Fun Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes

The emotional trigger that a smell can stir up is one of the most powerful triggers that there is. If you live anywhere in the United States, chances are that the smell of chocolate chip cookies baking conjures up some kind of emotional memory for you. Smells are part of how we remember, part of how we define our memories, our stories, our lives.

For me, the smells of baking were part of my childhood, part of the fabric of how I define my childhood and part of the fabric of how I define my life to this day. The smell of a favorite baked treat can still bring a smile of remembrance to my face. What kitchen smells define your childhood memories? What smells do you want your children to define as their childhood memories? Here a couple of great variations on that old favorite, chocolate chip cookies. I hope you use these baking recipes to make wonderful memories with your children.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanuts, coarsely chopped

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter. Mix together until creamy. Add in the egg and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture. Add in the chocolate chips and peanuts. Drop the dough by teaspoons onto baking sheets. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 7 to 10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are set but the centers are soft. After removing the cookies from the oven, leave them on the baking sheets for 4 minutes before removing them.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, butter and regular sugar. Add in the eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Slowly add the flour mixture. Add the oats, chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheets. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 9 to 10 minutes for soft cookies and 12 to 13 for crispy ones.


Article from: articledashboard.com

Health Benefits Of Chocolate From Choconet

How can chocolate benefit your health? Chocolate is, and has consistently been one of the most popular treats in the world over the past last few hundred years. The myth that surrounds chocolate is that if it tastes that good, then it must be bad for your health.
But the surprising reports from the medical community is that this decadent treat actually has a number of important health benefits, especially if you choose your chocolate intelligently.

Chocolate contains over 300 chemicals, and has been the topic of numerous studies by scientific organizations and educational institutions globally. Here is a quick overview of the results (we do not have any way to prove or disprove this information, so we present it to you for further consideration:

• Researchers indicate that cocoa improves cardiac health by actually lowering blood pressure.
• Similar studies further explain that “flavanoids” which are rich in chocolate and cocoa serve to increase blood flow so chocolate can obviously benefit through all of the positive effects of increased blood flow.
• Nitric Oxide is an important factor in increased blood flow and flavanoids are shown to increase the activity of nitric oxide.
• The smell of chocolate may increase theta brain waves resulting in relaxation by drinking a cup of hot chocolate before a meal you can reduce ones appetite
• The carbohydrates in chocolate raise the levels of serotonin in a person’s brain, which produce a feeling of well being.
• Mexican homeopathic healers use chocolate to treat insect bites and heal bronchitis.
• Men who eat chocolate can live several years longer than those that do not.
• Chocolate contains phenyl ethylamine, which has been shown to be a mood enhancer.
• Chocolate contains antibacterial agents that fight tooth decay. However, it can be said that the sugar in milk chocolate does work against this benefit.
• Chocolate has not been proven to be addictive (you may get an argument or 2 from a chocoholic).
• Chocolate will not make you high. You would need to consume over 25 pounds at one sitting to see or feel any indication of “chocolate intoxication.”
• Scientific studies have shown that chocolate is not a factor in getting acne.
• Chocolate can trigger headaches in individuals who suffer from migraines.
• Because animals can not digest the stimulant theobromine, which is present in chocolate, it is dangerous and can be fatal to animals. If your pet ingests chocolate and becomes ill, take it to the veterinarian immediately!
• Dark chocolate contains more cacao and less sugar than milk chocolate hence the logical health benefit of dark chocolate over milk chocolate.

Now get your chocolate and customize it all online!

Ordering Customized Chocolate plus well over 300 different categories can easily be ordered through our website. The process is sophisticated, but easy all at the same time:

1. Click on the category e.g. Corporate Chocolate
2. Select the category e.g. Trade Show
3. Select the type of chocolate e.g. Customized Chocolate Coins or Business Card
4. Then customize the chocolate in a simple step by step process:
a. Add a logo (just upload an image) or your own text or both
b. Choose a foil wrap and the color
c. Choose a gift box if you’d like
d. Choose to hot stamp the wrap and / or the gift box if applicable
e. Choose your quantity
f. Add it to your cart
g. Choose your preferred shipping method
h. Order using your Credit Card or Debit Card and you’re done!

