batter is thicker than you like it, add a little milk. Drop in ¼ cup portions onto a hot griddle.

Makes ten 4-inch pancakes. Ten calories per pancake.

Holiday Appetizer for Adults

A friend saw Chocolate, Basil & Brie Paninis made on Oprah. Sounds weird, but we tried them and loved them! I used a very good brie cheese, a light rustic bread from Whole Foods, Dagoba 73% chocolate baking chips and, of course, a lot of fresh basil. Brush the outsides of the bread with olive oil. Spread the insides with the softened brie, then a couple of layers of basil leaves then sprinkle with two tablespoons of chocolate chips. Put them on a sandwich grill until they are golden brown. If the slices of bread are big, you’ll want to cut them into quarters to serve. For extra color, garnish the plate with trefoils of fresh basil leaves and a dab of cranberry sauce.

Back