Other customization options online include:
1. Text – font and style
2. Packaging – gift boxes, gift bag varieties
3. Candy colors
4. Labeling
5. Custom Ribbons
6. Presentation Containers

Mike Adler, founder of Choconet … “We have the broad experience, a sophisticated and easy to use ordering process, a great product category, an ever-growing online presence and a great passion for what we do. We feel that this is a winning combination and look to the future with great optimism and enthusiasm.”

Choconet has provided “all things chocolate” to corporate clients and to individuals for special social events and gift giving for over a decade. Corporate clients customize their chocolate for promotional and event planning including conventions, new product releases, new corporate identification programs, executive gift giving, or just to say thank you. Customized Chocolate is now as easy as going to the website or picking up the phone or faxing directly.

It all comes down to a tasty game of memory: the promotional tools help people associate your company with their latest greatest culinary experience.

If you have an idea or concept that is not shown on our comprehensive website, then please feel free to contact one of our knowledgeable chocolate consultants, who are anxiously waiting to help you make your next promotion a sweet success.

By: Christopher Cartre

Healthy Chocolate Creating Wealth

Death by Chocolate not any more. Those who say chocolate is over rated, fatty or only for those with a sweet tooth not any more

Before eating any new product that promotes healthy or life changing experience should always be consulted with your family doctor. Xocai Healthy Chocolate has it's own natural sweeter comes from a cactus like plant which is very safe and tested called agave. It has a lo GI index and has been known to help the blood use sugar more efficiently.

Numerous studies around the World have shown Dark Chocolate being extremely good for you:

Some studies have shown in older people by eating dark healthy chocolate with in moderation actually reduced blood pressure and those who ate dark chocolate alone had the most total antioxidants in their blood. And they had higher levels of epicatechin, a particularly healthy compound found in chocolate

increase the flexibility of blood vessels in order to lower blood pressures and decrease the stress on the heart. Studies have shown Dark chocolate -- not white chocolate -- lowers high blood pressure, say Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany. Their report appears in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

But that's no license to go on a chocolate binge. Eating more dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure -- if you've reached a certain age and have mild high blood pressure, say the researchers. But you have to balance the extra calories by eating less of other things.

By: Giuseppe Celi

For The Love And Thought Of Chocolate: Give Chocolate Gifts!

Once you sink your teeth into a piece of chocolate and allow it to rest in your mouth to liquify on the surface of your tongue, almost instantaneously you are sent into a creamy, melted, and all-too-pleasurable state of being. It's truly a remarkable and quite addicting experience. But, have you ever wondered why this ecstasy-type of feeling occurs? If you've been curious as to why this intriguing phenomenon occurs once having ingested a piece of chocolate, you should first know that chocolate is much more than it appears and has more than mere taste and treat benefits.

A Food With A Hidden, Happy Agenda

In fact, chocolate is a food with enough hidden potency to trigger particular areas in your brain that produce and prolong happy thoughts. And this is not to say that chocolate is at all related to that pixie dust in which Peter Pan's, Tinkerbell, uses to lift individuals off the ground. But, what it does imply is that chocolate does indeed have the powerful ability to generate positive emotions in peoples' brains.

Chocolate On The Brain: Neurotransmitters Spur Happiness

So, this feeling of delight that comes from every bite is almost unbelievable, yet it is most certainly explainable, especially from a scientific angle. Within chocolate exists a few essential ingredients that are known for their neuro-activating tendencies and overall mental stimuli statuses - of the active ingredients include both Tryptophan and Phenylethylamine.

Tryptophan triggers the brain to produce more serotonin, a neurotransmitter assigned to assist in the modulation of positive moods and sexualities, among other many other traits. Considerable levels of serotonin can be released into an individual's brain after eating chocolate and the results are heightened feelings of excitement, elation and even ecstasy. With phenylethylamine as a neurotransmitter, after consuming chocolate, feelings of attraction, giddiness and apprehension are all rendered.

Giving Chocolate Gifts and Spreading Positive Feelings

So, with all this upbeat scientific knowledge, I'm sure you're already enjoying a piece of chocolate or two already. And if not, you should be! But, in all seriousness, why would anyone not want to eat chocolate now, especially with knowledge of gaining positive mental outcomes? It's fair to say that eating chocolate is enjoyable, so why not get the most out of it and reap the benefits of being elated while eating it? And also, why not spread the love while you're at it too?

By: E.S. Cromwell